Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:55880 Court No. - 5 Case :- WRIT - A No. - 20443 of 2024 Petitioner :- Yogendra Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashok Kumar Upadhyay,Prabhakar Awasthi,Vipul Kumar Dubey Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Harsh Vardhan Gupta Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J. Heard Shri Prabhakar Awasthi, learned counsel assisted by Shri Vipul Kumar Dubey, learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Standing Counsel for the State- respondent No. 1 and Shri Harsh Vardhan Gupta, learned counsel for the respondents No. 2 to 4. Petitioner is aggrieved by the impugned order dated 28.11.2024 passed by the respondent No. 4 by which a major penalty of demotion has been imposed upon the petitioner. The petitioner has been demoted from the post of Clerk to Class-IV employee. The submissions of learned counsels for the parties and the pleadings establish these facts. The enquiry officer did not fix the date and time of the enquiry in advance and failed to intimate the same to the petitioner. No departmental witnesses were examined in the enquiry to prove the charges against the petitioner. The charges against the petitioner were of a nature which could not be brought home against him without producing departmental witnesses. The charges were not proved in the enquiry by the applicable standards of evidence. The enquiry proceedings against the petitioner were vitiated and unlawful. The impugned order dated 28.11.2024 passed by the respondent No. 4 is also liable to be set aside and is set aside. The matter is remitted to the respondents authority with the following directions:- i) The petitioner shall be given list of departmental witnesses who are proposed to be examined and also provided with copies of adverse materials which are to be relied upon against him. ii) The Enquiry Officer shall set specific dates for the enquiry proceedings and intimate the same to the petitioner in advance thereof. iii) The department shall produce relevant departmental witnesses in the enquiry proceedings. The petitioner shall be given an opportunity to cross-examine the said witnesses. iv) The petitioner shall cooperate in the enquiry proceedings. v) The enquiry proceedings shall be concluded within a period of four months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. All other dues and entitlements of the petitioner shall be determined after the result of the enquiry proceedings. Writ petition is allowed to the extent indicated above. Order Date :- 16.4.2025 Jaswant Digitally signed by :- JASWANT KUMAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad