9911796707
TMI Blog1966 (1) TMI 79X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... espite the said order of dismissal, he continued to be an employee of the appellant and to hold his position as Assistant Director, Civil Supplies. As a consequential relief, the respondent also asked for an order calling upon the appellant to post him as Assistant Director, Civil Supplies, or to some other post of the same status. This claim was resisted by the appellant on several grounds. The appellant urged that the suit filed by the respondent was incompetent in law. It also alleged that the impugned order was valid, legal and binding on the respondent; and it raised the plea of limitation. On these pleadings, the learned trial Judge framed three issues. They were : (1) Is the dismissal of the plaintiff from service of the defendant illegal, void and ultra vires ? (2) Is the suit within time ? (3) Is the suit maintainable ? The first two issues were answered by the trial Judge in favour of the respondent. He however, held that the suit filed by the respondent was not maintainable in law with the result that the respondent's claim was dismissed with costs.Against the decree passed by the learned trial Judge, the respondent preferred an appeal in the Punjab ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ty of the charges framed against him. In regard to the question of punishment, it left the matter to be decided by the Government.It appears that the respondent had no knowledge of the fact that the committee had submitted its report; and so, he went on making representation to the Government in regard to the said charges. On 16 December 1948, he wrote to the Chief Secretary, Pepsu Government, Patiala, and complained that he had learnt from the Legal Remembrancer that the committee had submitted a report, and yet he had not received a copy of the said report. By this time, Patiala State had merged in the Patiala and East Punjab States Union. It seems that the Chief Secretary was not at all satisfied with the report made by the committee against the respondent, and he recommended that the said report should be handed over to a Judge of the High Court or a member of the judicial committee for his opinion after taking such further evidence as he may consider necessary in the interest of justice. The Prime Minister, however, did not agree with this recommendation. On 13 February, 1949, the Chief Secretary again urges the Prime Minister to consider the matter carefully and he express ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... It is on this date that the respondent came to know about his dismissal for the first time. Then followed further correspondence between the respondent and the appellant. When, however, the respondent found that all his pleas failed, he withdrew his resignation on 22 August 1952. Last came the order passed on 2/3 January 1953, by the Chief Secretary to Government, Pepsu. This order informed the respondent that his last application dated 20 August 1952, requesting for reinstatement on the ground that his dismissal was unlawful and unjust, was rejected and that Government found it impossible to reopen his case. On receiving this order, the respondent filed the present suit on 20 April 1954. The first question which has been raised before us by Sri Bishan Narain is that though the respondent came to know about the order of his dismissal for the first time on 28 May 1951, the said order must be deemed to have taken effect as from 3 June 1949 when it was actually passed. The High Court has rejected this contention; but Sri Bishan Narain contends that the view taken by the High Court is erroneous in law. We are not impressed by Sri Bishan Narain's argument. It is plain that the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ffice; and except in cases where the officer concerned has already been suspended, difficulties would arise if it is held that an officer who is actually working and holding charge of his office, can be said to be effectively removed from his office by the mere passing of an order by the appropriate authority. In our opinion, therefore, the High Court was plainly right in holding that the order of dismissal passed against the respondent on 3 June 1949, could not be said to have taken effect until the respondent came to know about it on 28 May 1951.The next question is whether the High Court was right in holding that the respondent's suit is competent. It is true that the Farman-i-Shahi, which was the law in Patiala at the relevant time, had provided that no suit shall be instituted by any private individual against the State or any State officer in respect of his dismissal from State service. After Patiala merged with and became a part of the Patiala and East Punjab States Union, all laws, rules and regulations in the erstwhile State of Patiala were made applicable to the newly formed union. As such, the Farman-i-Shahi also continued to be in operation; but, as has been pointed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt. Besides, S. 13 of the Ordinance itself seems to authorize the institution of such a suit and the High Court has observed that : the protection afforded by the said section would be not only meaningless but wholly elusive if a suit like the present one ( ? ) is held to be incompetent. Therefore, we are not satisfied that Sri Bishan Narain can successfully challenge the correctness of the decision of the High Court that the suit filed by the respondent is competent. It will be noticed that this conclusion is based on S. 14 of the Ordinance quite apart from the provisions of Art. 311 of the Constitution.That leaves only one question to be considered : Did the respondent get the benefit of S. 14(2) of the Ordinance ? The answer to this question must clearly be in favour of the respondent. The enquiry held against the respondent seems to us to be illegal and invalid from beginning to end. What purports to be the chargesheet framed against the respondent is no more than a questionnaire and some of these questions clearly show that the approach adopted by the authorities that drafted the said questions was completely unreasonable, if not perverse. One of the questions which wa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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