Gujarat High Court
Manoj Kumar S/O Late Basudeo Upadhyay vs Union Of India on 30 September, 2021
Author: N.V.Anjaria
Bench: N.V.Anjaria, A. P. Thaker
C/SCA/2613/2020 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 2613 of 2020
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MANOJ KUMAR S/O LATE BASUDEO UPADHYAY
Versus
UNION OF INDIA
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Appearance:
MR UTKARSH J DAVE(10620) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
RAHUL SHARMA(8276) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
. for the Respondent(s) No. 1
MR DEVANG VYAS(2794) for the Respondent(s) No. 1
MR NIKUNT K RAVAL(5558) for the Respondent(s) No. 1
MR PY DIVYESHVAR(2482) for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA
and
HONOURABLE DR. JUSTICE A. P. THAKER
Date : 30/09/2021
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA) Heard learned advocate Mr.Rahul Sharma for the petitioner and learned Additional Solicitor General Mr.Devang Vyas with learned advocate Mr.Chirayu Mehta for the respondent- Union of India.
2. The present petition is filed with a prayer to set aside order date 20.11.2019 of Central Administrative Tribunal, Ahmedabad Bench, Ahmedabad in Original Application No.415 of 2019. It is further prayed to set aside the impugned memorandum dated 18.4.2019 of Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication, Government of India. It was a memorandum whereby the departmental inquiry was directed against the Page 1 of 7 Downloaded on : Sun Jan 16 19:54:33 IST 2022 C/SCA/2613/2020 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2021 applicant.
3. As per the impugned order, learned Judicial Member of Tribunal dismissed the Original Application as devoid of merits.
4. The applicant was working as Director, Postal Services, Northern Region, Kerala Postal Circle, Kozhikode, Kerala. He was issued charge- sheet levelling charges against him that he had fraudulently converted Rs.1.04 crores of the old high denomination notes. The subject matter of proceedings before the Central Administrative Tribunal was the said departmental proceedings. As stated above, the Claims Tribunal speaking through Single Member Bench dismissed the Original Application.
4.1 While various contentions were raised on behalf of the petitioner to assail the impugned order, what we can immediately notice that the order was passed by the Bench of Central Administrative Tribunal consisting of single member judicial. As could be seen above, the subject matter was about departmental inquiry. In this regard, we notice the Central Administrative Tribunal Rules of Practice, 1993 framed under the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985.
5. Rule 18 of the aforesaid Rules provides as under.
"18. Posting of cases for admission/orders before the Bench.-
(a) Subject to the orders of the Chairman / Vice-
Chairman of the concerned Bench, all registered applications/petitions shall be posted for admission/ orders before the appropriate Bench on the next working day. The notice of posting shall be given by Page 2 of 7 Downloaded on : Sun Jan 16 19:54:33 IST 2022 C/SCA/2613/2020 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2021 notifying in the daily cause list for the day.
(b) Before placing the records of the case for admission/order, the Registry shall state in brief in the column "Notes of the Registry" of the Order Sheet, the date of presentation and registration, the subject matter of the application and the date of posting before the Bench and fill up the columns in file covers "A" and "B".
(c) The category of cases specified in Appendix I to these Rules as may be amended by the Chairman from time to time, may as far as possible be posted before the Single Member Bench and dealt with in accordance with the procedure prescribed therein.
(d) The constitution of Benches and distribution of work shall be as per the orders/directions given in Appendix II to these Rules, as may be modified by the Chairman for time to time."
5.1 Rule 154 provides for Classification of cases subjectwise/ departmentwise. The said Rule is extracted herein under.
"154. Classification of cases subjectwise/ departmentwise.-- (a) The scrutiny branch of the Registry shall at the time of scrutiny make classification of the cases as follows:--
(i) Departmentwise;
(ii) Subjectwise; and
(iii) Cases which can be heard by a Single Member Bench.
(b) The departmentwise classification shall be made in accordance with Appendix VI, as may be modified by the Chairman from time to time.
(c) Subjectwise classification shall be made in accordance with Appendix VII, as may be modified by the Chairman from time to time
(d) Single Member Bench cases shall be classified in accordance with Appendix VII as may be modified by Page 3 of 7 Downloaded on : Sun Jan 16 19:54:33 IST 2022 C/SCA/2613/2020 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2021 the Chairman from time to time.
(e) The classification as above shall be entered in the relevant columns in the report of scrutiny in Form No. 2/Form No. 3, Order Sheet in Form No. 4 and Facing Sheet of the final cover in Form No. 5, referred to in rules 11 to 13 of these Rules."
