Central Administrative Tribunal - Mumbai
) Mrs. Shobha Prakash Chaudhary vs The Union Of India Through on 7 December, 2012
1 OA No. 375/2011 CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL, BOMBAY BENCH, MUMBAI. ORIGINAL APPLICATION No. 375/2011 DATED THIS FRIDAY THE 7th DAY OF December, 2012. CORAM : HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE A.K. BASHEER, MEMBER (J). HON'BLE SHRI R.C. JOSHI, MEMBER (A) 1) Mrs. Shobha Prakash Chaudhary 2) Prashant Prakash Chaudhary 3) Dhiraj Prakash Chaudhary (Legal heirs of deceased original Applicant Prakash Shankar Chaudhary) C/o. Shri R.D. Shinde, At & Post Sakurdi, Via., Supane (P.O.), Talq. Karad, Dist. Satara - 415114. ... Applicants (By Advocate Shri T. Radhakrishnan) VERSUS 1. The Union of India through Chief Post Master General, General Post Office, Mumbai. 2. The Director, Postal Services, Pune Region, Pune 411001. ... Respondents (By Advocate Shri S.G. Pillai). O R D E R Per: Shri R.C. Joshi, Member (A)
In this Original Application, the applicant has impugned order dated 07.01.2008 and order dated 10.11.2010.
2. Briefly, the applicant was a Group D employee of the Postal Department having joined the Department on 17.08.1979. He suffered from mental 2 OA No. 375/2011 ailment which was recorded in the applicants Annual Confidential Report for the period from 01.06.2006 to 26.02.2007 as Now not fit. He was charge sheeted vide memorandum dated 04.10.2007 under Rule 14 of the CCS (CCA) Rules 1965, for imposition of major penalty for unauthorized absence from 06.06.2007 to 03.10.2007. An Ex-parte departmental enquiry was held under Rule 14 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 and the Inquiry Officer in his report dated 11.12.2007 held that the charge against the applicant was proved beyond shadow of doubt. The Disciplinary Authority agreed with the finding of the Inquiry Officer and imposed the penalty of removal from service vide order dated 07.01.2008. An appeal was preferred by the applicant vide order dated 03.05.2010 which was rejected by the Appellate Authority vide order dated 10.11.2010. The applicant has challenged the order passed by the Appellate Authority on the ground that as he was not in normal health and was suffering from mental depression, he was not aware about the charge-sheet or various notices issued by the respondents and the Disciplinary Proceedings against him.
3. Learned counsel on behalf of the applicant has also preferred Miscellaneous Application No. 72/2011 in which it has been mentioned that the applicant had expired on 23.05.2011 and a copy of the death certificate has been enclosed seeking impleadment of 3 OA No. 375/2011 the wife and two unemployed sons of the deceased applicant.
4. The applicant had sought the following reliefs:
(A) That the impugned order is bad in law, shockingly disproportionate punishment and to quash and set aside the impugned order dated 07.01.2008 as it is based on an ex-parte departmental inquiry.
(B) To quash and set aside the Appellate Authority order dated 10.11.2010.
(C-1)Pending hearing and final disposal of the Original Application this Hon'ble Tribunal be pleased to pass an order directing the Respondents to grant family pension to the wife of deceased Applicant since the family has no source of income to survive and the deceased Government employee has put in more than 27 years of service and was covered under Family Pension Scheme.
(C-2)In the alternate pending hearing and final disposal of the Original Application this Hon'ble Tribunal be pleased to pass an order directing the respondents to grant Compassionate Allowance under Rule 41 of CCS (Pension) Rules.
(D-1)Pending hearing and final disposal of the Original Application, this Hon'ble Tribunal be pleased to pass an order and direct the Respondents to pay all the outstanding dues of the deceased Government servant, which include the amount accumulated in the General Provident Fund account along with interest, bonus, leave salary, etc. to the wife of late Prakash Shankar Chaudhary within a specified period of say 45 days.
(D-2)Pending hearing and final disposal of the Original Application, this 4 OA No. 375/2011 Hon'ble Tribunal be pleased to pass an order and direct the Respondents to calculate gratuity @ half of the emoluments for every completed six monthly period of qualifying service since the employee had put in more than 27 years service and expired before superannuation retirement.
(E) Costs of this Application be provided for.
(F) Any other further orders that this Hon'ble Tribunal may be pleased to passed in the interest of justice.
5. We have gone through the pleadings, perused the records and have extensively heard Shri T. Radhakrishnan , learned counsel on behalf of the applicant and Shri S.G. Pillai, learned counsel on behalf of the Respondents.
