Maharashtra
State Mining Corporation Vs. Sunil S/O Pundikaro Pathak [2006] Insc 226 (24 April 2006)
Ruma
Pal, Dalveer Bhandari & Markandey Katju
(Arising
out of SLP (Civil) No.20513 of 2005)
Leave
granted.
The
respondent was employed by the appellant. On the basis that the respondent had
indulged in various activities of misconduct, he was placed under suspension
pending disciplinary enquiry. The respondent was served with a charge-sheet
which was issued by the Managing Director of the appellant. An Enquiry Officer
was appointed. After holding the enquiry, a report was submitted by the Enquiry
Officer. According to the report, of the eight charges, four were proved, one
partly proved and three not proved. The Managing Director concurred with the
Enquiry Officer's findings and issued a show cause notice to the appellant why
the punishment of dismissal of service should not be imposed upon him.
No
reply appears to have been given to this notice and the respondent was
dismissed from service on 25th January, 1991. The order of dismissal was also passed by the Managing Director.
Challenging the order of dismissal, the respondent filed a writ petition before
the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court.
While
the writ petition was pending, the Board of Directors of the appellant
Corporation passed a resolution ratifying the action taken by the Managing
Director in respect of the disciplinary action against the respondent and also
empowering the Managing Director to take decisions in respect of the officers
and staff in the grade of pay the maximum of which did not exceed Rs.
4,700/-p.m. Prior to this resolution the Managing Director had powers only in
respect of those posts where the maximum pay did not exceed Rs. 1,800/- p.m.
Admittedly,
the respondent at the relevant time was drawing more than Rs. 1,800/- p.m.
Therefore when the Managing Director issued the order dismissing the
respondent, he was incompetent to do so.
In the
writ petition the respondent had taken several grounds for challenging the
dismissal order for example, that the relevant documents were not supplied,
that he was not allowed to cross-examine the witnesses, that he was not allowed
to engage a lawyer etc. However, a perusal of paragraph 6 of the impugned
judgment of the High Court shows that the writ petitioner did not press any of
the grounds. The only ground which was pressed was that the order of dismissal
was passed by the Managing Director of the appellant, who had no authority or
power to do so, as the same was vested in the Board of Directors of the
appellant. In view of the fact that the respondent had not pressed these
grounds before the High Court, we cannot allow him to urge these points before
us. The only issue which the High Court was called upon to decide was whether
the removal of the respondent from service was by a competent authority.
The
High Court allowed the writ petition holding that the Managing Director was not
competent to terminate the respondent's services as on the date of the passing
of the order of termination and therefore the order of dismissal was invalid.
The High Court was also of the view that this defect could not be rectified
subsequently by the resolution of the Board of Directors.
The
High Court accordingly set aside the order of termination. Since the respondent
had already retired from service, the appellant was directed to reinstate the
respondent notionally with effect from the date of termination in the same post
and pay salaries up to the date of superannuation and to pay all retrial
benefits after the date of superannuation.
Before
us learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant has submitted that the
High Court's decision was contrary to the decisions of this Court in Parmeshwari
Prasad Gupta V. The Union of India (1973) 2 SCC 543 and High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan
V. P.P. Singh and Anr. (2003) 4 SCC 239.
The
respondent on the other hand submitted that the resolution of the Board was
subsequent to the order of dismissal and, therefore, could not operate
retrospectively. The respondent relied upon the decision in Krishna Kumar V.
Divisional Assistant Electrical Engineer (1979) 4 SCC 289 in support of this
contention.
The
High Court was right when it held that an act by a legally incompetent
authority is invalid. But it was entirely wrong in holding that such an invalid
act cannot be subsequently 'rectified' by ratification of the competent
authority. Ratification by definition means the making valid of an act already
done. The principle is derived from the Latin maxim 'Ratihabitio priori mandato
aequiparatur' namely ' a subsequent ratification of an act is equivalent to a
prior authority to perform such act'.
Therefore
ratification assumes an invalid act which is retrospectively validated.
In Parmeshwari
Prasad Gupta, the services of the General Manager of a company had been
terminated by the Chairman of the Board of Directors pursuant to a resolution
taken by the Board at a meeting. It was not disputed that that meeting had been
improperly held and consequently the resolution passed terminating the services
of the General Manager was invalid. However, a subsequent meeting had been held
by the Board of Directors affirming the earlier resolution. The subsequent
meeting had been properly convened. The Court held:
"Even
if it be assumed that the telegram and the letter terminating the services of
the appellant by the Chairman was in pursuance to the invalid resolution of the
Board of Directors passed on December 16, 1953 to terminate his services, it
would not follow that the action of the Chairman could not be ratified in a
regularly convened meeting of the Board of Directors. The point is that even
assuming that the Chairman was not legally authorized to terminate the services
of the appellant, he was acting on behalf of the Company in doing so, because,
he purported to act in pursuance of the invalid resolution. Therefore, it was
open to a regularly constituted meeting of the Board of Directors to ratify
that action which, though unauthorized, was done on behalf of the Company.
Ratification would always relate back to the date of the act ratified and so it
must be held that the services of the appellant were validly terminated on December 17, 1953".
The
view expressed has been recently approved in the case of High Court of
Judicature for Rajasthan V. P.P. Singh (supra) .
The
same view has been expressed in several cases in other jurisdictions. Thus in
Hartman vs. Hornsby (142 Mo 368, 44 SW 242, 244) it was said
"Ratification'" in the approval by act, word, or conduct, of that
which was attempted (of accomplishment), but which was improperly or unauthorizedly
performed in the first instance".
In the
present case, the Managing Director's order dismissing the respondent from the
service was admittedly ratified by the Board of Directors on 20th February 1991, and the Board of Directors
unquestionably had the power to terminate the services of the respondent. On
the basis of the authorities noted, it must follow that since the order of the
Managing Director had been ratified by the Board of Directors such ratification
related back to the date of the order and validated it.
Reliance
on the decision in Krishna Kumar V. Divisional Assistant Electrical Engineer
(1979) 4 SCC 289 by the respondent is misplaced. In that case, the appellant
had been appointed by the Chief Electrical Engineer, the departmental head. He
was removed from service by the Divisional Assistant Engineer. The question for
determination was whether the appellant had been removed from the service by an
authority subordinate to that which had appointed him in violation of Article
311(1) of the Constitution. Having considered the affidavits filed, the Court
came to the conclusion that the appellant had been removed from the service by
an officer who was subordinate in rank to the officer by whom he was appointed.
The Divisional Assistant Engineer was, subsequent to the appellant's
appointment, given the power to make an appointment to the post which the
appellant held. It was urged by the respondent State that he, therefore, had
the power to remove all persons holding that post. The submission was rejected
on the grounds first that the right under Article 311(1) is vested in an
employee on the date of his appointment and that subsequent authorization of
any subordinate officer would not confer the power on such subordinate officer
to remove the employee. Secondly, merely because the subordinate officer was
vested with the power to appoint would not make him equal in rank with the
officer making the appointment. In other words, the Divisional Engineer did not
cease to be subordinate to the Chief Electrical Engineer merely because the
latter's power to make appointment to the post had been delegated to him.
That
was not a case of ratification but of empowerment subsequent to the operative
date. The case is, therefore, distinguishable not only on facts but also on the
law applicable.
In
view of the above, this appeal is allowed, the impugned judgment and order of
the High Court is quashed, and the dismissal order dated 25.1.1991 is upheld.
There shall be no order as to costs.
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