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TMI Blog1979 (9) TMI 201X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... us Writ filed in the High Court against the order of suspension had expressly withdrawn all the allegations against Mr. K. Brahmanand Reddy respondent No. 3 in the High Court. We shall, however, touch the fringes of this question so far as it directly affects the order impugned passed by the Government of India. Reddy started his career in the Police Service as Deputy Superintendent of Police in the year 1948. In the year 1958 Reddy was appointed to the Indian Police Service and 1952 was the year of his allotment. On 31-7-1958 Reddy was promoted as Superintendent of Police in the State of Andhra Pradesh and held charge of a number of Districts from time to time. Reddy was also awarded the President Police Medal near about the 14th August, 1967, but the award of the President Police Medal was withheld as Reddy was placed under suspension by the Government on 11-8-1967 pending departmental enquiry into a number of allegations made against him. It is not necessary for us to detail those allegations which are not germane for the purpose of deciding these appeals. In 1969 Reddy filed a writ petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court praying that the order of suspension passed again ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y was promoted as Deputy Inspector-General of Police he made a representation to the Government that the adverse entry contained in the Annual Confidential Report may be expunged. The Government of Andhra Pradesh after considering the representation of Reddy passed the following order dated 20- 4-1974: The Government, after careful consideration, have decided that as the statements are factual it would be sufficient if a suitable entry is made in the said confidential report to the effect that the suspension was subsequently lifted and the period was treated duty and that further action was stayed as there were no good grounds to hold him guilty of any of the charges levelled against him. (3) A suitable entry has accordingly been made in the confidential report for the year ending 31-3-1968 . We have expressly referred to this order of the Government to show that it completely demolishes the case of malafide pleaded by 11-625SCI/79 Reddy against Mr. K. Brahmanand Reddy, respondent No. 3 in the High Court because if Mr. K. Brahmanand Reddy had any animus against the officer he would not have accepted his representation and denuded the effect of the adverse entry made at th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d here that the provision gives an absolute right to the Government and not merely a discretion, and, therefore, impliedly it excludes the rules of natural justice. It is also not disputed in the present case that all the conditions mentioned in Rule referred to above have been complied with. It is a different matter that the argument of Reddy is based on the ground that the order is arbitrary and mala fide with which we shall deal later. On a perusal of the impugned order passed by the Government of India it would appear that the order fully conforms to all the conditions mentioned in Rule 16 (3). It is now well settled by a long catena of authorities of this Court that compulsory retirement after the employee has put in a sufficient number of years of service having qualified for full pension is neither a punishment nor a stigma so as to attract the provisions of Art. 311 (2) of the Constitution. In fact, after an employee has served for 25 to 30 years and is retired on full pensionary benefits, it cannot be said that he suffers any real prejudice. The object of the Rule is to weed out the dead wood in order to maintain a high standard of efficiency and initiative in the State ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s be struck down. While examining this aspect of the matter the Court would have to act only on the affidavits, documents, annexures, notifications and other papers produced before it by the parties. It cannot delve deep into the confidential or secret records of the Government to fish out materials to prove that the order is arbitrary or mala fide. The Court has, however, the undoubted power subject to any privilege or claim that may be made by the State, to send for the relevant confidential personal file of the Government servant and peruse it for its own satisfaction without using it as evidence. It seems to us that the main object of this Rule is to instil a spirit of dedication and dynamism in the working of the State Services so as to ensure purity and cleanliness in the administration which is the paramount need of the hour as the Services are one of the pillars of our great democracy. Any element or constituent of the Service which is found to be lax or corrupt, inefficient or not up to the mark or has outlived his utility has to be weeded out. Rule 16 (3) provides the methodology for achieving this object. We must, however, hasten to add that before the Central Governm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 39; service and that it is in the public interest to dispense with his further services. It is true that this power of compulsory retirement may be used when the authority exercising this power cannot substantiate the misconduct which may be the real cause for taking the action but what is important to note is that the