Officer, Subordinate, Officer subordinate - Indian Laws - General

Expression officer The expression officer as defined in the Black s Law Dictionary 11th Edition reads thus: Officer. (14c) 1. Someone who holds an office of trust, authority, or command. In public affairs, the term refers esp. to a person holding public office under a national, state, or local government, and authorized by that government to exercise some specific function. In corporate law, the term refers esp. to a person elected or appointed by the board of directors to manage the daily operations of a corporation, such as a CEO, president, secretary, or treasurer. Cf. DIRECTOR (2). Expression subordinate In P. Ramanatha Aiyar s Advanced Law Lexicon Volume 4 (6th Edition) reads thus: Subordinate defined. Act 24, 1859, section 1; Mad Act 3, 1909, section 2. Belonging to an inferior rank, grade, class or order; dependent upon the authority or power of another [Section 121, Indian Evidence Act (1 of 1872)] ; a person or thing that is ranked lower. By the use of the word subordinate without any qualifying words, the legislature has expressed its legislative intention of making punishable such subordinates also who have no connection with the functions with which the business or transaction is concerned. An Assistant Controller of Imports in the office of the Joint Chief Controller of Imports and Exports is a subordinate of the joint Chief Controller through the acceptance of the bribe has nothing to do with the appeal pending before the Joint Chief Controller. R.G. Jacob v Republic of India, AIR 1963 SC 550, 553. [Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), section 165 (omitted by Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988)] The construction placed on the expression subordinate occurring in Rule 14(2) of the Rules is in consonance with the meaning and import of the word subordinate occurring in Article 311(1) of the Constitution. There is nothing in the Constitution which debars the Government from exercising the power of appointing authority to dismiss a Government servant from service. These Rules cannot be read as implying that dismissal must be by the very authority who made the appointment or by his immediate superior. There is a compliance with Article 311(1) if the dismissing authority is not lower in rank or grade than the appointing authority. [Govt. of A.P. v N. Ramanaiah, (2009) 7 SCC 165, 172, paras 23, 24] [Constitution of India, Article 311(1); A.P. Civil Services (CCA) Rules, 1991, rule 14(2)] The word subordinate in section (2)(f) means subordinate in law and not in fact. Although a person looking after the business of another person as manager, may not in fact be subordinate to the other person and may be acting on his own initiative, yet if, as an individual manager, he is in law subordinate to the employer, namely, the other person, he cannot be regarded as the managing agent of employer as defined in section 2(1)(f), and no order of compensation can be made against him. Raghunath Sahai v Sarup Singh, MLJ : QD (1961-1965) Vol V C1952-1953 : 1962 All LJ 104 : 1962 All WR (HC) 91 : (1962) 1 LLJ 19 : (1961) 3 Fac LR 445 : (1962-63) 23 FJR 624 : AIR 1962 All 620 [Workmen s Compensation Act (8 of 1923), section 2(1)(f)] The word subordinate also means judicial or quasi judicial administrative subordination to the Director of consolidation. Ram Narain v Director of Consolidation, AIR 1965 All 172, 173. [U.P. Consolidation of Holdings Act (5 of 1954), section 48 (as amended in 1963), section 48] The provisions made in Section 133-A were already there when Section 44-A was added to the Act by the Madras Act (XX of 1948). The latter Act does not contain any separate definition of the word subordinate . Naturally, no definition was necessary in view of the provision already made in Section 133-A. It must be assumed that the Madras Legislature was aware of the existence of Section 133-A when it introduced Section 44-A, and, when it used the word subordinate in that section, it must have intended that the word subordinate should be understood only in the manner to determine which provision had already been made in Section 133-A of the Act. Krishna Swamy Mudaliar v Palani Pillai, MLJ : QD (1956-1960) Vol.IV C151 : (S) AIR 1957 Mad 599 (FB). [Motor Vehicles Act (4 of 1939), section 133-A] The word subordinate occurring in Article 311(1), has reference to subordination in rank and not subordination in respect of powers and duties. Article 311(1) cannot be read as implying that the removal must be by the very same authority who made the appointment or by his direct superior. It is enough that the removing authority is of the same rank of grade. Laxminarayana Sarangi v State of Orissa, MLJ : QD (1961-1965) Vol. II C1050 : AIR 1963 Orissa 8 : ILR (1962) Cut 492. [Constitution of India, Article 311(1)] The word subordinate in Article 311(1) Constitution of India, means subordination in rank and not subordination of function. Mahadev Prasad Roy v. S.N. Chatterjee, AIR 1954 Pat 285. The word subordinate in Article 311(1) of the Constitution of India means subordinate in rank and not with reference to the functions exercised. Consequently when no officer of equal rank to the appointing officer is available then the order of dismissal or removal will have to be passed by an officer of superior rank. In no circumstances can such an order be passed by an officer of lesser rank. Any rule or statute which permits such an action must be held to be ultra vires as infringing the provisions of Article 311(1) of the Constitution. Gurmukh Singh v UOI, New Delhi, MLJ : QD (1961-1965) Vol.II C1050 : 65 Punj LR 964 : AIR 1963 P H 370 For the purposes of transfer applications of suits from the Original Side of the High Court the Judge sitting on the original side is subordinate to the appellate side of the High Court. (AIR 1923 Rang. 22) Expression officer subordinate In Venkataramaiya s Law Lexicon Legal Maxims Vol.III (2nd Edition) reads thus: Officer subordinate. - What is the exact purport of the component words of the expression any officer subordinate used in the Sec.44-A of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939. Any is a word which excludes limitation or qualification. It connotes wide generality. Its use points to a distributive construction. The word any is used in the sense of any body , any person . The individual who is invested with the authority and is required to perform the duties incidental to an office is an officer. For determining whether officers are subordinate or not the test is not whether a review of such of their determinations as are quasi-judicial may be had, but whether in the performance of their various duties they are subject to the direction and control of a superior officer, or are independent officers subject only to such directions as the statute gives.- B. Veeraswamy v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (1959) Andh. W.R.308 at p.314: A.I.R. 1959 A.P. 413 (F.B.). The expressions officer, subordinate and officers subordinate to him as given in P. Ramanatha Aiyar s Advanced Law Lexicon Volume 3 (6th Edition) read thus: Officer, subordinate. Officer belonging to an inferior rank, grade, class or order. Officers subordinate to him. A Minister is an officer subordinate to the Governor. Shiv Bahadur Singh v State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR 1953 SC 394 NKGSB COOPERATIVE BANK LIMITED VERSUS SUBIR CHAKRAVARTY ORS.- 2022 (3) TMI 3 - SUPREME COURT