Judgment

J.S. Khehar, J.

1. The Appellant was holding charge of the post of Senior Accounts Officer, in the office of the Controller of Defence Accounts, during the period 1992 to 1994, when it was discovered that 36 fraudulent claims came to be authorized by him, resulting in the unauthorised release of an approximate amount of Rs. 42.24 lakhs.

2. The investigative process, indicated the involvement of large number of officers, including Lt. Col. Pakki Rama Shankar Rao. This led to the registration of a first information report bearing No. RC AC 11998 A0002 dated 20.05.1998 at police station CBI/SPE/ACU(I) District New Delhi. Eventually, a charge sheet bearing No. 2 dated 6.9.1999 came to be filed, wherein the Appellant was arrayed as accused No. 1.

3. Simultaneously, with the initiation of criminal proceedings, the authorities issued a charge memo dated 7.7.1998 to the Appellant, wherein he was accused of four articles of charge. The articles of charge levelled against the Appellant are being extracted hereunder:

Article I

That the said Shri H.L. Gulati, SAO while functioning as Sr. Accounts Officer-in-Charge 'M' Section during the period 16.10.92 to 15.10.94 in the Office of CDA (HQRS