JUDGMENT

KRISHNA IYER, J :— The appellant, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, has by special leave come up in appeal attacking the decree of the High Court which affirmed the concurrent judgments of the courts below declaring the order of dismissal of the respondent void.

2. The facts so far as they are relevant for this appeal may be briefly set out.The respondent was a Sewer Inspector appointed in 1958 by the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation. In 1961, he was suspended for alleged delinquency. This was followed by a departmental disciplinary enquiry which resulted in his dismissal by the Deputy Commissioner on October 25, 1962. Of course,this order had been preceded by a regular enquiry after giving an opportunity to the delinquent officerto be heard. After the dismissal order by the Deputy Commissioner, an appeal was carried to the Commissioner by the respondent but it proved fruitless because the Commissioner after examining the merits of the matter concurred in the conclusion regarding the guilt and punishment. Thereafter, the respondent brought a suit challenging the validity of the order of dismissaland for a declaration that he is deemed to have continued in service des