Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:4122 Court No. - 5 Case :- WRIT - A No. - 4559 of 2022 Petitioner :- Ram Dhani Chaudhary Respondent :- State Of U P And 5 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Siddharth Khare,Sr. Advocate Counsel for Respondent :- Abhishek Srivastava,C.S.C.,Devesh Vikram Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J. Heard Sri Ashok Khare, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Sri Aditendra Singh learned counsel for the petitioner, Sri Abhishek Srivastava, learned counsel assisted by Ms. Kritika Sinha, learned counsel for the respondents and learned Standing Counsel for the State respondents. The petitioner is aggrieved by the order of dismissal dated 23.07.2021 and amount sought to be recovered from him. The petitioner has also assailed the order dated 18.02.2022 passed by the Board of Directors rejecting the departmental appeal of the petitioner. The short ground of challenge raised by Sri Ashok Khare, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Sri Aditendra Singh learned counsel for the petitioner is that the impugned of dismissal and recovery of amount was passed by adopting the procedure not known to law. Oral enquiry was not conducted in the matter. No witness was called during the enquiry proceedings to bring home the charges against the petitioner. In this regard a specific pleading has been taken in paragraph 51 of the writ petition. In response to the said submission Sri Abhishek Srivastava, learned counsel assisted by Ms. Kritika Sinha, learned counsel for the respondents contends that an oral enquiry was conducted in which the petitioner had participated on various dates. However he fairly contends that no departmental witness was examined during the course of enquiry. The examination of relevant witnesses to bring home the charges is an imperative requirement in the facts of this case. In the wake of preceding discussion it is established that the enquiry was held by adopting a procedure not known to law. The appellate authority failed to redeem the errors committed by the disciplinary authority in accepting the vitiated enquiry report. The impugned orders dated 23.07.2021 passed by the Chairman, U.P. Power Corporate Ltd., Lucknow and the order dated 18.02.2022 passed by the Board of Directors, U.P. Power Corporation Ltd, Lucknow are hereby quashed. The matter is remitted to the disciplinary authority with the following directions: I. Enquiry proceedings shall commence after the stage of the chargesheet. II. The petitioner shall be served the list of documents which are proposed to be relied on against the petitioner by the respondents. III. The list of department witnesses shall be provided in advance to the petitioner. IV. The enquiry officer shall fix specific dates in advance for enquiry proceedings and intimate the same to the petitioner at a prior point in time. V. The department shall produce the witnesses before the enquiry officer to establish the charges against the petitioner. VI. The petitioner shall be given an opportunity to cross examine the said witnesses. VII. The petitioner shall cooperate in the enquiry proceedings. VIII. The proceedings shall be concluded within a period of four months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. It is open to the respondents to put the petitioner under suspension immediately after order of reinstatement is passed in compliance of this judgment. The petitioner shall be entitled to suspension allowance during the course of enquiry. The writ petition is allowed to the extent indicated above. Order Date :- 8.1.2025 Pravin Digitally signed by :- PRAVIN VERMA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad