Summary
The Supreme Court upheld the setting aside of a Delhi Transport Corporation officer's dismissal because the Board's resolution approving the penalty showed no independent application of mind to the enquiry report and no hearing, and the enquiry report itself rested on no evidence since the department examined no witness.
Issues
- Whether the Board of Directors, as disciplinary authority, validly approved the show cause notice ex post facto and imposed dismissal without an independent application of mind to the enquiry report.
- Whether an enquiry report in which the department examined no witness and proved no admitted document could sustain a major penalty.
Provisions considered
- Regulation 11, DTC Meeting Regulations, 1981The agenda for the Board's decision on the charged officer's penalty was circulated under this Regulation shortly before his retirement; the Court found that the resulting resolution merely approved the agenda and show cause notice without independent consideration. (¶¶ 7, 8, 17)
Held
- A disciplinary authority must show an independent application of mind to the enquiry findings and must give the charged officer a hearing before imposing a major penalty such as dismissal; the Board complied with neither, and its ex post facto approval of the show cause notice issued by the CMD was open to serious doubt. (¶ 16)
- A Board resolution that gives a blind approval to the agenda and show cause notice, merely referring to the charged officer's reply, without reflecting any individual or collective consideration of the enquiry report, is vitiated by non-application of mind (following A.L. Kalra v. Project & Equipment Corporation of India Ltd.). (¶¶ 3, 17)
- Even in an ex parte departmental enquiry the department must lead evidence of witnesses to prove the charges (Roop Singh Negi v. Punjab National Bank). Where no witness was examined and the report did not record any document as admitted by the charged officer, the enquiry report was based on no evidence and could not support the dismissal. (¶¶ 18, 19, 20, 21)
Result
Appeal dismissed; the Tribunal's order setting aside the dismissal, as affirmed by the High Court, upheld; no order as to costs.