Central Administrative Tribunal - Delhi
Amit Kumar Sharma vs National Technical Research ... on 8 November, 2024
(OA No.2974/2019)
(1)
Central Administrative Tribunal
Principal Bench, New Delhi
O.A. No.2974/2019
Reserved on :17.10.2024
Pronounced on :08.11.2024
Hon'ble Mr. Manish Garg, Member (J)
Hon'ble Mr. Sanjeeva Kumar, Member (A)
Amit Kumar Sharma, Age 39 years
Contractual Group 'B', NTRO (Group 'C')
S/o Sh. D.K.Sharma,
R/o Om Apartment, Flat No.332,
2nd Floor, Sector-14, Pocket 2,
Dwarka, New Delhi-110075. ...Applicant
(By Advocates: Shri M.D.Jangra)
Versus
1. NTRO Through its Chairman,
NTRO, Block-III,
Old JNU Campus,
New Delhi-110067.
2. The Joint Secretary (Pers),
NTRO, Block-III,
Old JNU Campus,
New Delhi-110067. ...Respondents
(By Advocates: Shri Hanu Bhaskar)
ORDER
Hon'ble Mr. Sanjeeva Kumar, Member (A):
The applicant is aggrieved by the alleged illegal, arbitrary act of the respondents in not communicating the recommendation /inquiry report of the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) and the decision of the disciplinary authority taken by it in this matter to the applicant even after lapse of more than 1 year, whereas as per Section (OA No.2974/2019) (2) 11(4) of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the inquiry is to be completed by the ICC within a period of ninety days and thereafter the report to be submitted to the employer i.e. Respondent No.1 and as per Section 13(1) of the aforesaid Act within 10 days thereof the report of its findings to be made available to the concerned parties. The respondents have failed to take any action thereof as per the provisions of the Act. Even thereafter as per Section 13(4) of the aforesaid Act, the respondents were to act upon the recommendation of the ICC within sixty days, whereas the respondents even did not take any action thereof. The applicant made representation and finally sent a legal notice dated 22.07.2019 to act upon the provisions of the law, however, the respondents did not take any action till date. Hence, he has filed the present OA under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 seeking the following relief(s) :-
"(i) To quash the action of the respondents in not completing the inquiry within 90 days and communicating the report / findings /recommendation to the applicant within 10 days after receipt by the Disciplinary Authority from ICC and to act upon the recommendation within 60 days, for being illegal, arbitrary and mala fide.
(OA No.2974/2019) (3)
(ii) To quash notice dated 20.06.2018 and letter dated 24.07.2018 issued by Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) and set aside the entire action of the respondents based thereupon, for being illegal, arbitrary and mala fide.
(iii) To allow the OA with costs.
(iv) Pass any further orders as this Hon'ble Tribunal may deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case."
2. The facts of the case, in brief, as indicated in the OA are that the applicant was working at CNS, Ayanagar under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting as Computer Operator on casual basis w.e.f. October 2003. When Government of India formed National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) took over CMS, Ayanagar then the applicant along with other similarly placed persons were also selected in NTRO w.e.f. April 2005 as Computer Operator on casual basis. Keeping in view of his hard work and dedication towards the organization, the applicant was appointed as LDC w.e.f. 10.03.2006 at CMS, NTRO on contractual basis against the vacant post of Allied Support Staff. The hard work and dedication towards the organization of the applicant was appreciated by the higher officers and he was awarded various awards, achievements and commendations/cash awards, which are mentioned herein below:-
(i) Awarded with 'Outstanding Performance Award 2007-2008 from NTRO, Government of India and was (OA No.2974/2019) (4) presented by Shri MK Narayanan, National Security Advisor (NSA)' and Cash Award.
(ii) Cash awards received for the year 2009, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Chairman, NTRO.
(iii) Commendation by Sh. Alok Joshi Chairman, NTRO in 2017, 2018 & 2019.
(iv) Two commendation certificates and cash awards during service period in DoE&P (Data Cell).
(v) Appreciated participation in VMOS and HF projects for office automation in CMS.
(vi) Appreciation for major contributor in the Implementation of Office Automation (e-Office), PIMS and also played a key role in designing and implementation of HR Management System (HRMS).
(vii) Assisted the core technical team in Implementation of new software application and major contributor in providing IT Support in the organization during pre and post production deployment and continually seeking techniques and strategies for improvement of the software and hardware applications currently running in the organization.
