JUDGMENT :

(Rohit B. Deo, J.)

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith.

2. The petitioner secured appointment as Peon on compassionate ground in view of the death in harness of his father, Mr. Babulal Lilhare, who was working with respondent 1 – Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) as Lineman.

3. Condition 12 of the appointment order dated 6-10-2018 stipulates that the character and antecedents verification form included with the appointment order shall be filled in by the employee while reporting on duty and that if the verification reveals adverse character or antecedent, the employee shall be terminated. Column 11 of the attestation form reads thus :

11.(a) Have you ever been arrested/prosecuted/kept under detention, or bound down/fined/convicted by a court of law for any offence or debarred/disqualified by any Public Service Commission from appearing at its examination/ selections or debarred from taking any examination/rusticated by any University or any other educational authority/institution ?

(b) Is any case pending against you in any court of law, University or any other educational authority/Institution at the time of filing up this attestation form ?

(c) Whether he/she is facing any criminal prosecution in any court and if yes to state details thereof such as case number, in which court the case is pending under which section, etc.,

[If the answer to (a) or (b) or (c) is Yes, fill particulars of the case, arrest, detention, fine, conviction, sentence, etc. and the nature of the case pending in the Court/ University/Educational authority etc. at the time of filling up this form should be given]

(Note :- Please also see the ‘Warning’ at the top of this Attestation Form)

4. The warning to which attention of the employee is invited, reads thus :

WARNING :- The furnishing of false information or suppression of any factual information in the Attestation would be a disqualification and is likely to render the candidate unfit for employment in the MSEDCL.

2. If detained, convicted, debarred etc. subsequent to the completion and submission of this form, the details should be communicated, immediately to the appointing authority or the authority to whom the attestation form has been sent earlier as the case may be. Failure to do so will be deemed to be, suppression of factual information.

3. If the fact that false information has been furnished or that there has been suppression of any factual information in the attestation form comes to notice at any time, during the service of a person, his service should be liable to be terminated.

5. The service conditions of the employees are regulated by the Classification and Recruitment Regulations, 2005 (2005 Regulations). Clause 16 of the 2005 Regulations reads thus :

16. Any candidate who is found to have knowingly furnished any particulars which are false or to have suppressed material information of a character which, if known, would ordinarily have debarred him from getting appointment in the service of the Company, is liable to be disqualified and if appointed, to be dismissed from service.

6. It is not in dispute that the petitioner did not fill in the information specified in column 11 of the attestation form. The MSEDCL sought the report of the police as part of the verification of the character and antecedents of the petitioner. The police report dated 31-10-2018 revealed that the petitioner is arraigned as accused in Crime 99/2018 registered for offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 149, 323, 294, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with Section 3(1)(r)(s) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 [Atrocities Act] and the final report is filed under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

7. The petitioner was served with show cause notice dated 20-5-2019 asking him to show cause why he should not be terminated in view of the suppression of material information, partic