Dama Seshadri Naidu, J.

The issue in this writ petition, facile as it may appear, is whether an incumbent officer can be made liable and answerable to the misdeeds of his predecessor-in-office on the premise that the misdeeds were committed by the delinquent while answering a particular description as an officer rather than as an individual. In other words, does the offence or misdeed run with the office, rather than with the delinquent, the individual?

2. On the factual front, the petitioner is the Manager of Ackiparamba U.P. School, which is an aided school situated at Taliparamba North in Kannur District. Prior to him, one Mr. T.K. Balakumar was the Manager till 12.01.2011. On his death, one Mr. Chandran succeeded him in office, where after the petitioner was made the Manager on 16.05.2011. The petitioner is said to be continuing in the said post.

3. It is brought on record that while Mr. T.K. Bala Kumar was the Manager of the school, he had initiated disciplinary action against one Smt. K.V. Vasantha Prabha, the HM of school. As part of the said disciplinary proceedings, he suspended her from service from 29.10.2009 to 16.03.2010 and from 18.03.2010 to 21.03.2010. The authorities, however, conducted a detailed enquiry and came to a conclusion that there was no justification and valid ground for the suspension of Smt. K.V. Vasantha Prabha, the HM. Accordingly, the then Manager, Mr. T.K. Balakumar, was directed by the respondent No.3 to reinstate the HM retroactively from the date of initial suspension in accordance with Rule 67(B), Chapter XIV, Kerala Education Rules. As the suspension was based on 'frivolous and cooked up charges', the pay and allowances required to be paid to the teacher for the period she had been kept out of service were ordered to be recovered from the Manager as per provisions of KER.

4. The record further reveals that, Mr. T.K. Balakumar, against whom the recovery proceedings were sought to be initiated, died on 12.01.2011. Consequently, the Society appointed one Mr. K. Chandran as Manager and correspondent of the school from 16.01.2011 to 15.05.2011, when his services too were terminated. Upon such termination of the services of Mr. K. Chandran, the Petitioner was appointed the President of the Society and Manager of the School from 16.05.2011 onwards as per the Executive Committee Meeting of Sree Puthiyedath Kavu Temple Cultural Educational Society held on 12.05.2011.

5. Notwithstanding these changes, the respondent authorities decided to recover from the Manager the pay and allowances paid to the Headmistress, who, it was found, had been kept out of service without any justification by Mr. T.K. Balakumar, the then Manager. Accordingly, revenue recovery proceedings were initiated by the 2nd respondent. Based on the letter No.B5/24016/09, dated 01.09.2011, received from the Director of Public Instruction, Thiruvananthapuram, the 2nd respondent requested the 4th respondent, under intimation to the 3rd respondent, to take steps to recover the amount from the Manager by invoking the Revenue Recovery Act. In fact, the 3rd respondent, on his part, issued Ext. P3, a letter dated 01.09.2011, directing the petitioner to take steps to remit the amount of Rs.1,02,985/- to the Government.

6. Assailing Ext.P3, the petitioner filed the present writ petition.

7. The learned counsel for the petitioner has contended that, at the time when the then Headmistress was placed under suspension in 2010, the petitioner had not been at the helm of the affairs. Referring to the sequence of events, the learned counsel has submitted that the petitioner assumed charge only on 16.05.2011, and that, prior to that period, if there were to be any statutory violations causing financial loss to the Government, the petitioner could not be penalised for it. Accordingly, the learned counsel has urged this Court to quash Ext.P3 as being illegal and arbitrary.

8. Per contra, the learned Government Pleader has strenuously contended that