Judgment

VARADARAJAN, J.:- These appeals by special leave have been filed against two judgments of a Division Bench of the Orissa High Court (C. A. No. 389 of 1981) arising out of the judgment in Original Jurisdiction Case No. 832 of 1977 and C. As. Nos. 2119-2121 of 1979 arising out of Original Jurisdiction Cases Nos. 1261 of 1976 and 833 and 834 of 1977 respectively. P. N. L. Das, the respondent in C. A. No. 389 of 1981 was appointed as a Booking Clerk in the South Eastern Railway in 1955, and had been duly confirmed at that post. M. B. Patnaik, the respondent in C. A. No. 2119 of 1979, was working as a confirmed Commercial Clerk at Khurda Road in the South Eastern Railway, having been appointed in January-February 1964. D. Sahu and S. C. Mitra, the respondents in C. As. Nos. 2020 and 2021 of 1979 respectively were working as confirmed Booking Clerks in the South Eastern Railway at about the same time. A departmental enquiry was initiated against these four respondents and three others, namely, Ch. N. Murty, B. S. N. Rao and B. Papa Rao in 1964 on the basis of a report of the Travelling Inspector of Accounts, and two charges were framed against them. The second charge was not pres