Honourable exoneration in departmental enquiry can justify quashing criminal prosecution where conviction becomes highly improbable.

Criminal prosecution may be quashed where a departmental enquiry on the same facts and charges has honourably exonerated the accused and makes conviction highly improbable. Here, the enquiry record showed that key witnesses did not support the allegation, the charge was not established, and the evidence indicated that no untoward incident occurred. The petitioner was treated as duty-bound for the suspension period and granted consequential benefits, which amounted to honourable exoneration on the same factual foundation as the criminal case. Continuing the prosecution on those facts would amount to an abuse of process, so the criminal proceeding was liable to be quashed.

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Issues: Whether the criminal proceeding was liable to be quashed on the ground that the petitioner had been honourably exonerated in the departmental enquiry on the same facts and charges.

Analysis: The departmental enquiry records showed that the material witnesses did not support the allegation, the charge relating to the incident was not established, and the evidence indicated that no untoward incident had occurred. On that basis, the petitioner was treated as duty-bound for the suspension period and granted consequential benefits, which amounted to honourable exoneration on the same factual foundation as the criminal case. The governing principle applied was that while departmental and criminal proceedings are ordinarily independent, criminal prosecution should not be permitted to continue where the departmental finding on the same set of facts makes conviction highly improbable and continuation would amount to abuse of process.

Conclusion: The criminal proceeding was liable to be quashed in view of the petitioner's honourable exoneration in the departmental enquiry.

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