JUDGMENT

V. Kameswar Rao, J. - Vide this common order I shall dispose of the three writ petitions being W.P.(C) 2846/2017, W.P.(C) 3910/2017 and W.P.(C) 3915/2017.

2. The common respondent in all three writ petitions is a public sector bank which falls within the definition of the State under Article 12 of the Constitution of India and under the administrative control of the Ministry of Finance.

3. The short issue that arises for consideration in all these petitions is whether departmental proceedings can be initiated against an employee who has retired from the services of the respondent bank when it is in respect of an event which took place more than four years before the institution of the proceedings, in view of Punjab and Sind Bank (Employees) Pension Regulations,1995 ('Pension Regulations', for short).

W.P.(C) 2846/2017

4. The petitioner herein joined the services of the respondent Bank on November 07, 1975 as a probationary officer and retired from its services as a Deputy General Manager posted at Chandigarh on October 31, 2012 on attaining superannuation.

5. It is stated b