Hon’ble Sudhir Agarwal, J.—The short grievance raised by the petitioner in this writ petition is that in respect to the charges, on which departmental enquiry is being conducted against him, a criminal proceeding has also been initiated and, therefore, so long as the criminal proceeding is going on, the authorities cannot proceed with the departmental enquiry and, therefore, a writ of mandamus has been sought for staying the pending departmental enquiry. Reliance is placed on the Apex Court’s decision in Capt. M. Paul Anthony v. Bharat Gold Mines Ltd. and another, 1999 (3) SCC 679.

2. In my view, the submission is thoroughly misconceived. The Apex Court, in Capt. M. Paul (supra) has clearly held that the departmental as well as criminal, both the proceedings, can go on simultaneously as there is no bar in their being conducted simultaneously. The question as to whether during the pendency of criminal proceeding, the departmental proceeding should be stayed depends upon the facts and circumstances of the individual case. In Ajit Kumar Nag v. General Manager I.O.C., JT 2005 (8) SC 425, the Apex Court said that the procedure followed in both the cases as well as the subject ma