Sunil Kumar vs State Of Haryana And Others

CWP-36154-2026 (O&M) 1 of 7
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
118 CWP-36154-2026 (O&M)
Date of decision: 03.11.2026
Sunil Kumar ...Petitioner(s)
Vs.
State of Haryana and others ...Respondent(s)
CORAM: HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE NIDHI GUPTA
Present:- Mr. Abhimanyu Singh, Advocate
for the petitioner.
.
Mr. Suneel Ranga, D.A.G., Haryana
*
NIDHI GUPTA, J.
Present Civil Writ Petition under Articles 226/227 of the
Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioner for issuance of an
appropriate writ, order or direction, in the nature of Certiorari, quashing
the Memorandum (Charge-sheet) No. 76/S(986)-2E1/1826 dated
20.07.2026 (Annexure P-3) issued by the Director General, Health
Services, Haryana under Rule 7 of the Haryana Civil Services (Punishment
and Appeal) Rules, 2016, alongwith the Statement of Allegations and List
of Charges annexed thereto and all consequential proceedings; the same
being arbitrary, illegal, pre-determined, founded on no legal evidence, in
breach of the mandatory statutory rules and the principles of natural
justice, and violative of Articles 14 of the Constitution of India; with a
further prayer to issue a writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the
respondents to treat the departmental proceedings initiated against the
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2026.11.04 16:23
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CWP-36154-2026 (O&M) 2 of 7
petitioner on the basis of the aforesaid Memorandum and Report as
closed, and not to take any coercive or adverse action against him on that
basis.
2. It is inter alia sumbitted by ld. Counsel for the petitioner that
petitioner had joined the office of the Principal Medical Officer, Civil
Hospital, Bhiwani (PMO) as Clerk on 10.11.2017. Incentive bills of TMS
Staff pertaining to the period 01.11.2023 to 30.04.2024 were processed
and cleared by the petitioner on 23.01.2025; thereby disbursing the
incentive amount to the concerned employees. Pursuant therto, a
malicious complaint dated 06.02.2025 (Annexure P-1) was made against
the petitioner to the effect that petitioner had demanded money from
TMS Staff for releasing the incentive amount payable to them. On the
basis of the said complaint dated 06.02.2025 (Annexure P-1), an inquiry
was initiated. In the Inquiry Report dated 06.05.2025 (Annexure P-2), it
was found that petitioner had received money from the TMS staff.
Consequentially, impugned Chargesheet dated 20.07.2026 (Annexure P-3)
has been issued to the petitioner proposing to take strict disciplinary
action against him under Rule 7 of the Haryana Civil Services (Punishment
and Appeal) Rules, 2016.
3. Ld. Counsel submits that said charges against the petitioner
are untenable. The money in actual had been received by one Sh. Sudhir,
Data Entry Operator, TMS Staff. It is contended that the evidence in this
regard has been misread by the Inquiry Officer. It is contended that
therefore, the petitioner has been wrongly implicated in the matter.
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CWP-36154-2026 (O&M) 3 of 7
4. It is further submitted that Chargesheet deserves to be set
aside as Inquiry Officer has failed to follow principles of natural justice in
as much as no effective opportunity has been afforded to the petitioner to
plead or present his case. He accordingly prays that the present Writ
Petition be allowed; and following prayers be accepted: -
“In view of the submissions made herein above, it is
therefore most respectfully prayed that present writ petition
may kindly be allowed and this Hon'ble court may kindly be
pleased to issue a writ in the nature of certiorari quashing the
Memorandum (Charge-sheet) No. 76/S(986)-2E1/1826 dated
20.07.2026 (Annexure P-3) issued by respondent No. 2 under
Rule 7 of the Haryana Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal)
Rules, 2016, alongwith the Statement of Allegations and the
List of Charges annexed thereto, and all consequential
proceedings arising therefrom.
With a further prayer to issue a writ in the nature of
mandamus directing the respondents to treat the
departmental proceedings initiated against the petitioner on
the basis of the aforesaid Memorandum and Report as
closed, and not to take any coercive or adverse action against
him on that basis.”
5. Per contra, learned State Counsel appearing on advance
notice, has vehemently opposed submissions of the petitioner and has
pointed out that as per the findings recorded by the Inquiry Officer,
amount has been received by the petitioner. As such, there is no merit to
the present Writ Petition and the same deserves to be dismissed.
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CWP-36154-2026 (O&M) 4 of 7
6. No other argument has been raised on behalf of learned
counsel for the parties. I have heard learned counsel and perused the case
file in detail. I find no merit in the submissions of the petitioner.
