Suspension after criminal acquittal: service rule required duty status with full pay and allowances, and denied enquiry safeguards.

After acquittal on merits in a criminal case, the applicable service rule governing suspension following prosecution required the authority to treat the suspension period as duty with full pay and allowances. The analysis states that concepts such as honourable acquittal or full exoneration were immaterial under that rule, and the real question was whether the employee had been acquitted of blame. It also notes that refusal to hold a departmental enquiry or permit cross-examination before passing the impugned order was inconsistent with that position. The compulsory retirement challenge had already become infructuous, and the suspension-related relief was granted.

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Issues: Whether, after acquittal in the criminal case, the petitioner was entitled under the applicable service rules to have the suspension period treated as duty with full pay and allowances, and whether the enquiry should have proceeded under the special rule governing suspension following prosecution.

Analysis: The acquittal was held to be on merits, the criminal prosecution having failed to establish guilt, and not a case where the acquittal could be discounted on the footing that the petitioner had not been fully exonerated. In service matters of this kind, the special provision governing suspension consequent upon a criminal charge was held to be the relevant rule, and concepts such as honourable acquittal or full exoneration were treated as immaterial. The authority was required to consider whether the petitioner had been acquitted of blame, and the refusal to afford a departmental enquiry or an opportunity of cross-examination before passing the impugned order was inconsistent with that position. The challenge relating to compulsory retirement under the separate rule had already become infructuous.

Conclusion: The petitioner was entitled to the relief that the suspension period be treated as duty with full pay and allowances, and the impugned order denying that benefit was set aside.

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