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Issues: (i) whether disciplinary proceedings initiated after retirement could be sustained in the absence of prior sanction of the Governor and when the alleged misconduct was beyond the prescribed four-year period; (ii) whether the enquiry and consequential punishment were vitiated for breach of the principles of natural justice.
Issue (i): whether disciplinary proceedings initiated after retirement could be sustained in the absence of prior sanction of the Governor and when the alleged misconduct was beyond the prescribed four-year period.
Analysis: Regulation 351-A permits withholding or withdrawal of pension and recovery of pecuniary loss from a retired employee only where the proceedings are lawfully instituted with the requisite sanction and relate to an event not more than four years prior to institution. The record did not show valid sanction by the Governor, and no authorization in favour of the Secretary was produced. The alleged misconduct was also stated to be beyond the four-year period contemplated by the regulation.
Conclusion: The proceedings were incompetent and the punishment order could not be sustained.
Issue (ii): whether the enquiry and consequential punishment were vitiated for breach of the principles of natural justice.
Analysis: A departmental enquiry requires supply of relevant documents, examination of witnesses in the delinquent's presence, opportunity of cross-examination, and consideration of the enquiry report and reply before punishment. The petitioner was not shown to have been supplied the demanded documents, the witnesses sought for cross-examination were not produced, and the opportunity of personal hearing was not effectively afforded. The disciplinary authority also failed to demonstrate a proper application of mind before passing the final order.
Conclusion: The enquiry stood vitiated for breach of natural justice.
Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded, the recovery and punishment order was quashed, and the petitioner became entitled to release of the withheld terminal benefits with admissible interest.
Ratio Decidendi: Proceedings against a retired government servant for withholding pension or recovering pecuniary loss can be sustained only if initiated with the required governmental sanction within the regulatory time limit, and any enquiry must conform to the minimum requirements of natural justice, including disclosure of material and opportunity of cross-examination.
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