- 1 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28282-DB WP No. 8505 of 2021 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 11TH DAY OF JUNE, 2026 PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE D K SINGH AND THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.M.NADAF WRIT PETITION NO. 8505 OF 2021 (L-TER) BETWEEN: KARNATAKA GRAMIN BANK, THE CHAIRMAN, (EARLIER CALLED AS PRAGATHI KRISHNA GRAMEENA BANK) HEAD OFFICE, BALLARY - 583 104. REPRESENTED BY GENERAL MANAGER. …PETITIONER (BY SRI. B C PRABHAKAR.,ADVOCATE) AND: SHRI. T.S. A. SWAMY, SON OF SHRI. T.R. SIDDAPPA, PARVATHI NILAYA, 8TH MAIN, 5TH CROSS, 'B' BLOCK, VIDYANAGARA HARIHARA - 577 601. …RESPONDENT (BY SRI. NAGABHUSHANA RAO., ADVOCATE FOR SRI. R. NAGENDRA NAIK, ADVOCATE) Digitally signed by REKHA R Location: High Court of Karnataka - 2 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28282-DB WP No. 8505 of 2021 THIS WRIT PETITION IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 AND 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, PRAYING TO CALL FOR RECORD LEADING TO THE PASSING OF THE AWARD DATED 22.01.2021 PASSED BY THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL - CUM - LABOUR COURT, BENGALURU, IN CR NO. 15/2013 ( ANNEXURE - G) AND ISSUE A WRIT OF CERTIORARI OR ANY OTHER APPROPRIATE WRIT OR DIRECTION QUASHING THE AWARD 22.01.2021 PASSED BY THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL - CUM - LABOUR COURT, BENGALURU, IN CR NO. 15/2013 ( ANNEXURE - G) AND ETC., THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING IN 'B' GROUP, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE D K SINGH and HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.M.NADAF - 3 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28282-DB WP No. 8505 of 2021 ORAL ORDER (PER: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE D K SINGH) The present writ petition has been filed impugning the award dated 22.01.2021 passed by the Central Government Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Bengaluru1 in CR.No.15/2013. 2. The CGIT in exercise of the powers conferred under Clause (d) of Sub-Section (1) and Sub-Section-2A of Section 10 of Industrial Disputes Act, 19472 and referred to the following dispute: "Whether the action of the management of Pragathi Gramin Bank, in dismissing the services of Sh. TSA Swamy, workman is proper and justified? If not, to what relief and other benefits is the workman is entitled to?" 3. The petitioner along with the Manager was working as Clerk cum Cashier in the petitioner-Bank. The 1 "CGIT for short" 2 "the ID Act for short" - 4 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28282-DB WP No. 8505 of 2021 petitioner along with the Manager faced the domestic inquiry in respect of the following charges: "CHARGE 1. Smt. Prema Shilpachar Smt. Prema Shilpachar holder of SB 1465 at Chikkayemmiganur branch had FD 08/04 for Rs.2,602.00 that matured on 04.03.2005. deposit was held as if it was collateral security for loan bearing No. PSE3/02 but there was no lien/discharge. On maturity it should havebeen credited to loan. But the deposit was credited to her SB account No.1465 with the branch on 05.03.2005. On the same day you have withdrawn Rs.2,100.00 from the account through a forged withdrawal slip which was prepared and posted into the system by you. You have deliberately masked the said fraudulent transactions from her knowledge ensuring that the said transactions are not entered in the passbook though later transactions in the account are noted in the passbook. You have entered the balance in the passbook on 23.06.2005 as Rs.961.00 by noting it as CB (Corrected Balance) with ulterior motives and without any official reason to do so. By this the following transactions were excluded from the customer's view. 1. Interest on SB dated 02.02.2005 RS. 7.00 2. Matured FD proceeds dated 05.03.2005 RS. 2,602.00 3. Interest on FD dated 05.03.2005 RS. 38.00 4. Withdrawal dated 05.03.2005 RS. 2,100.00 5. Net difference of above transactions RS. 547.00 6. Opening balance in passbook Rs. 414.00 All the entries in the passbook are made by you. You have thus committed forgery, falsified official records of the bank and defrauded the customer and the bank with mutual connivance of Sri. Guheshwar, Manager. - 5 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28282-DB WP No. 8505 of 2021 CHARGE 2. SB 2492 OF MAHADEVAPPA R/O HIREYEMMIGANUR On 16.09.2004, a sum of Rs.11,755.20 being