JUDGMENT

S.B. SINHA, J. —

1.Leave granted.

2.This appeal is directed against a Judgment and order dated 08.09.2006 passed by a Division Bench of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in Letters Patent Appeal No. 174 of 2006, affirming the Judgment and Order dated 11.07.2006 passed by a learned Single Judge of the said Court in CWP No. 1902 of 2001 whereby the Writ Petition filed by the respondent herein challenging the correctness or otherwise of the orders dated 27.09.1999 and 01.12.2000 passed by the Disciplinary Authority and the Appellate Authority respectively, was allowed in part by converting the punishment of removal from the service of the respondent into compulsory retirement with effect from the date of superannuation i.e. 01.11.1996.

3.The basic fact of the matter is not in dispute. Appellant No.1 herein is a Nationalised Bank. It framed several regulations in exercise of its power conferred upon it under Section 19 (2) of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, inter alia, UCO Bank Officer Employees’ Services Regulations, 1979. The Government of India launched a scheme known as ‘Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana’ (PMRY) with