directions in the last sentence in Note l to article 465-A make it abundantly clear that an imputation or charge is not in terms made a condition for the exercise of the power. In other words, a compulsory retirement has no stigma or implication of misbehaviour or incapacity . The more important thing is to see whether by compulsory retirement the officer loses the benefit he has earned as he does by dismissal or removal. The answer is clearly in the negative. The second element or determining whether a termination of service amounts to dismissal or removal is, therefore, also absent in the case of termination of service brought about by compulsory retirement. The foregoing discussion necessarily leads us to the conclusion that a compulsory retirement does not amount to dismissal or removal and, therefore, does not attract the provisions of Article 311 of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and object E of such provision this Court observed as follows:- But if on the other hand a statutory provision either specifically or by necessary implication excludes the application of any or all the principles of natural justice then the court cannot ignore the mandate of the legislature or the statutory authority and read into the concerned provision the principles of natural justice . The right conferred on the appropriate authority Is an absolute one. That power can be exercised subject to the conditions mentioned in the rule, one of which is that the concerned authority must be of the opinion that it is in public interest to do so. If that authority bona fide forms that opinion, the correctness of that opinion cannot be challenged before courts. It is open to an aggrieved party to contend that the requisite opinion has not been formed or the decision is based on collateral grounds or that it is an arbitrary decision Compulsory retirement involves no civil consequences. The aforementioned rule 56 (j) is not intended for taking any penal action against the government servant. That rule merely embodies one of the facets of the pleasure doctrine embodied in Article 310 o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cer from close quarters are in a position to know the nature and character not only of his performance but also of the reputation that he enjoys. The High Court has also laid great stress on the fact that as adverse entries had not been communicated to Reddy, therefore, the order impugned is illegal. We find ourselves unable to agree with the view taken by the High Court or the argument put forward by learned counsel for Reddy. Moreover, the appellant had denied in their counter-affidavit at page 59 Vol. II that there was no adverse entry against the officer concerned prior to 1968. This averment is contained in para 6 of the counter affidavit filed by Under Secretary to the Government of India in the High Court. This aspect as considered by this Court in the case of R. L. Butail v. Union of India ors.(l) and the matter is concluded by the very apt observations made by Hidayatullah, C.J. who spoke for the Court and observed as follows:- These rules abundantly show that a confidential report is intended to be a general assessment of work performed by a Government servant subordinate to the reporting authority, that such reports are maintained for the purpose of serving as data o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of efficiency and dedication so as to be retained even after the officer has put in the requisite number of years of service. Even in the last entry which was sought to be expanded through a representation made by Reddy and other entries made before it appears that the integrity of Reddy was not above board. Even in the case of State of Uttar Pradesh v. Chandra Mohan Niganm Ors.(1) on which great reliance has been placed by Mr. Krishnamurthy Iyer, it was observed thus:- We should hasten to add that when integrity of an officer is in question that will be an exceptional circumstance for which orders may be passed in respect of such a person under rule 16(3), at any time, if other conditions of that rule are fulfilled, apart from the choice of disciplinary action which will also be open to Government. Thus, even according to the decision rendered by this Court in the aforesaid case the fact that an officer is of doubtful integrity stands on a separate footing and if he is compulsorily retired that neither involves any stigma nor any error in the order. We might also refer to an observation made by the Single Judge of the High Court whose judgment was confirmed by the Div ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fore, this Court held that the termination of the Munsif even though he was a temporary servant cast a stigma and, therefore, attracted Article 311 of the Constitution. In this connection, the Court observed as follows:- It seems to us that on the facts of this case, the order dated January 15, 1972 violates Article 311(2) of the Constitution. The petitioner had first been holding a temporary post and then a permanent post for nearly seventeen years. The Chief Minister s statement in the Assembly that his services were not satisfactory and the Government was considering serving show-cause notice and the fact that his services were terminated without any enquiry being held would inevitably lead the public to believe that his services had been terminated on account of inefficiency or misconduct. This did