Summary
The Court restored the disciplinary penalty imposed on an Indian Oil employee for tampering with tender quotations. Fair opportunity during the inquiry was undisputed, and the substituted quotation bore his original signature, a material finding overlooked by the High Court’s Division Bench. The Division Bench had exceeded judicial review by reappreciating the evidence as though hearing a criminal appeal.
Issues
- Whether the Division Bench exceeded judicial review by reassessing evidence in a departmental inquiry.
- Whether the inquiry finding had supporting evidence despite the employee’s reliance on leave and shared access to the documents.
Held
- Judicial review examines the fairness and legality of the decision-making process rather than reassessing factual merits. Intervention remains available for breach of natural justice or governing rules, mala fides, no evidence or a perverse conclusion that no reasonable decision-maker could reach. The court cannot act as an appellate fact-finder merely because another view is possible. (¶ 6)
- Fair hearing had been provided at every inquiry stage. The Division Bench nevertheless reassessed the entire record as though examining a criminal conviction, rather than applying the limits of judicial review to the departmental finding. (¶¶ 3, 6, 7)
- The case did not rest solely on the employee’s duplicate key to the drawer. The inquiry found his original signature on the substituted quotation, and he supplied no answer to that finding. The Division Bench overlooked this material evidence of involvement while accepting his defence of absence and shared access. (¶¶ 2, 3, 4, 7)
- The Corporation’s appeal was allowed. The Division Bench judgment was set aside and the Single Judge’s dismissal of the employee’s writ restored, leaving operative the penalty withholding five annual increments with cumulative effect. (¶¶ 3, 8)
Result
Appeal allowed; Division Bench judgment set aside and Single Judge’s order restored. Disciplinary penalty of withholding five annual increments with cumulative effect remains operative.