Facts
The applicant joined the National Power Training Institute (NPTI) as a Graphic Artist (an isolated post) on 29.11.1982
Source reference: p. 2He was granted the 1st financial upgradation under the ACP Scheme effective 09.08.1999
Source reference: p. 8, para. 14.1An FIR was registered against him by the CBI on 28.01.2003 regarding forged undertakings for a bank loan
Source reference: p. 2-3The CBI filed a charge sheet on 05.08.2009, and the Trial Court took cognizance on 28.08.2009
Source reference: p. 7, 11On 26.08.2011, he was convicted under Sections 420, 471, and 468 of the IPC but was released on probation
Source reference: p. 3, 16He superannuated on 31.12.2014, the same day a departmental penalty of "Censure" was imposed
Source reference: p. 4, 15-16The applicant approached the Tribunal seeking the 2nd and 3rd financial upgradations under ACP/MACP schemes, which the respondents had withheld due to the criminal proceedings
Source reference: p. 5, 12Issues
1. Whether the applicant was entitled to the 2nd financial upgradation under the ACP scheme on the date he completed 24 years of service
Source reference: p. 12, para. 14.32. Whether the pendency of a criminal investigation (prior to cognizance) or a subsequent conviction with release on probation bars the grant of financial upgradations
Source reference: p. 13-143. Whether the applicant was entitled to the 3rd financial upgradation under the MACP scheme
Source reference: p. 16, para. 18Law Applied
The court applied the ACP and MACP Schemes governing financial upgradations for employees in stagnated posts
Source reference: p. 2It relied on Section 2(i) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, to define "judicial proceedings"
Source reference: p. 13The court followed the established principle that judicial proceedings commence only when a court takes cognizance of an offense
Source reference: p. 14While an order of release on probation under the Probation of Offenders Act may substitute a sentence, it does not erase the fact of conviction or the attendant stigma for the purpose of service benefits
Source reference: p. 15, para. 17Reasoning
The Tribunal found that the applicant completed 24 years of service on 29.11.2006, making him eligible for the 2nd ACP
Source reference: p. 12The CBI only filed the charge sheet in 2009, and the Trial Court took cognizance on 28.08.2009; therefore, no "judicial proceedings" were pending as of the 2006 eligibility date
Source reference: p. 14, para. 14.6; p. 15No departmental proceedings were pending in 2006, as the charge memo was only issued in 2014
Source reference: p. 13, para. 14.4Regarding the 3rd MACP (due on 29.11.2012), the Tribunal noted the applicant had been convicted by the Trial Court on 26.08.2011
Source reference: p. 16Although he was released on probation, the conviction remained a matter of record and a valid ground for denial of the 3rd upgradation
Source reference: p. 16, para. 18-19Holding
The applicant is entitled to the 2nd financial upgradation under the ACP scheme w.e.f. 29.11.2006 because no proceedings were legally pending on that date
The claim for the 3rd MACP was denied due to the applicant's prior conviction in 2011
Source reference: p. 16, para. 19The OA was partially allowed. The respondents were directed to grant the 2nd ACP, revise the pension and pensionary benefits, and issue a revised PPO within eight weeks
Source reference: p. 17, para. 20Original Court PDF
Atanu SinhavsM/o Power
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