cast a stigma on his character . It is, therefore, manifest that the facts of this case and the points involved were absolutely different from the facts of the present case. The aforesaid case relied upon by the High Court would have absolutely no application to the present case where Reddy was neither a temporary servant nor was his service terminated. The Single Judge of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as long as power to make compulsory retirement in public interest is there and the power in fact is shown in the facts and circumstances of the case to have been exercised in public interest . In this case, the Court was considering the scope of rule 56(j) which, as already indicated, is couched in the same terms as rule 16(3). Learned counsel for Reddy heavily relied on the decision of this Court in the case of State of Uttar Pradesh v. Chandra Mohan Nigam Ors. (supra) and contended that as the Government of India while passing the impugned order had not considered the report of the Review Committee the order is vitiated by an error of law. We have-gone through this decision and we are unable to agree with the contentions put forward by learned counsel for Reddy. The decision referred to above is not an authority for holding that the decision of the Review Committee is binding on the Government of India. All that is necessary is that the Government of India should, before passing an order under rule 16(3) consider the report of the Review Committee which is based on full and completed analysis of the history of the service of the employee concerned. In the instant case, i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the present case. In that case there was a finding of fact by this Court that the order of retirement was mala fide and amounted to victimisation and the allegation made by the appellant before this Court were not only not disputed but counsel for the Union of India went to the extent of saying that he was not in a position to support the impugned order which was unfair. It was in the background of these circumstances that the Court held that the order was malafide and observed as follows:- The appellant has pointed out in this connection that her service record was examined in March, 1976 by the Departmental Promotion Committee, with which the Union Public Service Commission was associated, and the Committee considered her fit for promotion to the selection grade subject to clearance in the departmental proceedings which were pending against her, and that she was retired because of bias and animosity. Our attention has also been invited to the favourable entry which was made in her confidential report by the Secretary of the Ministry. Mr. Lekhi, learned counsel for the Union of India, produced the relevant record of the appellant for our perusal. While doing so he frankly c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ly is the restraint put on the pretended misuse of power . The High Court seemed to rely on certain adverse entries which were taken into consideration when the order of retirement was passed. We have already pointed out relying on the dictum of this Court laid down by Hidayatullah, C.J. that the confidential reports can certainly be considered by the appointing authority in passing the order of retirement even if they are not communicated to the officer concerned. Thus, the two grounds on which the Calcutta decision was based are not supportable in law. For these reasons, therefore, we hold that the decision of the Calcutta High Court referred to above was wrongly decided and is hereby overruled. On a consideration of the authorities mentioned above we are satisfied that there is no legal error in the impugned order passed by the Government of India retiring Reddy. It was, however, contended by counsel for Reddy that reading the order as a whole it contains an odour of victimisation, so as to make the order arbitrary. We are, however, unable to find any material on the record to show that the order was in any way arbitrary. The Government of India acted on the orders passed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... order is passed. The impugned order as held by us is a bona fide order and does not suffer from any legal infirmity, and, therefore, we cannot permit Reddy to play a game of hide and seek with the Court by withdrawing the allegations of mala fide against respondent No. 3 in the High Court and then reviving them when after some time an adverse order against him was passed. Moreover, if respondent No. 3 was really inimically disposed towards Reddy he would not have either dropped the departmental enquiry or reinstated him, or have promoted him to the rank of D.I.G.. Furthermore, the Chief Minister Mr. K. Brahmananda Reddy has himself filed a personal affidavit before the High Court which is contained at page 235 Vol. III wherein he has categorically denied all the allegations made against him by Reddy. The assertions made in the affidavit are fully supported by circumstantial evidence and the conduct of Reddy himself. For these reasons, therefore, the second contention regarding the impugned order being mala fide is also rejected. The result is that all the contentions raised by counsel for Reddy fail. We are clearly of the opinion that the High Court committed a clear error o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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