The main legal principle established is that inordinate delay in concluding disciplinary proceedings, causing prejudice and emotional distress to the accused, may warrant the closure of the proceedings.

ORDER

Dr. S. Muralidhar, CJ. - This matter is taken up by video conferencing mode.

2. This writ petition is directed against the judgment dated 25th April, 2019 passed by the Orissa Administrative Tribunal (OAT), Cuttack Bench, Cuttack in O.A. No.793 (C) of 2017.

3. There is a long history to this litigation. The Petitioner is a Junior Engineer (JE) (Civil) in the office of the Assistant Soil Conservation Officer (ASCO), Nuapada, Orissa functioning in the Agriculture Department, Government of Odisha. On 14th October, 1993, a disciplinary proceeding was initiated against him for alleged irregularities in the execution of a water harvesting structure. This went on for five long years culminating the Director of Soil Conservation (DSC), i.e. Disciplinary Authority (DA) issuing an order dated 11th June, 1998 awarding the Petitioner the punishment inter alia of confirming the period of his suspension, recovering from him 25% of the loss of Rs. 9879 allegedly caused to the Department and directing that he should not be allowed to handle cash anymore and that it should be so recorded in his service book.

4. The Petitioner appealed against the said order to the Principal Secretary to the Government, Agriculture Department (Appellate Authority) who by an order dated 25th July 2000 set aside the above punishment imposed by the DA holding it to be suffering from procedural defects since it was realized that the DSC is not competent to draw up disciplinary proceedings against the Petitioner who was a JE (Civil) who belonged to the Agriculture Department. While the case was remanded to the DA to conduct fresh enquiry by initiating proceeding against two other persons who had been proceeded against along with the Petitioner, no similar direction was issued as regards the Petitioner.

5. It appears that another disciplinary proceeding was initiated against the Petitioner by the DSC by an order dated 24th December, 2002 under Rule 15 of the OCS (CCA) Rules, 1962 for alleged acts of misconduct during 1998 while he was working as JE under the ASCO, Chitrakonda. However, after realising that the DSC was not the competent authority to do so and that the Petitioner's appointing authority was the Director of Agricultural and Food Production (DAFP), who alone was competent to initiate disciplinary proceedings against a JE (Civil), the DSC by an order dated 25th May, 2007 dropped the said proceedings.

6. The DSC then forwarded the case of the Petitioner to the Commissioner-cum-Director, Agriculture and Food Production Department for initiation of departmental proceeding. Challenging that order the Petitioner filed O.A. No.1938(C) of 2007 before the OAT. The said application was disposed of by the OAT by order dated 8th August, 2007 directing the Principal Secretary, Agriculture Department to treat the application as a representation and dispose of it within period of two months.

7. Pursuant thereto the Deputy Secretary in the Agriculture Department wrote a letter dated 9th October, 2007 to the DSC stating that all the disciplinary proceedings initiated against the present Petitioner be dropped and no fresh disciplinary proceeding should be drawn up at the level of the DAFP on the same set of charges for which he has already been exonerated by the earlier order dated 25th July, 2000.

8. Notwithstanding the above, fresh disciplinary proceeding was again initiated by the DAFP by Memo dated 24th August, 2010 with charges concerning his alleged misconduct way back in 1998 while he was serving in the office of the ASCO, Chitrakunda, and in respect of which the proceedings which had been initiated on 24th December 2002 had already been dropped on 25th May, 2007. A second disciplinary proceeding was initiated on 17th September, 2010 by the DAFP pertaining to the same charges of alleged misconduct of the Petitioner while he was serving in the office of the ASCO, Nuapada, in 1993 and which again had already been dropped on 25th July, 2000.

9. The Petitioner again ma