Suspension pending prosecution remains valid after charge-sheet filing where sanction is obtained and charges are yet to be framed.

Suspension under Rule 10(1)(b) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 may continue during investigation, inquiry, or trial, and the post-charge-sheet stage is not to be read narrowly as outside that power. Filing of the charge-sheet does not place the delinquent in a better position merely because the trial has not yet commenced. Where sanction for prosecution has been obtained and the case is fixed for framing of charges, the suspension cannot be quashed on the ground that investigation is over and trial has not begun.

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Issues: Whether suspension under Rule 10(1)(b) could be set aside merely because investigation was over and the trial had not yet commenced after filing of the charge-sheet.

Analysis: Rule 10 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 permits suspension during the pendency of investigation, inquiry, or trial. The filing of a charge-sheet does not place the delinquent in a better position than during investigation, and the expression is not to be read in a narrow or technical manner so as to exclude the post-investigation, pre-trial stage. Since sanction for prosecution had been obtained and the case was fixed for framing of charges, the ground on which the Tribunal quashed the suspension was not sustainable.

Conclusion: The suspension order was not liable to be quashed on the ground that the matter had moved beyond investigation and the trial had not yet begun.

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