JUDGMENT:

S.B. SINHA, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 8th March, 2006 passed by a Division Bench of the High Court of Bombay in Writ Petition No. 3748 of 2003 whereby it allowed the writ petition filed by the respondents herein from the judgment and order dated 6th January, 2003 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Mumbai Bench, in O.A. No. 283 of 2002.

3. Appellant herein was working as Booking Supervisor with the Central Railways. He was transferred to Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus in December, 1997. On or about 17th April, 1998 a decoy check was laid in the course whereof he was found to have overcharged a sum of Rs.5/- on the ticket issued to a decoy passenger. A departmental proceeding was initiated wherein the following imputations of charges were drawn :-

"Article - I: He overcharged the decoy passenger by Rs. 5/- (Rs. Five) on issue of one M/E Ticket No. 8148090 Ex. CSTM to Bhubaneshwar.

Article - II: He was found having Rs. 199/- (Rs. One hundred ninety nine) short in his railway cash.

Article - III: He declared his private cash in computer that the monetary ceiling for the satisfactory staff, without being certified by the supervisor in the private cash register."

4. In the said departmental proceeding, appellant inter alia raised a contention as regard to non compliance of paragraphs 704 and 705 of the Railway Vigilance Manual (the Manual) in the manner in which the purported trap was laid. It was furthermore contended that provisions of Rule 9(21) of the Railway Servant Discipline and Appeal Rules have not been complied with.

5. The Appellant was found guilty of the said charges in the said departmental proceeding. A penalty of reduction to the lowest scale of pay fixing his pay at the lowest level at Rs.3,200/- for a period of five years was imposed. An appeal and consequently a revision preferred by him were dismissed by the Appellate Authority as also the Revisional Authority by orders dated 31st May, 2000 and 7th November, 2000 respectively.

6. He filed an O.A. before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Mumbai Bench. It was registered as O.A. No. 283 of 2002. By reason of a judgment and order dated 6th January, 2003, the same was allowed opining that in terms of paragraphs 704 and 705 of the Manual, the trap ought to have been laid in presence of the independent witness or Gazetted Officer and as only one Head Constable of the RPF and not two Gazetted Officers had been assigned to witness the trap and furthermore the Head Constable was at a distance of more than 30 meters, he could not have heard the conversations by and between the appellant and the decoy passenger and thus the charges could not be said to have been proved. It was moreover found that the decoy passenger neither counted the money at the window nor protested that the balance amount was less by Rs.5/-, and in fact admitted to have left the window and came back half an hour later with the Vigilance Inspector which pointed out loopholes in the trap. It was pointed out that the appellant was not examined by the Enquiry Officer in terms of the provisions of Rule 9(21) of the Railway Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules (the Rules), which is mandatory in nature. It was also held that there was no evidence as regards the charge of returning Rs.5/- less to the complainant.

7. Aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the said judgment of the Tribunal, the respondents filed a writ petition before the High Court. By reason of the impugned judgment dated 8th March, 2006 the said writ petition was allowed by the High Court opining that the Central Administrative Tribunal in its original order having entered into the realm of evidence and re-appreciated the same, exceeded its jurisdiction.

8. Mr. A.K. Sanghi, learned counsel appearing on behalf of t