Yes, there are a large number of Supreme Court judgments on this issue. It is a well established principle of law that departmental proceedings and criminal case proceedings can be initiated and continued simultaneously. Of course, it is up to the departmental authorities to decide whether they should initiate the disciplinary proceedings immediately or they should wait for the result of the criminal trial and then take disciplinary action on the basis of result of the criminal case. However, there is no legal bar if both the proceedings are conducted simultaneously.
The departmental proceedings will have to be initiated under the relevant rules of the Government, which are applicable to the government servant concerned. Each Government has its own separate rules. For example, if he is a Central Government servant, then the rules applicable are the Central Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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