Bharati H. Dangre JUDGMENT
Bharati H. Dangre, J.
1. The petitioner, working as Junior Engineer with Respondent No. 1-the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Limited ("the MSEDCL") has approached this Court, being aggrieved by non consideration of his candidature for the post of Deputy Executive Engineer (now termed as Additional Executive Engineer). It is the case of the petitioner that he was appointed as Junior Engineer in the Respondent-Company which is a Government Undertaking with effect from 6th June, 2006. Further according to the petitioner, he was falsely implicated in a criminal case which was registered by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on the basis of complaint made by one consumer on 2nd July, 2011, alleging that the petitioner had demanded some amount for providing an electric meter and based on which criminal case No. 2/2011 was registered against him. The petitioner was suspended with effect from 2nd July, 2011 and charge-sheet was served upon him by Regional Executive Director, Pune and Competent Authority on 23rd December, 2013 in view of the provisions of Service Regulations of 2005 applicable to the MSEDCL Employees. A Departmental Inquiry was ordered against the petitioner and the Inquiry officer was appointed vide letter dated 18th July, 2014 and the said Departmental Inquiry was completed on 11th September, 2014 and the report was submitted to the Competent Authority. It is the contention of the petitioner that though the enquiry was concluded in September, 2014, the final order of punishment was passed on 15th November, 2016 and penalty of stoppage of annual increment for a period of three years with cumulative effect was imposed on the petitioner and it was also ordered that the period of suspension be treated as punishment. It is also the contention of the petitioner that though he was suspended on 2nd July, 2011 the suspension was revoked by order dated 9th November, 2015.
2. As per the contention of the petitioner an advertisement was issued by the respondent vide No. 10/2012 inviting applications for various posts and the petitioner applied in pursuance of the said advertisement for the post of Deputy Executive Engineer (now termed as Additional Executive Engineer), by way of direct recruitment. The petitioner appeared for the written test held on 13th January, 2013 and was interviewed for the post on 3rd April, 2013 and his name was placed in the wait list at serial No. 11 on completion of the selection process. According to the petitioner, fifteen candidates were selected in pursuance of the said selection process, out of which 14 candidates were issued the orders of appointment on 4th August, 2014. However, the petitioner was informed that his selection was kept on hold by following the procedure of sealed cover since he was facing Departmental Inquiry. According to the petitioner, though the inquiry was completed on 11th September, 2014 it did not culminate into final orders by the Disciplinary Authority and therefore in spite of his repeated representations he was not issued with an order of appointment to the post of Deputy Executive Engineer in spite of his selection.
3. The petitioner states that Criminal case registered against him by the Anti Corruption Bureau, Kolhapur resulted in judgment and order dated 10th July, 2014 by the learned Additional Sessions Court, Jaisingpur and the petitioner was acquitted from the charges levelled against him and the Law and Judiciary Department, Government of Maharashtra, decided not to file any appeal against the said judgment of the Sessions Court. According to the petitioner, in spite of the fact that the inquiry against him was completed in one sitting on 11th September, 2014 and show cause notice was issued to him on 25th July, 2016, the proceedings of the........