( 1 ) THE question that falls for decision in this appeal is whether an employee after his acquittal by a Court of law from a charge under Section 409 IPC can be made to face a departmental proceeding on the same charge and be inflicted with penalty of removal from service. Respondent was holding the post of Officer-in-charge in the office of the appellant and was put on trial on charge of misappropriation of Rs. 17,185-07 said to have been committed during the period from 16-8-1969 to 21-7-1973. The case ended in conviction, but in appeal to this Court, he was acquitted holding the charges as having not been proved. Thereafter, departmental proceedings were started on two heads of charges the first being that the respondent had misappropriate Rs. 17,185-07 during the period 16-8-1969 to 21-7-1973, and the other being that he had received different amounts for credit to the Savings Bank Accounts at the Sub-Office but did not account for the amounts in those offices. Respondent denied the charges but the Enquiry Officer found him guilty of both the charges and thereafter on the second notice being issued, and the respondent had submitted his reply, the punishment was imposed.

( 2 ) IN the judgment under appeal, the learned single Judge examined the question in detail and held, relying upon Corporation of Nagpur v. Ramachandra G. Modak AIR 1984 SC 626 and R. P. Kapur v. Union of India AIR 1964 SC 787 that when the charges are identical and the evidence is common and the grounds taken in the departmental proceedings are identical with those in the criminal case, the exercise again gone through by departmental proceedings would be really unnecessary as the public servant already been acquitted of the same on consideration of the evidence and materials on record by the Criminal Court. The view was taken by the learned single Judge, explaining the observations in Corporation of Nagpur (supra) holding that normally where a person is acquitted honourably, it would not be expedient to continue the departmental enquiry on the very same charges, the proposition being based on the sound principle that when a public servant has been acquitted honourably in a criminal case, it does not serve any purpose to subject him to a departmental enquiry on the very same charges again. He also held that it would be a different matter if the charges levelled against the public servant are of different nature and covered a different are altogether, which had not been the subject matter of the criminal charges.

( 3 ) THE question as to the competence and propriety of initiation of departmental proceedings on the self-same charges of which the delinquent has been acquitted has been examined successively by different Courts and considerable case law has developed on the subject. Almost all such decisions appear to have been taken into account by a Division Bench of this Court in general Manager, APSRTC v. K. Seshagiri Rao 1991 (2) An. W. R. 49 where in it was observed as follows : "the conclusion deducible from the precedents is that even if the charges were the same in a criminal proceeding and in a disciplinary proceedings and the former ends in acquittal by the Criminal Courts it is open to the disciplinary authority to continue departmental proceedings if the authority is satisfied that there are sufficient evidence and good grounds to proceed with the inquiry. The authorities, are however, to be governed by the Rule of caution that they shall advert to and take into account the fact of acquittal; but they are not precluded from initiating or continuing the disciplinary proceedings, if that course is warranted by the circumstances of the case. " Corporation of Nagpur (supra) was also considered in that case. Hence the view unequivocally taken was that merely because the charges in the criminal case and the departmental proceedings are identical and the employee has been acquitted of the charges by the Criminal Court, the authority and jurisdiction of

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