Union of India Vs. Ajoy Kumar Patnaik [1995] INSC 472 (8 September 1995)
Ramaswamy,
K. Ramaswamy, K. Hansaria B.L. (J)
CITATION:
1996 AIR 280 1995 SCC (6) 442 JT 1995 (7) 30 1995 SCALE (5)490
ACT:
HEAD NOTE:
O R D
E R
Leave
granted.
This
appeal by special leave arises from the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal,
Bombay Bench dated July
19, 1991 made in O.A.
No.425 of 1986. The respondent's case, while workings as Collector of Customs
(Appeals) at Bombay, after completing 50 years of service, had come up before a
screening committee consisting of senior officers to review the respondent's
performance for continuance in service. The committee met on February 11, 1984. On consideration of the entire
material placed before it, it recommended to compulsorily retire the respondent
from service under Fundamental Rule 56(j) on "doubtful integrity".
The competent authority passed the order on February 10, 1986 under F.R.56(j) of the Fundamental Rules compulsorily
retiring him in public interest. As stated earlier, the respondent had
questioned the correctness thereof in the Administrative Tribunal which by its
order had set aside the order on the ground that there are no adverse entry in
the Character Rolls of "doubtful integrity" of the respondent and
that, therefore, the two instances should not be taken into consideration in
compulsorily retiring the respondent from service.
To
satisfy ourselves whether the action of the appellant is based on any material,
since the Tribunal had given finding that it had perused the record and was not
satisfied, we had directed Shri N.N. Goswami, the learned senior counsel for
the appellant, to keep the record ready and place before us the Character Rolls
as well as the report submitted to the Review Committee, views of the Review
Committee made in that behalf. This has been done. We have perused the
proceedings of the Review Committee dated December 24, 1985, stating :
"The
Review Committee considered the report of the Screening Committee, forwarded to
us under Chairman CBEC's note dated 18.12.1985. The Review Committee considered
the report and the records and agrees with the recommendation that Shri D.P. Arya
and Shri A.K. Patnaik are fit to be prematurely retired under FR 56(j)."
We have seen the material placed before the Screening Committee, the Review
Committee and the competent Authority in the proceedings referred to
hereinbefore. It is stated that the department had given classification
guidance for classifying Dodecyl Benzene under Heading 17.10(1) as against
Heading 38.01/19. The Collector of Customs, Bombay, had issued a Departmental Tariff Advice on the basis of the minutes of
the Tariff Conference held at Mangalore in September, 1984 according to which Dodecyl
Benzene was to be classified under Heading 38.19. The Advice of the C.C.C.
Nomenclature
Directorate was mentioned in the Tariff Advice.
The
date of this advice is 28.12.1984 and the date of the appellate decision bears
dated 31.12.1984 which is very close to the date of the advice. Even as late as
October, 1985, Shri Patnaik (the respondent herein) continued to classify Dodecyl
Benzena as before the issue of the Tariff Advice. They concluded that by the
wrong classification, the respondent had given benefit to a single party,
namely, M/s. Rajesh & Sons of Bombay alone to the tune of more than Rs. 2 crores. Similarly, in 32 appeals
which the respondent has disposed of, he classified Saccharine to be cleared
under REP Licence as "Electroplating Brightener", in spite of the
fact that the Import Policy in condition No. 5 of Appendix 17 is clear that
this cannot be done, as Sacchrine has been specifically banned under Appendix
4, and an item allowed on an REP Licence under Appendix 17 of the Policy should
either be one which has been specifically named in that Appendix which,
Saccharine was not, or it should not be a banned item, which Saccharine was. On
the basis of this material, they doubted the integrity of the respondent and
had taken decision to compulsorily retire the officer from service.
It is
contended by the counsel for the respondent that he was not communicated the
instructions regarding the first item. It is also contended with regard to the
second item that he was entitled to dispose of the matter on merits and had
taken judicial decision on the basis of the material placed before him as an
appellate authority and he was not responsible for the clearance of the goods.
We are
not concerned with the merits in the matter of disposal or manner of disposal
of the appeals or classification. We are concerned with regard to the integrity
of the officer in the decision making process.
When
the authorities had material before them and considered that material to be
sufficient to doubt the integrity of the officer, it is settled law that the
authority competent to take the decision to compulsorily retire the officer can
form an opinion whether continuance of such officer is in the public interest.
It has gone into the conduct of the officer and that his conduct in the manner
of disposal of the appeals as quasi judicial authority does encompass into
misconduct for taking disciplinary action.
