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Judgment
The Tribunal has misconceived the scope of Rule 17(e) of the Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules. That Rule reads as under
: 17(e) Circumstances for ordering suspension. (1) ......... (2) A Government servant who is detained in custody whether on a criminal charge or
otherwise for a period of longer than forty-eight hours shall be deemed to have been suspended under this rule. The Rule does not say that the
period of suspension shall be coterminous with the period of detention. What the Rule provides is that if official is detained for 48 hours or more
such detention will result in automatic suspension of the official. The period of the suspension will depend upon other circumstances.
In this case, the suspension was ordered at a time when the offence against the official was under investigation. The disciplinary inquiry into the
charge against the petitioner is admittedly not over. The charge against the petitioner is the issuance of bogus mark sheets. The order of the
Tribunal setting aside the suspension order is wholly untenable. 3. The impugned order of the Tribunal is therefore set aside. The writ petition is
allowed. WMPs. No.11198 and 20588 of 2001 are closed.