Nagpur: A division bench of Justice Atul Chandurkar and Justice Mahendra Chandwani at Bombay High Court’s Nagpur Bench directed Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to keep the Departmental Enquiry (DE) of its employees, Mohan Padwanshi and Rajesh Meshram, in abeyance till conclusion of criminal trial.
Mohan Padwanshi, Senior Clerk (GAD) and Rajesh Meshram, Accounts Section, contended that they had been falsely implicated as an accused in the Stationery Scam of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation and were charged with Sections 420, 460, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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Appearing on their behalf, Adv Prakash Naidu contended that even as chargesheet is filed the NMC had proceeded to initiate Departmental Enquiry and also issued notices to the two employees. Adv Naidu contended that the witnesses who were being sought to be examined in the DE proceedings were identical to witnesses named in the list of witnesses in the criminal chargesheet. In the event the DE is permitted to continue prior to conclusion of the criminal trial and prior to the examination of the witnesses before the Criminal Court, it would amount to grave infringement of the Constitutional Rights of the petitioners.
Also, the petitioners would be compelled to disclose their defence in the proceedings of the DE prior to the cross examination of the witnesses in the criminal trial and as such, the petitioner shall be subjected to grave prejudice as his defence would be open and disclosed to the witnesses. As such, it was prayed that, the DE proceedings be stayed or kept in abeyance till the conclusion of the criminal trial.
Objecting and refuting the prayer made by the petitioner, Advocate Ashish Mehadia holding the brief for NMC, argued and contended that granting stay to the petitioner would amount to granting a blanket order of stay and that in order to curtail the petitioner taking unwarranted advantage of the stay. The Court should direct the criminal trial to be concluded within a certain time frame, failing which it was argued that the petitioner might take undue advantage of the stay order and shall protract and delay the criminal trial to a larger extent, which directly and proportionately would affect the stay granted to the DE.
Adv Naidu replied that the petitioners are ready to co-operate for conclusion of the criminal trial within a certain time frame. After hearing the argument of both the sides, the division bench proceeded to stay the DE proceedings against Mohan Padwanshi and Rajesh Meshram till conclusion of the criminal trial and directed the lower Court to conclude and adjudicate the criminal trial within a time frame of six months. Adv Joseph Bastian, Adv Surabhi Naidu (Godbole) assisted Adv Prakash Naidu appeared for the petitioners.
