JUDGMENT

K. JAGANNATHA SHETTY, J. :— The civil appeal, by special leave, and the connected SLP raise an important issue as to the power of. the Central Administration Tribunal ("Tribunal") to examine the adequacy of penalty awarded by the competent authority to a Government servant in disciplinary proceedings.

2. Short factual background is this :

Parmanand - Respondent in the appeal was a Time Keeper in Beas Sutlej Link Project, Sundernagar. He was in charge of preparing the pay bills and other bills of the work charged employees of the project. It was alleged that he master-minded and prepared the pay roll pertaining to T Token of Central Survey Division, Sundernagar for the month of May 1969 and entered the name of one Shri Ashok Kumar, Token No. 59-T at serial No. 10 on page 2 of the relevant pay roll. He made this entry with ulterior motive to withdraw the pay of Ashok Kumar for the month of May 1969, even though Ashok Kumar was not working in that Division. A bogus identity card in the name of Ashok Kumar T.No. 59-T with the signatures of the issuing officer was also prepared by the respondent although it was not his duty to prepare the identity card. The said fictitious identity card was used by one Suraj Singh, cleaner T. No. 210-K of Beggi Tunnelling Division for the purpose of withdrawing the pay of Ashok Kumar. While Suraj Singh by impersonation was receiving the pay of Ashok Kumar, he was recognised by the Cashier since he knew him personally. There then started an enquiry followed by departmental proceedings against three persons including the respondent herein. The Personnel Officer of the BSL Project was appointed as Inquiry Officer. The enquiry was conducted under the Punjab Government Servants Conduct Rules, 1966.

3. The Inquiry Officer framed charge against the respondent in the following terms :

"That the said Shri Parma Nand, while working as Time Keeper in Time Keeping Sub-Division of Beas Sutlej Link Project, Sundernagar during the month of May 1969 failed to maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty in as much as he falsely marked the attendance of Shri Ashok Kumar, Token No. 59-T in the Pay Roll of Central Survey Division for the month of May 1969, which resulted in fictitious drawal of Rs. 238.90 as pay of the said Shri Ashok Kumar. He also prepared a bogus identity card in the name of the above Shri Ashok Kumar and initiated it below the signatures of issuing Officer and this identity card was used by Shri Suraj Singh, Cleaner (Token No. 210-K), Beggi Tunnelling Division, at the time of attempting to receive the pay of Shri Ashok Kumar from the Cashier."

4. After a detailed enquiry against the respondent and two others, the Inquiry Officer found all the three guilty of the charge framed against each of them. The report of enquiry was forwarded to the competent authority who after giving an opportunity of being heard dismissed the repondent from service. The other two persons were let off with minor punishments of withholding two or three future increments in their pay scales.

5. The respondent moved the High Court of Himachal Pradesh-under Article 226 challenging the findings of Inquiry officer as well as the order of dismissal passed by the competent authority. During the pendency of the writ petition, a Bench of the Central Tribunal at Chandigarh was constituted under the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985. Consequently, the said writ petition stood transferred to the Tribunal by operation of S. 29 of that Act.

6. The Tribunal upon consideration of the matter agreed with the findings recorded by the Inquiry Officer that the respondent was the master mind behind the scheme to defraud the project. The Tribunal observed :

"Since the applicant had access to the records which were fabricated at the relevant time the Inquiry Officer had come to the conclusion that the applicant was the master mind behind the scheme to defraud the Project.

In view of the foregoing, it cannot be termed that the finding retur