JUDGMENT :

Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, J.

Leave granted.

2. These appeals arise from a judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Madras dated 6.2.2015 by which writ appeals filed by the State of Tamil Nadu against the judgment of a learned Single Judge were dismissed.

3. The learned Single Judge, while disposing of the writ petitions filed by two employees of the State, interfered with the punishment of removal from service on the ground that it was shockingly disproportionate. The Single Judge substituted it by directing the stoppage of increments for a period of two years without cumulative effect.

4. The two employees, M. Mangayarkarasi and M. Jayalakshmi, were working as Superintendent and Accountant respectively in the District Treasury at Salem. The charges against them were of having admitted and sanctioned bills of the office of the Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes without proper verification, in accordance with the departmental procedures.

5. The case of the State is that during the period 1997-2000, a fraud involving misappropriation of a su