TMI Blog2012 (1) TMI 255X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... here he was working and joined the Bank pursuant to the appointment letter issued to him. 4. While the Respondent No.1 was serving in the Bank, the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Burdwan-I, lodged a complaint with the Bank that during an enquiry conducted by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, it had transpired that the Respondent No.1 had committed various financial irregularities in maintaining the accounts of the Samity. In view of the above, the Assistant Registrar recommended that action be taken against him. 5. On the basis of the said complaint, the Bank issued a charge-sheet to the Respondent No.1 on 2nd February, 2000. Although, according to the Bank, the said Respondent admitted his guilt in his reply to the charge-sheet, a full-fledged enquiry was held by the Bank by appointing an Enquiry Officer and affording the Respondent No.1 adequate opportunity to defend himself, since according to him, he had been forced to sign a letter of confession. On conclusion of the disciplinary proceedings, the Enquiry Officer found the Respondent No.1 guilty of the charges brought against him. On the basis of the Enquiry Report, the Bank through its Chief Executi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... biased attitude on the part of the Bank, the Division Bench held that the Bank was not entitled to proceed against the Respondent No.1 in law and disposed of the Appeal accordingly. 9. As indicated hereinbefore, the present Appeal is directed against the said judgment and order of the Calcutta High Court. 10. Mr. Tarun Kumar Ray, learned senior advocate appearing for the Appellant-Bank, urged that the Respondent No.1 had not been prejudiced in any way on account of non-supply of the report of the Enquiry Officer or in the absence of a second show- cause notice, as was earlier envisaged under Article 311(2) of the Constitution prior to its amendment by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976. Mr. Ray submitted that as had been held by this Court in Managing Director, E.C.I.L. vs. B. Karunakar [(1993) 4 SCC 727], the order of reinstatement for non-furnishing of Enquiry Report to the concerned employee would depend on the extent of prejudice caused to him and could not be ordered as a matter of course. It was, however, mentioned that a copy of the Enquiry Report, if not served earlier, should be provided to the employee before arguments were allowed to be advanced and the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... held that the dismissal of the Respondent on the basis of an allegation of defalcation of the funds of the Samity, when he was not even an employee of the Bank, was wholly without jurisdiction, as he was not answerable to the Bank for whatever allegations that may have been made against him in his previous employment under the Raipur Krishi Unnayan Samity, which was a co-operative society affiliated to the Appellant- Bank. Mr. Gupta further submitted that in the absence of employer-employee relationship at the time when the alleged defalcation is said to have been committed, the Appellant co-operative Bank ought not to have proceeded against the Respondent No.1 in disciplinary proceedings, and, thereafter, dismissed him from service. Mr.Gupta submitted that the order of the learned Single Judge, as well as that of the Division Bench, was based on a correct appreciation of the law and did not merit interference in the appeal. 14. Having carefully considered the submissions made on behalf of the respective parties and having regard to the fact that the Respondent No.1 was an employee of the Samity, which was a cooperative society affiliated to the Appellant Cooperative Bank her ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n S. Govinda Menon's case (supra), cited by Mr. Ray, also has a direct bearing on the facts of this case, where, although the Respondent No.1 was not under the administrative control of the Appellant-Bank, prior to his service with the Bank, his previous conduct was a blot on his integrity and devotion to duty as a member of the service. Since no prejudice had been caused to the Respondent No.1 by the non-supply of the Enquiry Officer's report or the second show-cause notice under Article 311(2) of the Constitution, the Respondent No.1 had little scope to contend that the principles of natural justice had been violated which had vitiated the proceedings. 17. However, there is one aspect of the matter which cannot be ignored. In B. Karunakar's case (supra), despite holding that non-supply of a copy of the report of the Inquiry Officer to the employee facing a disciplinary proceeding, amounts to denial of natural justice, in the later part of the judgment it was observed that whether in fact, prejudice has been caused to the employee on account of non-furnishing of a copy of the inquiry report has to be considered in the facts of each case. It was observed that where ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the above circumstances, we cannot agree with the view taken by the learned Single Judge, as affirmed by the Division Bench of the High Court, that the Appellant-Bank had no jurisdiction to proceed against the Respondent No.1 by way of disciplinary proceedings in regard to the allegations of defalcation made against him while he was employed under the Co-operative Samity which was an affiliate of the Appellant-Bank. The other decision cited by Mr. Ray in S. Govinda Menon's case (supra) also makes it abundantly clear that even though the Respondent No.1 may not have been under the direct administrative control of the Bank at the relevant point of time when the defalcation is alleged to have taken place, on account of the affiliation of the Samity with the Bank under the provisions of the West Bengal Co-operative Societies Rules, 1987, the Appellant-Bank had jurisdiction over the Respondent No.1 after he joined the employment of the Appellant-Bank. In the instant case, since the question of integrity in managing the accounts of the Samity is in question, it was but natural for the Bank to proceed departmentally against the Respondent No.1 after coming to learn of the allegation ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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