The petitioner, a government driver employed since 1989 in the Dairy Development Department, Bihar, challenged punishment orders imposing withholding of increments after a departmental vehicle was stolen while he had taken it to Muzaffarpur on his superior officer's direction. The disciplinary authority withheld two increments with cumulative effect, which was reduced to one increment by the appellate authority. The petitioner argued there was no specific evidence of negligence on his part, that he acted on superior orders, that the police investigation ended in a final form (closure), and that the superior officer himself was subsequently exonerated in related disciplinary proceedings. The Patna High Court examined whether the finding of negligence was supported by legally sustainable material or was perverse, applying the principles laid down in Kuldeep Singh v. Commissioner of Police, (1999) 2 SCC 10, which permit judicial review under Article 226 where departmental findings are based on no evidence or are perverse. The judgment text as provided ends before the court's final conclusion is stated.