the Crop insurance settled amount was credited to SB account bearing no. 2492 of Sri.Mahadevappa at Chikkayemmiganur branch. The information regarding credit of the amount was not made known to the On 19.07.2005 Sri.Mahadevappa had availed PKCC 34/05 of Rs.45,000.00 from the branch. While disbursing the loan, on 19.07.2005, Sri Guheshwar, manager persuaded the customer to invest Rs.11,000.00 out of the loan proceeds in KDR. Accordingly, out of loan proceeds of Rs.45,000.00, a sum of Rs.34,000.00 was paid to the customer and a KDR receipt for Rs.11,000.00 was issued to the customer, which had the implication for the customer that out of the loan proceeds a sum Rs.11,000.00 has been invested in KDR. However the money so retained was not accounted in the books of the bank. On the same day, Rs. 11,000.00 was transferred from SB account 2492, without the knowledge of the customer, to KDR instead of accounting Rs. 11,000.00 retained with you out of the loan proceeds. You have entered the transfer SB debit and KDR credit slip into the system. You were the cashier on the day and you have performed the functions of the clerk at the counter. To hush up the fraudulent transactions and to destroy the evidence the SB passbook that was currently in use was obtained from the customer and new passbook was issued, though it was without any specific official reason. The passbook so obtained from the customer has been, apparently, destroyed. Thus you have defrauded customer of Rs.11,000.00 in connivance with Sri. Guheshwar, manager, falsified official records and destructed the evidence. Charge 3. SB 227 OF RANGAPPA R/O Chikkayemmiganur Sri.Rangappa is a customer of the branch having SB 227. On 16.09.2004 RS. 11,755.20.00 was credited to the account being the Crop insurance settled amount but the information was not provided to the customer. - 6 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28282-DB WP No. 8505 of 2021 On 22.11.2004 Sri. Rangappa remitted Rs.4,000.00 in cash with a request to invest the same in KDR. You received Rs.4,000.00, prepared pay in slip, obtained signature of the customer on its back, prepared KDR receipt, got it signed by Sri. Guheshwar, manager and issued it to the customer. However the amount was not accounted in the books of the bank. It was misutilised by you. While obtaining signature of the customer on papers connected to opening of KDR account, signature of the customer was fraudulently obtained on a blank withdrawal slip and a transfer debit slip. Later Sri. Guheshwar, manager filled the previously obtained transfer debit slip for Rs. 4,000.00 and used the same to transfer Rs.4,000.00 from SB to KDR, instead of accounting the cash remitted by the customer. You have prepared and posted the transfer credit slip for KDR into the system. SB transfer debit slip was prepared and authorised by Sri Guheshwar, manager while the rest of the work was done by you. On 22.11.2004 the previously obtained withdrawal slip was filled for Rs.7,750.00 and the amount was fraudulently withdrawn from SB account. The withdrawal slip was posted into the system by you and was prepared and thorised respondent manager. On 31.07.2006 to hush up the fraudulent transactions the customer was asked to close the SB 227, without any specific official reason and signature of the customer was obtained on the request letter for closure of SB. Accordingly, SB 227 was closed on 31.07.2006 and a new SB 6133 was opened. Meanwhile the passbook that was currently in use was collected from the customer. This has apparently been destroyed. Thus the entire amount of Rs.11,750.00 being the crop insurance claim settled amount has been misappropriated by you and by Sri. Guheshwar, manager with mutual connivance. You have thus defrauded the customer, cheated him and the bank, falsified and destroyed the official records of the bank as said above. - 7 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28282-DB WP No. 8505 of 2021 Charge 4. SB 1306 OF K.B.RAMESH R/O Chikkayemmiganur: Sri.K.B.Ramesh is holder of SB 1306 at Chikkayemmiganur branch. On 16.09.2004 a sum of Rs.8,933.90 was credited to his SB account being the crop insurance settled amount, but the information was not provided to the customer. This credit was not entered in the passbook while updating it. On 18.10.2004 a sum of Rs.8,900.00 was drawn from the account through a withdrawal slip. The withdrawal slip was posted into the system by you. You were the casier on the day and the