The present petitioner before this Court was a Grade-IV employee in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Panbazar, Guwahati. The petitioner had to face departmental proceeding on the allegation of theft of Top-up Recharge Vouchers and the authority by an order dated 28.01.2015 imposed major penalty of “Reduction of his pay to lower stage in the time scale of pay Rs.7,760-13320 by three stages for a period of three years with cumulative effect and to recover Rs.1,10,000.00 (Rupees one lakh ten thousand) only as per norms from his salary to make up pecuniary loss of revenue to BSNL.” Admittedly this order was never challenged by the petitioner in departmental appeal, but since the department had already filed an FIR against the petitioner and charge-sheet was filed against him, the petitioner faced criminal trial wherein he was ultimately acquitted in the year 2017. Immediately after his acquittal in the criminal case, the petitioner moved an application on 22.06.2017 for review of the penalty order dated 28.01.2015. According to the authority, the petitioner had filed the said review petition before a wrong authority and since the petitioner was a Gr-D employee, the reviewing authority is the General Manager. Ultimately the petitioner filed the review petition before the General Manager on 31.01.2018. Since nothing seems to have happened in the review petition filed
