By the Court.—For determination the common questions are involved in all the writ petitions, therefore, we proposed to decide all the writ petitions by following common order.

2. The petitioner has assailed the jurisdiction of the Managing Director to impose a penalty of dismissal of his service alongwith direction of recovery against losses caused to the State Exchequer. The service condition of the staff of U.P. Warehousing Corporation are governed under the U.P. State Warehousing Corporation Staff Regulations, 1961 (in short Staff Regulations).

3. In order to administer the corporation the several bodies have been incorporated like Board of Director, Executive Committee and Managing Director. In the matter of disciplinary proceedings the staff regulations holds the field.

4. Regulation 16 provides the provision of imposition of penalties. Section 16 is extracted below :

16. Imposition of penalties.—

1. Any employee committing a breach of regulations of the Corporation or being guilty of negligence, inefficiency or indolence in performance of his duties or knowingly doing anything detrimental to the interest of the Corporation or in conflict with its instructions or committing a breach of discipline or being guilty of any other act of misconduct or misdemeanour or being convicted of a criminal offence shall be liable to any one or more of the following penalties :

a. fine.

b. Censure

c. postponement or stoppage of increments or promotion,

d. reduction to a lower in his permanent class or to a lower stage in his incremental scale,

e. recovery from pay, security deposit or otherwise of the whole or part of the pecuniary loss caused to the Corporation by the employee,

f. removal,

g. dismissal,(Akhtar Husain Khan, J.) (Shri Narayan Shukla, J.)

provided that the penalty of fine shall be imposed on employees of class III only.

2. The power to impose a penalty under sub-para (1) shall be exercised.

(i) In the case of class-I employees other than the Managing Director, in respect of all penalties except the penalty specified in items (b) and (c) of sub-para (1), by the Executive Committee,

(ii) In the case of Class II employees in the pay scale of Rs. 625-1240 and above in respect of all penalties, and the case of Class I employees referred in clause (i) respect of the penalty specified in items (b) and (c) of sub-para (1) by the Managing Director and in case of class II and III employees below the pay scale of Rs. 625-1240 in respect of all penalties, by the Deputy Managing Director.

(iii) In the case of Managing Director, in respect of all penalties, by the Board of Directors in consultation with the Central Warehousing Corporation and with the previous approval of the State Government.

(3) No punishment other than that specified in sub-para (1)(a), (1)(b) or (1)(c) shall be imposed on any employee without formal charges being framed against him and without giving him an opportunity for tendering an explanation in writing and cross-examining the witnesses against him, if any, and of producing evidence in defence,

Provided that punishment to an employee on deputation from the Central Government, a State Government or a Government Institution shall be imposed only in accordance with the procedure and rules laid down in this behalf in his parent service.”

5. The petitioner has been imposed a penalty of dismissal from service as well as recovery from pay. These penalties are covered under Clause e and g of Regulation 16(1) of the Staff Regulations.

Sub-section 2 provides that the power to impose a penalty under sub-para (1) shall be exercised.

(i) In the case of Class-I employee other than Managing Director, in respect of all penalties except the penalty specified in items (b) and (c) of sub-para (1), by the Executive Committee.

6. The petitioner had been working as Class-I employee and since the penalties imposed upon him are governed under the purview of clause e and g that is different to item b and c. the power to impose i