Fresh departmental enquiry after technical quashing was permissible, and full suspension salary could not be claimed without separate legal basis.

Quashing of an earlier reversion order on a technical ground, followed by reinstatement, did not bar a fresh departmental enquiry on the same charges; the second enquiry and fresh reversion were therefore legally permissible. The claim for full salary during suspension also failed because the reduced amount paid had been affirmed in the operative reversion order, and no separate legal basis was shown for higher payment. The challenge to both the fresh enquiry and the suspension pay claim was rejected, and the High Court's dismissal of the writ petition was upheld.

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Issues: (i) Whether a second departmental enquiry and a fresh order of reversion could be sustained on the same charges after the earlier reversion order had been quashed and reinstatement had followed; (ii) Whether the appellant was entitled to full salary for the period of suspension.

Issue (i): Whether a second departmental enquiry and a fresh order of reversion could be sustained on the same charges after the earlier reversion order had been quashed and reinstatement had followed.

Analysis: The earlier reversion was set aside on a technical ground and not on an adjudication on merits. Reinstatement pursuant to that quashing did not bar the Government from initiating a fresh enquiry on the same charges. The second enquiry was therefore legally permissible.

Conclusion: The challenge to the second enquiry and the fresh order of reversion failed and was rejected.

Issue (ii): Whether the appellant was entitled to full salary for the period of suspension.

Analysis: The reduced amount paid during suspension had been affirmed as part of the order of reversion itself, and no independent basis was shown for awarding full salary for that period.

Conclusion: The claim for full salary during the suspension period was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The dismissal of the writ petition by the High Court was upheld, and the appeal failed in its entirety.

Ratio Decidendi: Quashing of an order on a technical ground and consequent reinstatement do not preclude a fresh departmental enquiry on the same charges, and suspension pay as fixed in the operative order cannot be claimed as full salary without a separate legal basis.

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