Home Case Index All Cases Indian Laws Indian Laws + SC Indian Laws - 2014 (3) TMI SC This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2014 (3) TMI 1165 - SC - Indian LawsTermination of services of the respondents herein which were brought invoking the doctrine of pleasure as enshrined under Article 310 of the Constitution of India, 1950 - HELD THAT:- Indisputably, defence personnel fall under the category where President has absolute pleasure to discontinue the services. Further in our considered opinion as far as security is concerned, the safeguard available to civil servants under Article 311 is not available to defence personnel as judicial review is very limited. In cases where continuance of Army officers in service is not practicable for security purposes and there is loss of confidence and potential risk to the security issue then such officers can be removed under the pleasure doctrine. As a matter of fact, Section 18 of the Army Act is in consonance with the constitutional powers conferred on the President empowering the President to terminate the services on the basis of material brought to his notice. In such cases, the Army officers are not entitled to claim an opportunity of hearing. In our considered opinion the pleasure doctrine can be invoked by the President at any stage of enquiry on being satisfied that continuance of any officer is not in the interest of and security of the State. It is therefore not a camouflage as urged by the respondents. Whether the order of dismissal of the earlier writ petitions and confirmation of the same by this court amounts to “Doctrine of Merger” and operates as res judicata against the present appeals? - HELD THAT:- The Union of India has been consistently contesting these petitions and this Court has found substance in the argument of the appellants that the High Court while delivering the judgment dated 21.12.2000 overlooked this important legal aspect of finality coupled with the doctrine of res judicata. In our considered opinion, this aspect cannot be ignored and the issue of fact cannot be re-opened in the instant case as well as has been done under the impugned judgment by relying on certain material which the High Court described to have been fraudulently withheld from the courts. In our opinion, fraud is not a term or ornament nor can it be presumed to exist on the basis of a mere inference on some alleged material that is stated to have been discovered later on. The discovery of a reinvestigated fact could have been a ground of review in the same proceedings, but the same cannot be in our opinion made the basis for re-opening the issue through a fresh round of litigation. The High Court has committed a manifest error by not lawfully defining the scope of the fresh round of litigation on the principles of res judicata and doctrine of finality. To establish fraud, it is the material available which may lead to the conclusion that the failure to produce the material was deliberate or suppressed or even otherwise occasioned a failure of justice. This also, can be attempted if legally permissible only in the said proceedings and not in a collateral challenge raised after the matter has been finally decided in the first round of litigation. Analysing entire facts of the case and the material produced in Court and upon an exhaustive consideration of the matter, we are of the definite opinion that the power of pleasure exercised by the President in terminating the services of the respondents does not suffer from any illegality, bias or malafide or based on any other extraneous ground, and the same cannot be challenged on the ground that it is a camouflage - the onus lay on the respondent- officers who alleged malafides. No credible evidence or material produced before the Court impels us to come to the conclusion that the order of termination is baseless or malafide. Appeal allowed.
|