An officer must be acquitted of blame to be entitled to full pay and allowances during the period of suspension under Rule 57 of the Kerala Service Rules.

The petitioner was working as a Finger Print Expert in the Police Department at Kottayam when he was arrested and remanded to the Sub Jail, Pathanamthitta on 18-8-1980 as an accused in Crime No. 94/80 of the Aranmula Police Station. The incident in respect of which he was arrested and detained took place on 15-8-1980, when, it is stated, eleven persons, including the petitioner, formed themselves into an unlawful assembly in his house and abused one Abdullah, Secretary of the Kalbor Jama Ath, and pelted stones at his house on account of some differences of opinion arising in the Jama ath. This was met with counter action by the other faction, namely the sympathizers of Abdullah. A clash resulted in the course of which one person died. A crime case was registered wherein the petitioner figured as the eleventh accused. lle was arrested on 18-8-1980 and remanded to the Sub Jail by the Judicial Magistrate of the Second Class, Pathanamthitta on 19-8-1980.

2. On receipt of information about the arrest, the first respondent, Deputy Inspector General of Police, specifically passed an order Ext.P1 on 21-8-1980 placing the petitioner under suspension with effect from 18-8-1980, though Rule 10(3) of the Kerala Civil Services (Classification, Control and appeal) Rules, 1960 and Rule 57 of Part I of the Kerala Service Rules (K.S.R.) deemed such an officer in custody for more than forty eight hours to have been suspended from the date of detention. The investigation in the case was completed and the accused were charge-sheeted on 24-3-1981. The petitioner made a request that he may be reinstated on sympathetic grounds in view of the hardship, and the difficulties faced by him, to maintain his family. The petitioner was thereupon reinstated in service by the proceedings Ext.P2 of the Deputy Inspector General, dated 25-8-1981, without prejudice to the disciplinary proceedings pending against him.

3. The case against the petitioner and others was committed to Sessions. The Sessions Judge, Quilon acquitted all the accused by his judgment dated 4th August 1982, an extract of which is produced as Ext.R1. The learned Sessions Judge observed:

"What appears to have taken place in the instant case is that there was a fight between two factions in the course of which they freely made use of weapons and both sides suffered injuries. But the injury of one turned out to be fatal and he died. llowever, it is not clear as to which of the factions was the aggressor or the victim. Under such circumstances, it is extremely difficult to say that the accused are the persons responsible for the crime and at any rate, I feel, they are entitled to benefit of doubt. Considering all these aspects, I find that the prosecution has failed to bring home the guilt of the accused for offences punishable under Ss.143, 147, 148, 447, 323, 324, 302 read with section 149 I.P.C., beyond reasonable doubt. In that view of the matter I hold that the accused are entitled to an order of acquittal".

4. No disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the petitioner while the criminal case was pending, or thereafter. After the acquittal, the petitioner made request to the first respondent on 30-12-1982 to treat the period of his suspension from 18-8-1980 to 25-8-1981 as spent on duty for all purposes, and to pay him the arrears of salary for the period. The first respondent however, issued notice Ext.P4, dated 11-8-1983, to the petitioner, to show cause why the period of suspension may not be treated as period spent on duty for the limited purpose of pension and as to why the pay and allowances payable to the petitioner during that period should not be restricted to the subsistence allowance already drawn. The petitioner showed cause by his reply Ext.P6 in which he contended that he had been acquitted of blame by the Sessions Court and therefore under Rule 57 of Part I of the Kerala Service Rules, he was entitled to be paid the full pay and allowances during the period of s