Court No. - 5
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 8351 of 2021 Petitioner :- Dinesh Tiwari Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 6 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Jamil Ahamad Azmi Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Saral Srivastava,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Standing Counsel for the respondents.
The petitioner, by means of the present writ petition, has assailed the suspension order dated 11.01.2021 passed by the respondent no.4-District Development Officer, Azamgarh and order dated 07.01.2021 passed by the respondent no.3-District Magistrate, Azamgarh, whereby he has determined the loss of Rs.20,26,380/- to the State Government due to illegal action of the Ex-Pradhan and, accordingly, directed for recovery of half of the aforesaid amount, i.e.,10,13,190/- from the petitioner as an arrears of land revenue and half of the amount from the Ex- Pradhan.
It appears that during the pendency of the writ petition, the inquiry against the petitioner has been concluded and the charge no.2 is found proved against the petitioner and on the basis of the enquiry report, an order of punishment has been passed by the District Development Officer/Appointing Authority against the petitioner on 06.07.2021.
By the said order, the petitioner has been reinstated till the Writ Petition No.15193 of 2021 is decided by this Court, the copy of which has been annexed as Annexure SA-2 to the supplementary affidavit, which has been filed today, and is taken on record.
So far as the suspension order is concerned, this Court finds that since the petitioner has been reinstated, therefore, no cause of action survives for the petitioner against the suspension order.
However, so far as the recovery order 07.01.2021 passed by the respondent no.3-District Magistrate, Azamgarh is concerned, it is alleged that the same has been passed in violation of principal of natural justice, inasmuch as no opportunity of hearing was afforded to the petitioner.
He further submits that the said recovery cannot be enforced against the petitioner, inasmuch as on the order of recovery, the charges of embezzlement or misappropriation has not been proved against the petitioner.
Learned counsel for the respondent could not point out from the record that any notice or opportunity was ever afforded to the petitioner before passing the impugned order of recovery.
Accordingly, this Court finds substance in the submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the petitioner that order of recovery is not sustainable being violation of principal of natural justice.
Accordingly, the order dated 07.01.2021 passed by the respondent no.3-District Magistrate, Azamgarh is hereby set aside.
It is open for the authorities concerned to pass final order against the petitioner within a period of two months from the date of production of a copy of this order, downloaded from the official website of Allahabad High Court.
The writ petition is allowed subject to the observations made above.
Order Date :- 30.7.2021/NS