3. It is submitted that on 20.06.2018 the applicant received a notice (along with complaint dated 22.05.2018) from the Chairperson WCCC regarding a complaint of physical harassment received by them from Smt. Pooja Devi, Contractual Estt & Pers. The applicant submitted his reply dated 29.06.2018 to the aforesaid notice and denied the false and frivolous allegations leveled against him in the complaint.
4. The applicant further submits that the ICC without following the procedure, as prescribed, sought clarification from him and to give evidence against himself sent letter (OA No.2974/2019) (5) dated 24.07.2018. The applicant took a serious objection to the letter and submitted his objection regarding non- adherence of Rule 14 of CCS (CCA) Rules, apart from forcing him to give evidence against himself in contravention of judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court. However, without prejudice to his rights, the applicant submitted his response dated 30.07.2018 to that letter also.
5. The applicant avers that in complete disregard to the rules / provisions on the subject and even after pointed out by the ICC itself to the complainant i.e. Smt. Pooja Devi, the ICC even then sought clarification / reply vide letter dated 02.08.2018 on the additional documents submitted by her to the ICC. Since the allegations were false and frivolous, therefore, the applicant after taking objection to the aforesaid stand taken by the complainant in this matter duly replied vide response dated 13.08.2018 to the ICC taking all the grounds available to him and prayed for justice in the matter since he is being victimized in the deep rooted conspiracy hatched by the complainant i.e. Smt. Pooja Devi, Contractual, Group 'C', her father-in-law Sh. Yogendra Singh, AA in NTRO and her husband Shri Hemant Choudhary without any fault on his part.
(OA No.2974/2019) (6)
6. It is submitted that in the meantime the services of the applicant sought regularization since he has been working in the department from last 14 years and his much juniors have already been regularized, thereby caused discrimination and he made representation thereto. On receipt of the aforesaid representation, the respondents did not extend his contract and terminated his services on 02.04.2019. The applicant challenged the aforesaid action before this Hon'ble Tribunal in OA No. 1063/2019, which is pending adjudication.
7. It is further submitted that the period of inquiry in such matter, as provided in Section 11 (4) of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (herein after referred as Act) is ninety days. Section 11(4) read thus:-
"11(4) The inquiry under sub-section (1) shall be completed within a period of ninety days."
And Section 13(1) of the Act provides for a report of its findings to the employer. Section 13(1) read thus:
"13 Inquiry Report - (1) On completion of an inquiry under this Act, the Internal Committee or the Local Committee, as the case may be, shall provide a report of its findings to the employer, or as the case May be the District Officer within a period of ten days from the date of completion of the inquiry and such report be made available to the concerned parties."
(OA No.2974/2019) (7) And Section 13(4) of the Act provides to act upon the recommendation of the ICC by the employer. Section 13(4) read thus:-
"13(4). The employer or the District Officer shall at upon the recommendation within sixty days of its receipt by him."
8. The applicant contends that the respondents have not followed the aforesaid provisions of the Act and in complete violation thereof till date not communicated the recommendation/Inquiry report to him and they acted in highly illegal, arbitrary manner in not communicating the recommendation/inquiry report in the aforesaid matter. Thereafter, he sent a legal notice dated 22.07.2019 through his counsel to do the needful. However, the respondents have neither given any response thereof nor taken any action in this matter till date since the prescribed time has already expired in this case. Since the action of respondents is highly illegal and arbitrary manner in not communicating the report of findings of ICC/recommendation and inquiry report till date.
9. The respondents in their counter reply have contested the claim of the applicant, stating that he was engaged on contract basis in NTRO as Group 'C' employee initially for a period of 03 months w.e.f. 10.03.2006. The said contract was renewed from time to time and the last renewal was upto 30.09.2017. During this contractual (OA No.2974/2019) (8) period, his nature of duties was purely clerical. The last renewal of his contract as Group-C was upto 30.09.2017. He was further re-engaged on contract w.e.f. 01.10.2017 and afforded a status of contractual Group-B. The said contract was further extended as a de-novo contract from 01.04.2018 for a period of 01 year i.e. 31.03.2019.
10. It is submitted that by this time, Recruitment Rules of various categories of NTRO were finalized and the PMO directed that henceforth appointment should be made strictly conforming to the said rules. It was therefore decided to phase out the individuals engaged on contract and make regular appointments in terms of the ibid rules. Accordingly, the contract of the applicant was not extended beyond 31.03.2019 and thus his services were dispensed with on account of afflux of time i.e. non- renewal of the contract.