5.2 Under Rule 154 (c), it is provided that subject wise classification are made in accordance with Appendix VII. Appendix VII is as under.
Subject-Wise Classification of cases Division Bench Cases
1. Absorption in Public Sector / Autonomous Bodies / Other Departments
2. Ad-hoc Appointments / Regularisation
3. All India Services
4. Allotment / Vacation / Eviction of Quarters
5.Civil Services Examination
6. Creation and Abolition of Post
7. Daily Wages / Casual/Regularisation
8. Deputation / Regularisation
9. Disciplinary--Cases (a) Major Punishment-- Dismissal / Removal / Compulsory Retirement Reduction in Rank (b) Minor Punishment--Other Punishments (c) Suspension
10. Extra Departmental Staff
11. Leave Rules--Break in Services / Dies Non
12. Lien
13. Medical Facilities
14. Probation
15. Recruitment & Appointment
16. Reservation for SC/ST/Ex-servicemen/Physically Handicapped
17. Reversion
18. Retirement under FR 56(J)
19. Scale of Pay Page 4 of 7 Downloaded on : Sun Jan 16 19:54:33 IST 2022 C/SCA/2613/2020 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2021
20. Selection / Promotion
21. Seniority / Confirmation
22. Surplus Staff--Redeployment of
23. T.A.
24. Temporary Service, Rules / Termination of Service
25. Training
26. Uniform and Washing Allowance
27. Voluntary, Resignation / Retirement
28. All Single, Bench Cases Classified, under the Heads (A) to (M) in Appendix VIII "
5.3 In the above Appendix, item 9 is Disciplinary Cases and the Major punishment. The subject matter dispute will fall within that category. In other words, as per the Rule 154 (c) read with Appendix VII, the proceedings ought to have been dealt with and decide by two member Bench whereas the impugned order is by single member. Thus, the impugned order is irregularly passed.
5.4 Appendix VIII mentions about the Subject-wise Classification of Cases to be heard and decided by Single Judge of the Tribunal.
(a) Allotment of Eviction for Government Accommodation
(b) Claims of Medical Reimbursement, Leave, Joining Time, L.T.C. and Over-Time
(c) Compassionate Appointment/Appointment of Dependents Dying in Harness
(d) Crossing of Efficiency Bar
(e) Date of Birth
(f) Entry in Character Rolls/Confidential Record/Service, record, made otherwise than as a measure of penalty under Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965
(g) Fixation of Pay
(h) Grant of Passes to Railway Employees
(i) Grant of Pension, Family Pension, other Retirement Benefits and Interest on Retirement Benefits
(j) Grant or Refusal to Grant Advances/Loans Page 5 of 7 Downloaded on : Sun Jan 16 19:54:33 IST 2022 C/SCA/2613/2020 ORDER DATED: 30/09/2021
(k) Grant, Refusal or Recovery of Allowances
(l) Postings/Transfers
(m) Stagnation Increment
6. Similar issued was considered by the Division bench of this Court in Rajnathsinh Hariharsingh Son of Hriharsingh Vs.Union of India and Others in Special Civil Application No.19207 of 2016, decided on 16.1.2017. In that case, the subject matter was absorption of the employee into service, which was dealt with and decided by Single member Bench of the Tribunal. The Division Bench considered the aforesaid provisions to hold that the Single member Bench did not have the jurisdiction to deal with the matter of absorption, it was observed that the provisions of law contained in the Central Administrative Tribunal Rules of Practice, 1993, would govern the aspect of jurisdiction.
6.1 Thus, irregularity on the above count amounts to lack of jurisdiction as held by the Division Bench.
6.2 It is on the above ground alone that the order is required to be set aside and the case deserves to be remanded to the Tribunal to be decided by the Division Bench. This Court is not required to go into any other aspect.
7. As a result the impugned order dated 20.11.2019 rejecting Original Application No.415 of 2019 is hereby set aside on the aforesaid ground alone when the order is passed by the Bench comprising of single member of the Tribunal. The proceedings are remanded to be decided by the Division Bench in light of what is stated above.
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8. The Central Administrative Tribunal shall decide the matter afresh in accordance with law within six months from the date of receipt of the present order.
8.1 It is made clear that this Court has not gone into merits and has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case.
9. The petition is allowed in the aforesaid terms.
(N.V.ANJARIA, J) (DR. A. P. THAKER, J) Manshi Page 7 of 7 Downloaded on : Sun Jan 16 19:54:33 IST 2022