amount was retained with you. The following transactions made in the account have not been entered in the passbook to shield the fraud from the customer's view. Date Particulars Debit Credit 01.08.2004 Interest 41 16.09.2004 Crop insurance settled amount 8933.9 18.10.2004 Withdrawal 8900.00 Instead, on 05.10.2004 in the passbook corrected balance (CB) has been entéred as RS.806.00. The manually maintained ledger sheet of SB 1306 has been destroyed to hush up the fraudulent transactions and so the evidence has been destructed. The customer has been defrauded of Rs.8,900.00 by you with the connivance of Sri. Guheshwar, manager. Sri. Guheshwar, manager was the 1 key holder and you were the 2i key holder as well as the clerk attending to the work in the counter. 5. SB 2238 OF T.RAJAPPA R/O AGRAHARA: Sri.T.Rajappa is the customer of the bank having SB 2238 at Chikkayemmiganur branch. On 16.09.2004 Rs.7,053.10 - 8 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28282-DB WP No. 8505 of 2021 was credited to the account being the Crop insurance settled amount but it was not made known to the customer. On 21.02.2006 when the customer visited the branch for availing crop loan his Signature was obtained on blank forms including a withdrawal slip while he was still unaware of credit of crop insurance settled amount of Rs.7,053.10 to his account. Later on 23.02.2006 the withdrawal slip was filled for Rs.7,500.00 and the amount was fraudulently withdrawn from SB 2238. The customer did not visit the branch on 23.02.2006 and has not received Rs.7,500.00. To hush up the fraudulent acts the old passbook was collected from the customer and after few days a new passbook was issued to him though there was no official reason for doing so. The old one was apparently destroyed. Thus entire amount of Rs. 7,053.10 being the crop insurance settled amount and Rs.446.90 being the interest on SB account credited into the account from time to time and was in credit in the SB account has been misappropriated by you with mutual connivance of Sri. Guheshwar, Manager. Thus you have defrauded the bank and the customer to ore extent of RS.7,500.00, cheated him and the bank and falsified and destroyed the official records of the bank as stated above. By your above acts you have displayed dishonesty, destroyed the evidence of fraud, falsified the official records of the bank and failed to serve the bank honestly and faithfully. All your above acts being detrimental to the interest of the bank you have Emtravened the Regulation Nos.17 and 19 of Pragathi Gramin Bank (Officers and Employees) Service Regulations, 2005, which are punishable under Regulation no.38 II b of said Regulations." - 9 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28282-DB WP No. 8505 of 2021 4. After conduct of domestic inquiry, the disciplinary authority inflicted major punishment of dismissal from service on the respondent. The petitioner and the Manager faced Criminal Proceedings also for the same offences under Sections 420, 409 and 465 r/w Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. However, the petitioner and the Manager who were accused got acquitted in the criminal case. 5. The CGIT has proceeded to modify the order of punishment in exercise of powers vested under Section 11-A of the ID Act. In view of the aforesaid fact that the petitioner was acquitted in the criminal case and the order of punishment has been modified to order of termination with terminal benefits towards the services rendered by him. 6. The allegation of financial misappropriation was only Rs.35,000/-. On the last occasion we expressed that the respondent-delinquent employee should pay - 10 - HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:28282-DB WP No. 8505 of 2021 Rs.50,000/- each to four farmers whose compensation for crop damage was allegedly misappropriated. 7. The learned counsel for respondent-workmen has submitted that the Bank may deduct Rs.2,00,000/- out of the terminal benefits to be paid to the respondent. 8. We therefore dispose of this writ petition upholding the award passed by the CGIT impugned in the present writ petition, however, with direction to the petitioner-Bank to deduct Rs.2,00,000 from the terminal benefits of the respondent-workmen and release the balance amount within a period of four weeks from today. 9. With the aforesaid direction, the writ petition stands disposed of. Sd/- (D K SINGH) JUDGE Sd/- (T.M.NADAF) JUDGE RR/List No.: 1 Sl No.: 25/ct-vn