( 1 ) RESPONDENT No. 4 was an employee of Life insurance Corporation of India Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "lic"), the appellant abovenamed. He was working at material times at Burdwan Branch office of the appellant. He was chargesheeted on the ground of embezzlement of fund. Specific charge against the said respondent was that he credited accounts of various policy holders for a long time whereas those policy holders did not in fact pay the premiums for the quarters for which their accounts were credited. He replied to the chargesheet by taking a plea that because of pressure of work there had been wrong entries recorded in the books of accounts. In fact he did not make any illegal gain out of such wrong entries. Relevant extract of his reply is quoted below:

"irregularities as pointed out in your letter under reply were not deliberately done by me. And it may be, that due to pressure from my then Sr. Branch Manager for maximum amount of deposit adjustments coupled with my family worries and anxieties. . . . I might have committed some mistake resulting in the irregularities as mentioned in your letter but I would once again like to state that this wa