7. Contention of the petitioner that the evidence has been
misread by the Enquiry Officer is misleading as a perusal of the Inquiry
Report shows that one Binu, Data Entry Operator, TMS Staff has
categorically stated that on 23.01.2025, she had “received a telephone call
from Sunil, Accountant, General Hospital, Bhiwani, who is responsible for
crediting the incentive amounts. He told me that some expenditure would
have to be incurred to receive the incentive amount. The incentive amount
was credited on 23/01/2025. Accordingly, I transferred ₹1,000 to Sunil
through PhonePe. I also submitted a complaint regarding this matter to
Dr. Chandra shekhar, TMS In-charge, and requested that strict action be
taken. A screenshot of the PhonePe transaction is attached herewith. "The
statement is referred to at Annexure F in the original record, although the
annexure reference in the text appears inconsistent. ” The aforesaid
statement made by the TMS Staff is unambiguous.
8. Contention of the petitioner that it was one Sh. Sudhir, who
had demanded bribe money from TMS Staff, is also misleading, as Sh.
Sudhir, Data Entry Operator, TMS Staff, Civil Hospital, Bhiwani has stated
that “ My own incentive amount had been pending for approximately one
year. In this regard, I approached Sunil, Clerk, General Hospital, Bhiwani,
who was responsible for releasing the incentive amounts. Sunil, Clerk,
General Hospital, Bhiwani, demanded money from me as a bribe for
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CWP-36154-2026 (O&M) 5 of 7
releasing the incentive amount. Accordingly, I collected 8,000 from all*
TMS staff members, at the rate of ₹1,000 from each of eight employees.
On the instructions of Sunil, Clerk, I transferred ₹7,000 to Dev Medical
Hall, near Civil Hospital, Bhiwani, through PhonePe, using UPI ID
Q082763601@ybl, on 22/01/2025 at 06:04 PM.I subsequently transferred
₹1,000 to Sunil, Clerk, General Hospital, Bhiwani, through Google Pay on
25/01/2025, using his mobile number 8950010184. After the money was
paid as a bribe, the incentive amounts were credited to our respective
bank accounts. Screenshots of the transactions are attached herewith.
"The statement is available at Annexure G.”
9. Similarly other employees have also given evidence against
the petitioner. After considering entire evidence on record, the concluding
finding of the Inquiry Officer is as follows: -
“Upon examining the aforesaid statements, the Inquiry
Committee has reached the conclusion that the statements
made by the TMS staff members, along with the PhonePe
transaction receipts attached by them, indicate that money
was transferred by the concerned TMS staff members to Sh.
Sunil, Clerk/Cashier, Civil Hospital, Bhiwani, and, on the
instructions of Sh. Sunil, Clerk/Cashier, Civil Hospital, Bhiwani,
to Dev Medical Hall, Bhiwani. From the aforesaid material, it
appears that the complaint made by the concerned TMS staff
members is substantiated and appears to be genuine. Sh.
Sunil, Clerk/Cashier, Civil Hospital, Bhiwani, failed to produce
any concrete evidence in support of his defence. Accordingly,
the Inquiry Committee recommends that disciplinary and/or
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CWP-36154-2026 (O&M) 6 of 7
legal action be initiated against Sh. Sunil, Clerk/Cashier, Civil
Hospital, Bhiwani.”
10. Ld. Counsel for the petitioner is unable to dispute or deny
that online credit transactions were made in the account of the petitioner.
Clearly, therefore, no ground is made out to set aside the charge sheet.
11. Contention of the petitioner that the principles of natural
justice have not been followed while conducting inquiry, also remain
unsubstantiated as the record reveals that petitioner has been given
sufficient opportunity to defend himself. It is the own case of the
petitioner as stated in para 9 of the present Writ Petition that petitioner
had appeared on 18.02.2025 before the Inquiry Officer and submitted
written request for copy of the complaint; and upon receipt of copy of the
complaint, petitioner had duly submitted a reply dated 24.02.2025
denying the allegations. On 25.02.2025, petitioner was called again. In
para 11 of the Writ Petition, petitioner has admitted that he has appeared
on every date. In these circumstances, to contend that principles of
natural justice were not complied with, is contrary to his own stated case
of the petitioner. In any event, it is also recorded in the enquiry report
that petitioner has failed to produce any evidence in his defence. Even
before this Court, petitioner has been unable to explain or point out
anything in his defence to controvert the concrete and unimpeachable
evidence of the online payments made in the account of the petitioner.
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CWP-36154-2026 (O&M) 7 of 7
12. Ld. Counsel for the petitioner is unable to controvert or
dispute the above said facts and findings.
13. Consequentially, the present Writ Petition stands dismissed .
14. Pending application(s) if any also stand(s) disposed of.
03.11.2026 (NIDHI GUPTA)
Divyanshi JUDGE
Whether speaking/reasoned: Yes/No
Whether reportable: Yes/No
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