In S. Govinda
Menon v. Union of India & Anr. [AIR 1967 SC
1274], the appellant, an ICS officer was Commissioner of Hindu Religious and
Charitable Endowments. He disposed of grant of lease of the endowment lands
contrary to the statute. He was charged for misconduct. He questioned the show
cause notice by filing a writ petition. Pending writ petition, the enquiry
officer submitted his report.
Thereafter,
he amended and writ of prohibition was sought.
The
principal contention raised therein was that his order was quasi judicial.
Mathew, J. as he then was negatived the contention while S.V. Pillai, J.
accepted the contention that quasi judicial decision having become final and
conclusive, the conduct of quasi judicial orders cannot be the subject of an
enquiry for misconduct. On reference, Govinda Menon, J. agreed with Justice
Mathew and dismissed the writ petition. When appeal was filed, this Court held
that although the Commissioner acted as an authority under the Hindu Religious
& Endowment Acts and was not subject to administrative control of the
Government as a master and servant, still the proceeding for such acts can be
instituted against him, if there is prima facie material to show recklessness
or misconduct on his part. It is not necessary that the appellant should have
committed the alleged act or omission in the course of discharge of his duties
as a servant of the Government in order that it may form the subject matter of
disciplinary proceedings. If the act or omission is such as to reflect on the
reputation of the officer or his integrity or good faith or devotion to duty,
there is no reason why disciplinary proceeding should not be taken against him
for that act or omission relating to an activity in regard to which there is no
actual master and servant relationship. To put it differently, this Court said
that the test is not whether the act or omission was committed by the appellant
in the course of his discharge of his duties as servant of the Government. The
test is whether the act or omission has some reasonable connection with the
nature and condition of his service or whether the act or omission has cast any
reflection upon the reputation of the member of the service for doubting
integrity or devotion to duty as a public servant.
In
V.R. Katarki v. State of Karnataka [C.A. No.4392/86, dated March 22, 1990], a
Bench of this Court to which one of us (K. Ramaswamy, J.) was a member, the
appellant was imputed with misconduct in fixing, in his capacity as Civil Judge
at Baglkot, "higher valuation than was legitimate of the lands."
After conducting an enquiry and finding guilty of misconduct, he was dismissed
from service which was confirmed by the High Court on judicial side. When the
appeal had come up, this Court was requested not to go into the question of the
valuation since that was subject matter of an appeal in the High Court. This
Court disposed of the appeal holding thus: "We would like to make a special
mention of the position that even if the assessment of valuation is modified or
affirmed in an appeal as a part of the judicial process, the conduct of the
judicial officer drawable from an overall picture of the matter would yet be
available to be looked into. "In appropriate cases it may be opened to
draw inferences even from judicial acts". Thus the appeal was dismissed
confirming dismissal from service. This ratio was followed in Periyar and Pareekanni
Rubbers Ltd. v. State of Kerala [AIR 1990 SC 2192 at 2198] to which one of us
(K. Ramaswamy,J.) was a member, and this Court held that "The rule of
conduct spurned by this Court squarely put the nail on the official act as a
refuge to fix arbitrary and unreasonable market value and the person concerned
shall not camouflage the official act to a hidden conduct in the function of
fixing arbitrary or unreasonable compensation to the acquired land." It
would thus be clear that an officer though performs official quasi judicial
functions, his conduct in the discharge of the quasi judicial act or omission
relates to the activity in the course of the discharge of his duties as a
servant of the Government and bears reasonable relation or nexus with the
nature and conduct of the service and when it casts reflection upon his
reputation, integrity or devotion to duty as a public servant, that would be
squarely referable to the conduct of the public servant amenable to
disciplinary proceeding. When it is a misconduct, the competent authority is
equally entitled to take a decision whether an officer has impeccable integrity
and absolute devotion to duty for further continuation in service. The
competent authority would be free to consider the material, particularly the
latest one, and form a bona fide decision in the public interest to
compulsorily retire an officer from service.
Since
the competent authorities at different levels had considered the material and
ultimately had decided to compulsorily retire the respondent from service, it
cannot be said that it is an arbitrary decision. It is true that pending the
proceedings the respondent has already retired from service on attaining the
age of superannuation, but that would not provide a ground nor to dispose of
this matter without giving any finding on the action taken by the competent
authority. Otherwise, in all cases it would cause grave damage to public
justice. The employee would get away with it due to pending proceedings.
Therefore, it needs to be considered and decision rendered thereon whether the
action taken by the Government or the competent authority is valid in law. In
that perspective, mere retirement of the officer by efflux of time pending
proceedings would not be a ground to close the matter.
The
appeal is accordingly allowed and the order of the Tribunal is set aside and
that of the appellant is upheld.
But in
the circumstances without costs.
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