11. It is further submitted that the applicant has already challenged the non-renewal of contract before this Tribunal vide OA No. 1063/2019 questioning his termination of contract. The matter is presently pending adjudication before this Tribunal. Against this background, it is evident that as an afterthought and also in an abject effort to mislead this Tribunal, the applicant has filed the present OA linking his alleged termination of contract to a (OA No.2974/2019) (9) complaint of Sexual Harassment against him, which, he feels, has not been acted upon by the department in the right perspective.
12. The respondents submit that as an offshoot event during his contractual tenure in this department, a complaint of Sexual Harassment was received against the applicant from one of his co-employees. It is submitted that all workplaces are mandated by law to provide a safe and secure working environment free from Sexual Harassment for all women. Accordingly, the complaint against the Sexual Harassment of Women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013 was made and the ICC conducted the inquiry as per the Act. The applicant participated in the inquiry proceedings conducted by the ICC. The complaints and the replies were duly examined by the ICC and it was found that the charges leveled against the applicant involved technical aspects such as alleged morphing of Images and also the alleged impersonation of Whatsapp account, messages and Images etc.
13. The respondents further submit that the applicant being relieved of his contractual engagement in NTRO, no longer remained an "Employee" in terms of Para 2(f) of the Act and therefore the department was not under (OA No.2974/2019) (10) obligation to make available copies of any interim/final report to the applicant. The dispensation of services of the applicant is in no manner stigmatic as far as the applicant is concerned. Further, as per provisions contained in Para 16 of the Act, the identity and addresses of the aggrieved woman, respondent and witnesses, any information relating to conciliation and inquiry proceedings, recommendations of the ICC or the LC and the action taken by the employer under the provisions of the Act, shall not be published, communicated or made known to the public, press and media in any manner. However, in total violation of the Act and in utter disregard of the ethics and norms, the applicant has made available all such information in his court case which is in open forum and therefore accessible by all and sundry. This act alone by the applicant merits appropriate penal action against him as per the law of the land.
13. We have heard both the counsels and perused the pleadings on record.
14. It is not in dispute that the applicant was engaged on contract basis in NTRO as Group 'C' employee initially for a period of three months w.e.f. 10.03.2006 and his contract was renewed from time-to-time and the last renewal was upto 30.09.2017. However, he was re-engaged on (OA No.2974/2019) (11) contract w.e.f. 01.10.2017 with the status of contractual Group-B. It is also evident that his contract was not extended beyond 31.03.2019. The applicant has already challenged the non-renewal of contract vide OA No. 1063/2019, which is pending adjudication before the Principal Bench. During his contractual period, a complaint for sexual harassment was received from one of his co- employee which was notified to him on 20.06.2018 by the ICC and the inquiry against the applicant started. However, as already mentioned, his contract was not renewed beyond 31.03.2019 on completion of the stipulated period of one year. We have perused the termination order dated 29.03.2019 which reads as follows:
"Office Order Reference Estt. Order No.IV(A)23/01/Estt- I/NTRO(Pt)-733 dated28.03.2018.
2. Consequent upon completion of his contractual period, Shri Amit Kumar Sharma (9124), contractual Group 'B' attached with Legal Cell (DoE&P) shall stand relieved of his duties from NTRO w.e.f.31.03.2019 afternoon.
3. This issues with the approval of Competent Authority."
15. On completion of such contract, the employer and employee relationship between the applicant and the respondents ceased to exist. The question is once his (OA No.2974/2019) (12) services were dispensed with on completion of contract period where the respondents under any obligation to proceed with the report of the inquiry further? To our mind, this would not have served any purpose as the applicant was no longer under the administrative control of the respondents. Therefore, various grounds raised by the applicant regarding improper conduct of the inquiry, such as, non-completion of the inquiry within 90 days or non- communication of inquiry report to the applicant or inability of the competent authority to act on such report timely are not relevant here.
16. Thus in light of the above, we find no merit in the OA. Accordingly, the OA is dismissed. However, it is clarified that we have not gone into the merit of the case and all the grounds raised by the applicant will remain open and the applicant will be at liberty to agitate the same, depending upon the outcome of his pending OA No.1063/2019, if the occasion arises. No costs.
(Sanjeeva Kumar) (Manish Garg) Member (A) Member (J) /kdr/