IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED: 24-11-2025 CORAM THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE R.SURESH KUMAR AND THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE HEMANT CHANDANGOUDAR W.A No. 3540 of 2025 And CMP.No. 29135 of 2025

1. The Secretary to Government Home Department (POL.2)

Fort St. George, Chennai.

2.The Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu, Radhakrishnan Salai, Chennai-600004.

3.The Inspector General of Police, South Zone, Madurai. ..Appellants Vs

1.C.Rangaswami

2.Tamil Nadu Public Services Commission, Rep by its Secretary, Chennai-600002. ..Respondents Prayer : Writ Appeal is filed under Clause 15 of Letter Patent to set aside the orders dated 30.01.2025 passed in W.P. No. 17703 of 2007.

For Appellants: Mr.P.Kumaresan, AAG Assisted by Mr.E.Veda Bagath Singh, Spl.GP For Respondents : Mr.P.Raja – R1 Mr.B. Vijay, Standing Counsel - R2

JUDGMENT

(Made by HEMANT CHANDANGOUDAR, J.

The challenge in this intra-Court appeal is to the order dated 30.01.2025 passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P. No. 17703 of 2007. By the said or- der, the learned Single Judge set aside the order passed by the first appellant re- moving the respondent/writ petitioner from service, as well as the order reject- ing the review petition, and consequently directed the appellants to settle all terminal benefits in favour of the respondent/writ petitioner.

2. The respondent, while working as Inspector of Police at Vellakoil Cir- cle from 09.08.1991 to 10.04.1992, was served with a charge memo dated

10.11.1994. The charges are as follows:

“ (i). Highly reprehensible conduct and gross neglect of duty of slack supervision in not allowing Head Constable 1072 Dhana- pal of Vellakoil Police Station to register a case under the rele- vant section of law on the oral complaint over phone by one Ganesan about the molestation of one Ponnammal @ Pappathi on 21.9.91 at 06.00AM near Veerakumar Theatre Palaniswamy Nagar Vellakoil by one Sivagurunathan S/o.Subbiah Paday-

achi, Keelpavoor Village, Thenkasi Taluk.

(ii) Gross neglect of duty and highly reprehensible conduct and conniving with Head Constable 1072 Dhanapal who registered a false prohibition case against Sivagurunathan in Vellakoil Police Station Cr.No.381/91 u/s.4(i)(a) TNP Act on 21.9.91 at 06.30 hrs and tortured the said Sivagurunathan at Vellakoil Police Station due to which he succumbed to injuries and ar- ranged the body to be tied in a babool tree in S.No.175/B Kut- taikadu in Thennilai Police Station limits Trichy District so as to appear it as if the accused Sivagurunathan Committed sui-

cide."

3. The reply submitted by the respondent/writ petitioner was found to be unsatisfactory, and an Enquiry Officer was appointed. After conducting the en- quiry, the Enquiry Officer submitted a report holding that the charges against the respondent/writ petitioner stood proved. The respondent/writ petitioner sub- mitted a reply to the second show-cause notice, whereafter the first appellant accepted the enquiry report and passed an order removing the respondent/writ petitioner from service. The said order was also confirmed in the review peti- tion filed by the respondent/writ petitioner. Aggrieved by the same, the respon- dent/writ petitioner approached this Court by filing the writ petition, which was allowed by the learned Single Judge. Assailing the correctness of that order, the State has preferred this appeal.

4. Mr. P. Kumaresan, learned Additional Advocate General for the appel-

lant/State, submitted that since the charges against the respondent/writ petition- er stood proved, the disciplinary authority, after carefully considering the en- quiry report as well as the further representation submitted by the respondent/writ petitioner, rightly passed the order of removal from service. He further submitted that the learned Single Judge, having found the punishment disproportionate to the gravity of the misconduct, ought to have remanded the matter to the disciplinary authority for imposition of an appropriate punish- ment. Additionally, he subm