6. It is seen from the case before us that the applicant, a Group D employee working in the Postal Department, had remained unauthorizedly absent from duties with effect from 06.06.2007 to 03.10.2007. It is the case of the applicant that he suffered from mental ailment and had to be hospitalized as he was severely depressed and had 'suicidal tendency'. It is an admitted fact that medical certificates produced in this Original Application, were not produced by the applicant before the Competent Authority. The applicant was charge-sheeted and a departmental proceeding was instituted against him. The Inquiry Officer in his report had concluded that the charge against the applicant was proved beyond doubt 5 OA No. 375/2011 and, as a consequence, the Disciplinary Authority had imposed the penalty of removal from service which was upheld by the Appellate Authority in the appeal preferred by the applicant. The grounds preferred in the present Original Application was that the applicant was not in a mental condition to be fit to be aware of either the charge sheet or any of the notices directing him to appear before the Inquiry Officer. Further, the applicant had expired on 23.05.2011.
7. We have noted after a careful perusal of the case paper that the Applicant had rendered more than 24 years of service with the respondents and the respondents have not, at any stage, taken the plea that the applicant was a habitual absentee during his entire career. The medical certificate produced by the applicant in the Original Application clearly shows that the applicant was suffering from mental ailment for which he was undergoing treatment. In view of the aforesaid, the case of the Applicant has to be considered on a compassionate basis especially in view of the fact that the applicant had expired on 23.05.2011.
8. A perusal of Rule 41 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 provides grant of compassionate allowance. The provisions contained in Rule 41 of the Pension Rule is reproduced herein below for convenience:-
(1) A Government servant who is dismissed or removed from service shall forfeit his 6 OA No. 375/2011 pension and gratuity:
Provided that the authority competent to dismiss or remove him from service may, if the case is deserving of special consideration, sanction a Compassionate Allowance not exceeding two- thirds of pension or gratuity or both which would have been admissible to him if he had retired on compensation pension.
(2) A Compassionate Allowance sanctioned under the proviso to sub-rule (1) shall not be less that the amount of [Rupees three hundred and seventy-five](Rupees three thousand five hundred from 1-1-2006. See GID below Rule 49) per mensem.
9. The said Rule reproduced above provides for grant of compassionate allowance in case of an employee who has been dismissed or removed from service and this provision is applicable to the deceased employee's case whose wife and two unemployed sons have been impleaded in the present Original Application.
10. It is an admitted fact that the Applicant was absent from his duties from 06.06.2007 to 03.10.2007 and thereafter till 06.01.2008. He was issued a charge-sheet vide dated 04.10.2007. The article of charge against the Applicant is reproduced herein below for reference:
ARTICLE-I That the said Shri P.S. Chaudhary, Postman, S.P. College Post Office, Pune 4110 30 while discharging his duties, between the period 6.6.2007 to 3.10.2007 remained abrupt and un authorisedly absent from his duties without following proper leave procedure and without any application for leave or informing any reasons for absence from duties during the period from 6.6.2007 till 3.10.2007.7 OA No. 375/2011
It is therefore, alleged that by this act Shri P.S. Chaudhary, Postman, S.P. College PO has contravened the provisions of Rule 62 and 63 of Postal Manual Volume III and not shown devotion to duties and also acted in a manner which is unbecoming of Government Servant, thereby contravening the provisions of Rule 3(1)(ii) and (iii) of CCS (Conduct) Rules 1964.
11. An ex-parte Departmental Enquiry was held and the Inquiry Officer in his report held the charge against the Applicant as proved. We have carefully gone through the case papers and it is an admitted fact that the Applicant was suffering from mental ailment which is corroborated by the medical records produced by him in the case papers. It is also seen from the ACR for the period 01.06.2006 to 26.02.2007 in which it is mentioned Now not fit. Therefore, his unauthorised absence is clearly not willful as he was undergoing treatment. While it is a fact that the Applicant had not got his leave sanctioned from the Competent Authority but the documents produced in the case papers lead us to conclude that the said absence was due to his mental illness for which he was undergoing treatment as it seen from the documents produced which, though, were not produced before the concerned authorities, strengthen the Applicants case. Therefore, it is not a case that the deceased Applicant had willfully absented himself unauthorizedly. It is also an admitted fact that no case has been made out against the deceased employee being dishonest or any 8 OA No. 375/2011 action having been taken against him during his service regarding any financial misappropriation etc. It is also noted that the deceased employee has a wife and two unemployed children who were dependent upon him. We are, therefore, convinced that family of the deceased employee comprising of his wife and two unemployed children rightly deserves grant of compassionate allowance.
12. In view of the above, therefore, the Respondents are directed to pass appropriate order as per law, within a period of two months.
13. With the above directions, the Original Application is disposed of. Miscellaneous Application No. 303/2011 also stands closed. No order as to costs. (R.C. Joshi) (Justice A.K. Basheer) Member (A) Member (J) dm