High Court
Case Details
Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC:117560 Court No. - 36 Case :- WRIT - A No. - 6292 of 2023 Petitioner :- Jai Prakash Chaudhary Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 6 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Navin Kumar Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Archana Singh,Awadhesh Kumar
Legal Reasoning
Hon'ble Ashutosh Srivastava,J. 1. Heard Sri Navin Kumar Sharma, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri Awadhesh Kumar, learned counsel, who has put in appearance on behalf of the Respondent Nos.4, 5 & 7. Smt. Archana Singh, learned counsel has appeared for Respondent No.2 and learned Standing Counsel, who has accepted notice on behalf of the Respondent Nos.1 & 3. 2. Considering the nature of the order that is proposed to be passed, the notice upon the Respondent No.6 is being dispensed with. 3. The order under challenge is an order dated 02.02.2023 passed by the District Basic Education Officer, Basti, whereby and whereunder the petitioner has been placed under suspension and has been attached with Poorv Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Bhiura, Vikas Kshetra Saltauwa, District Basti. 4. Learned counsel for t he petitioner vehemently contends that the impugned suspension order proceeds on non-existent grounds and is punitive in nature and is liable to be quashed. It is the case of the petitioner that he was appointed as Assistant Teacher in Primary School in District Shravasti vide order dated 09.07.2010. He was promoted as Assistant Teacher vide order dated 12.12.2014 in Upper Primary School. The petitioner was thereafter transferred from District Shravasti to District Basti as Assistant Teacher in Upper Primary School Rangi, Block Saltauwa, District Basti under order dated 21.04.2017. It is further contended that during his posting at Upper Primary School Rangi, Block Saltauwa District Basti the petitioner was constantly harassed by the Respondent No.6, the Headmistress of the Institution and a rift between the petitioner and the Respondent No.6 grew which compelled the petitioner to move various representations to the District Basic Education Officer Basti, Block Education Officer, Block Saltauwa Basti, President Zila Panchayat, Basti as also to the District Magistrate Basti. Ultimately, the representation of the petitioner bore some fruits and he was attached at the Office of the Block Education Officer, Basti, Respondent No.5 orally. Copy of the attendance Register of September, 2022 upto December, 2022 has been filed on record to establish the attachment of the petitioner in the Office of the Respondent No.5 i.e. Block Education Officer, Basti. It is contended that the impugned suspension order proceeds on the allegation that the petitioner was not present on 28.09.2022 when an inspection was carried out in the institution and it was revealed that the petitioner has not been attending the institution since 02.09.2022 and endorsement to this effect has been made by the In-charge Headmistress, Respondent No.6 in the attendance register of the institution. 5. It is next contended by learned counsel for the petitioner that the impugned order of suspension further records an inspection carried out on 03.12.2022 by the Respondent No.5 at the institution in question and the petitioner was found absent. The said observation is incorrect on the face of it inasmuch as the winter vacations had commenced from 31.12.2022 upto 14.01.2023 and the school was closed for winter vacation. There was no occasion for the petitioner to be present in the institution during the winter vacations. The entire proceedings against the petitioner is arbitrary and as such is liable to be quashed by this Court. 6. Learned counsel for the respondent submits that petitioner was placed under suspension vide order dated 02.02.2023 passed by District Basic Education Officer, Basti. He submits that the impugned order passed by the authority concerned is just and proper and requires no interference by this Court. 7. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and have perused the record. 8. Perusal of the record reveals that the petitioner has been placed under suspension since 02.02.2023. The suspension cannot be used as a weapon to penalize the petitioner. Continuation of suspension must be in larger public interest. The continuation, if pose threat to an ongoing enquiry such delinquent employee need not be reinstated pending such enquiry. 9. In the opinion of the Court the order of suspension should not normally depend merely on the gravity of charges but should depend upon a consideration of the question whether it is necessary to keep the delinquent away from his post he occupies. The effect of passing an order of suspension is to keep such delinquent away from his office temporarily. Its objective is to remove him from his sphere of influence during the investigation into and treat of the charges levelled against him. It may be that some or many of the records which are in his custody may have to be looked into. His colleagues or subordinates or sometimes even his superiors in office may have to be questioned. There may be cases where suspension may be justified also to avoid misuse of the authority of his office, misuse which may result in obstruction to the proper trial of the charges against him. The situation could be met by the officer being kept under suspension or in many cases merely by transferring the delinquent away from the scene, the choice necessarily depending upon the exigencies of the situation. 10. In the case at hand, there is absolutely no need to keep the petitioner under suspension. There is no scope for the petitioner to interfere with any material now gathered. Larger public interest demands that the petitioner should not be continued under suspension. In the opinion of the court, there is no imminent danger that would effect the ongoing process of enquiry if the petitioner is ordered to be reinstated. 11. Accordingly, the petitioner is ordered to be reinstated in service. The impugned suspension order dated 02.02.2023 passed by the District Basic Education Officer, Basti is set aside. The enquiry initiated against the petitioner shall go on and the same shall be brought to its logical end within one month from the date of service of certified copy of the order of this Court. 12. Needless to say that the petitioner shall cooperate in the ongoing enquiry.
Decision
13. With the aforesaid observation, the writ petition stands disposed of. Order Date :- 3.5.2023 pks Digitally signed by :- Digitally signed by :- PAWAN KUMAR SINGH PAWAN KUMAR SINGH High Court of Judicature at Allahabad High Court of Judicature at Allahabad