Section 6(2) in West Bengal Municipal Employees' (Classification, Control, Appeal and Conduct) Rules, 2010
(2)Subject to the provisions of rules 7 to 10, any of the penalties specified in rule 5 may be imposed on an employee by the appointing authority :Provided that in a case where two or more employees are concerned, the a authority competent to impose the penalty of dismissal from service on all such employees may make an order directing that disciplinary action against a I of them may be taken in a common proceeding. The order so made shall specify.-(i)the authority which may function as the disciplinary authority for the purpose of such common proceedings;(ii)the penalties in rule 5 which such disciplinary authority shall be competent to impose; and(iii)whether the procedure prescribed in rule 7 and rule 8 shall be followed in the proceedings.Note 1 : In all cases of fraud, embezzlement, or similar offences, the disciplinary authority shall take steps to institute departmental proceedings against all the employees and conduct them with strict adherence to the rules up to the point at which prosecution of any of them begins. At that stage it must be specifically considered whether further conduct of the departmental proceedings against any of the remaining employees is practicable, and if so, it shall continue as far as possible (which will not, as a rule, include finding and sentence). If the accused is convicted, the departmental proceedings against him shall be resumed and formally completed either by dismissing or removing the person from the service of the Local Body or by reducing him in rank on the ground of his conviction immediately without waiting for the expiry of the time for preferring an appeal against the order of conviction by the first trying Court or the decision on appeal preferred before a higher Court against the conviction, provided there is no prohibitory order of the Court to the contrary. In case, however, there is a prohibitory order of the Court to the contrary, final action to pass orders of dismissal, etc. should proceed in accordance with the orders of the Court. If the accused is not convicted, the departmental proceedings against him should be dropped unless the authority competent to take disciplinary action is of opinion that the facts of the case disclose adequate grounds for taking departmental action against him. In either case the proceedings against the remaining employees shall be resumed and completed as soon as possible after the termination of the proceedings in Court.Explanation.—Departmental proceedings shall not as a rule be initiated on the same charges or on charges substantially similar to those of which an employee is acquitted in consequence of or by a decision of a Court of Law.Discharge by the Court on the submission of final report by the Police does not, however, amount to acquittal and there is no bar to departmental proceedings being initiated after such discharge either on the same charges or on charges substantially similar to those leading to the discharge.
