COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL OF INDIA & ANR. vs MANOJ KUMAR

Judgment text excerpt

$~ * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Judgment reserved on: 08.01.2026 Judgment pronounced on: 03.02.2026 + W.P.(C) 7831/2024 and CM APPL. 32435/2024 COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL OF INDIA & ANR. .....Petitioners Through: Dr. S. S. Hooda, Mr. Shaurya Banshtu and Mr. Manpreet Singh, Advs. (M: 8383035136) Versus MANOJ KUMAR .....Respondent Through: Mr. Anil Nauriya, Mr. Prakhar Gupta and Ms. Sumita Hazarika, Advs. (M: 8010409522) CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KSHETARPAL HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AMIT MAHAJAN JUDGMENT AMIT MAHAJAN, J. 1. The present writ petition has been field under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India, 1950, assailing the Order dated 29.05.2023, passed by the learned Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi (hereinafter ‘CAT’) in O.A. No. 1489 of 2015, vide which the orders/charge-memos dated 11.05.2006 and 05.03.2007 were quashed with directions to the Petitioners to reconsider the matter and impose a lesser penalty than “dismissal Signature Not Verified Signed By:SHIKHA SEHGAL W.P.(C) 7831/2024 Signing Date:03.02.2026 Page 1 of 25 18:39:13 from service” against the Respondent/ Charged Official - Sh. Manoj Kumar. 2. In the present case, the Petitioner No. 1 is the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, the Petitioner No. 2 is an independent authority/Office under the aegis of the Petitioner No. 1 and the Respondent is a former employee of the Petitioner No. 1. 3. Succinctly stated, the quintessential facets governing the present dispute are that the Respondent had joined service as a Peon on 27.11.1991 and was promoted to the post of Daftry on 01.01.1998 and to the post of Clerk on 03.01.2000. 4. Undisputedly, he was absent without authorization from 04.09.2000 to 29.04.2003, i.e., for a continuous period of