An employee is entitled to full salary during suspension only if fully exonerated or if the suspension is deemed wholly unjustified. Absent such findings, the disciplinary authority has the discretion to regulate the suspension period, and courts will generally not interfere with proportionate disciplinary penalties.

ORAL JUDGMENT

(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHARGAV D. KARIA)

1. Heard Mr. Prabhakar Upadhyay, learned advocate appearing for petitioner No.1, and learned Senior Advocate Mr. Gautam Joshi, assisted by learned advocate Mr. K. M. Antani, appearing for the respondent.

2. Both these petitions are related to a common issue and therefore, the prayers made therein are also related in nature. Both these petitions were heard analogously and are being disposed of by this common Judgment and Order.

3. By this petition being Special Civil Application No.19546 of 2017, under Articles 226 and 311 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for the following reliefs:

“A. Your Lordship may kindly be pleased to issue appropriate Writ, Order, direction and thereby issue Writ of Mandamus to quash and set aside the impugned Order dated 14.02.2017 vide Order No.A.0734/2010 at Annexure-F to this petition, in the interest of justice;

B. Your Lordships may kindly be pleased to hold and declared that the punishment imposed by the Ld. Disciplinary Authority is ex-facie illegal, unjust, unfair & contrary to the facts and evidences and further be pleased to direct the present respondent to release the increment withheld by the present respondent in pursuance to the order dated 14.02.2017 vide Order No.A.0734/2010 and further be pleased to pay the arrears of salary and other consequential benefits to the present petitioner in the interest of justice;”

4. Brief facts of the case are as under:

4.1 The petitioner was appointed to the post of Judicial Magistrate, First Class and Civil Judge (Junior Division) with effect from 15.04.2002 and was initially posted at Godhra, District Panchmahal. Thereafter, the petitioner was transferred to Patdi, District Surendranagar; to Siddhpur, District Patan; and at Garbada, District Dahod, as Judicial Magistrate (First Class).

4.2 The petitioner was promoted as Civil Judge (Senior Division) and Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate with effect from 13.07.2010 and was posted as 11th Senior Civil Judge and Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate at Jamnagar.

4.3 The respondent, by order dated 13.09.2010, placed the petitioner under suspension with effect from the date of service of the said order. It was further observed therein that the petitioner would be paid Subsistence Allowance and other allowances as admissible under Rule 68 of the Gujarat Civil Services (Joining Time, Foreign Service, Deputation out of India, Payment During Suspension, Dismissal and Removal) Rules, 2002 (for short, ‘the Rules, 2002’). It was also stipulated in the suspension order that the petitioner would not accept any private employment or carry out any profession or business while under suspension. The suspension was ordered pending finalization of the disciplinary inquiry initiated against the petitioner.

4.4 Thereafter, the petitioner was served with a Charge-Sheet dated 23.12.2010 along with the statement of imputations, pursuant to initiation of a departmental inquiry, which came to be registered as D.I. No.2 of 2010. The petitioner was also provided with the list of witnesses and the list of documentary evidence along with the Charge-Sheet.

4.5 The petitioner in