TMI Blog1986 (5) TMI 264X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lant was working as Superintendent, Sheep Wool, Nagpur. The election was to take place on 26th December, 1960 and the date for submission of nomination forms was 25th December, 1960. Four persons, namely, Shri Chaturbhuj, Shri Purna Ram, Shri Jiwan Ram and Shri Jiwan Dass filed their nomination forms. m e nomination paper filed by Shri Chaturbhuj was alleged to have been found incomplete and it was, therefore, rejected. The nomination paper was said to be defective for the following reasons - (i) In the opening line the Ward Number was not filled in and the space provided therefore was left blank ; (ii) In the second line out of the words Panch Sarpanch one of the two was not struck out; so that there was no indication whether the nomination was for the office of Panch or that of Sarpanch. (iii) In the third line of the blank space again intended to specify the office, the said Chaturbhuj had filled in his own name thus instead of stating that he was proposing himself as candidate for the office of Panch or Sarpanch, it was found that he was proposing himself as Chaturbhuj. (iv) At the end of sub-paragraph (1) containing a declaration by the candidate as to his qualif ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... which will be noted later. On 3rd October, 1968, the government issued a show- cause notice to the appellant which was as follows : According to the report of the Enquiry Officer the charge has been proved to this extent that Shri Sawai Singh with dishonest intention to declare candidate Poornaram uncontested successful Sarpanch made changes in the nomination form of Shri Chaturbhuj which was complete at the time when was presented and thus made it incomplete and thereafter illegally rejected it. The State Government has provisionally accepted the decision. The State Government has provisionally taken further decision that Shri Sawai Singh be removed from State Service for the said mistake. Hence Shri Sawai Singh is hereby given an opportunity that if he wants to file a representation against the provisional decision he may present it within 15 days From the date OF receipt of this letter to the undersigned. It may be mentioned that what was the dishonest motive except the inference from the rejection of the nomination paper on alleged improper grounds nothing was indicated in the report of the Enquiry Officer. This notice, however, was later on cancelled and a fresh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rbhuj had asked the reason for rejection of his nomination paper. I do not remember whether I had given the statement marked to in Ex. P.12 P.A. to (sic). The statement of Ex. P.ll was taken by the steno of the Collector in the absence of Collector. The steno was drunk at that time. I cannot say what he recorded in my statement. I had not stated as marked A to and to in Ex. P.ll. On cross-examination the Departmental Officer stated that my nomination form was filled by Sohan Singh. I was not dummy candidate. A fair reading of the said statement would give a complete lie to the charge that the appellant manipulated the withdrawal of Jiwan Dass. It is clear that the first charge was not clear, in the sense, how the appellant had alleged to have manipulated the withdrawal of Jiwan Dass. It is difficult for any officer to meet a charge of this nature. The second charge was about committing forgery effecting erasion of the word 'panch' on the nomination paper of Shri Chaturbhuj. This allegation was sought to be proved by the evidence of hand-writing expert. The hand- writing expert was not available for cross-examination on the ground that at that time he was dead. But if ev ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in paragraphs 11 to 13 of the writ petition before the High Court. These were not considered by the High Court. Quite apart from that fact, it appears to us that the charges were vague and it was difficult to meet the charges Fairly by any accused. Evidence adduced was perfunctory and did not at all bring home the guilt of the accused. Shri B.D. Sharma, learned advocate for the respondent, contended that no allegations had been made before the enquiry officer or before the High Court, that the charges were vague. In fact the appellant had participated in the enquiry. That does not by itself exonerate the department to bring home the charges. It has been observed by this Court in Suresh Cbandra Chakrabarty v. State of West Bengal [1971] 3 S.C.R. 1 that charges involving consequences of termination of service must be specific, though a departmental enquiry is not like a criminal trial as was noted by this Court in the case of State of Andhra Pradesh v. S. Sree Rama Rao [1964] 3 S.C.R. 25 and as such there is no such rule that an offence is not established unless it is proved beyond doubt. But a departmental enquiry entailing consequences like loss of job which now-a-day ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
