Admit. Notice. 1. Mr. Magray learned Senior Additional Advocate General, waived notice. Mr. Magray, stated that the objections filed by him at the pre-admission stage be treated as counter. His statement is taken on record. Ordered accordingly. The copy of the objections has been furnished to the counsel for the petitioner. 2. With the consensus of the learned counsel for the parties, the matter is taken up for final disposal. 3. The case of the petitioner is that he being a constable in the J&K Police was undergoing training at Manigam and on being relieved from there he seriously fell ill and could not attend to his duties for one month from 28th of September, 2006. The petitioner on regaining a little requested the respondents for treating his period of absence as leave which was denied and instead he was suspended on account of unauthorized absence and thereafter, the services of the petitioner were terminated. It is also alleged that no subsistence allowance has been paid to him from the date the petitioner was placed under suspension till he was terminated. All this has been done without following the procedure established under J & K Police Manual. 4. The respondents have filed their objections and resisted the petition. 5. The perusal of the file reveals that petitioner was not only suspended but terminated also without any enquiry which strikes the basic principles governing the subject and specified in Jammu and Kashmir Police Manual. It would be apt to reproduce Regulation 359 of the Manual herein:- "PROCEDURE IN DEPARTMENTAL ENQUIRIES:- (1) The following procedure shall be followed in departmental enquiries:-(a) The enquiry shall, whenever, possible be conducted by a gazetted officer empowered to inflict a major punishment upon the accused officer. Any other gazetted officer or an Inspector specially empowered by the Minister I/C Police Department, to hold departmental enquiries (vide order No. 636-C dated 27.6.1945) may be deputed to hold an inquiry or may institute an enquiry on his own initiative against an accused police officer who is directly subordinate to him, except that in the case of a complaint against a constable the inquiry may be conducted by an Inspector. The final order, however, may be passed only by an officer empowered to inflict a major punishment upon the accused police officer. The final order, however, may be passed only by an officer empowered to inflict a major punishment upon the accused police officer. (2) The officer conducting the inquiry shall summon the accused police officer before him and shall record and read out to him a statement summarizing the alleged misconduct in such a way as to give full notice of the circumstances in regard to which evidence is to be recorded." 6. The aforesaid provision makes it crystal clear that respondents are duty bound to initiate inquiry against any erring cop and to provide him an opportunity of hearing before imposing penalty. 7. This court has time and again maintained that respondents should refrain from inflicting the major penality of terminating the services of an official mechan­ically, however, the same seems to have not been received well by the respondents as the case in hand again adds a number to such cases, where an official has been handed over the suspension arbitrarily and then turning him upside down by terminating his services without any inquiry not to speak of satisfying all the formalities established by law in this behalf. The inclination of the respondents not to follow the rules cannot be accepted by the court of law not to speak of endorsing the same. 8. In the given circumstances, the writ petition is allowed, impugned order is quashed. Respondents are directed to conduct fresh inquiry against the petitioner within three months. The payment of all the emoluments from the date of absence till today shall be subject to conclusion of such inquiry. However, if no inquiry is conducted, the petitioner shall not be entitled for any pay from the date of absence till today, but the period shall qualify for all the other service benefits. Disposed of along with all CMPs.