Baidyanath Mahapatra v. State of Orissa & Anr.

SINGH, J. Leave granted .. This appeal is directed against the judgment of the Orissa E · Administrative Tribunal, Bhubaneswar dated 21.12. 1987 dismissing the appellant's suit challenging his pre-mature retirement from service. The appellant, a qualified El.ectrical Engineer with training in West Germany, joined service of Orissa Government as an Assistant F Engineer (Electrical) in 1955. In 1961 he was promoted to the rank of Executive Engineer (Elecirical) and deputed to'the Orissa State Electricity .Board. In March, )976 ... he•was promoted .to the post of Superintending 'Engineer (Electrical) on the. basis of merit. In 1979 while working on the post of Superintending Engineer (Electrical) he was allowed to cross the E{ficiency Bar with effect from LI. 1979 .. He G also officiated on the post of Chief Engineer (Electrical) in Orissa State Elt:ctricity Board. Since he had completed 50 years of age a Review Committee constituted by the Government of Orissa consi­ dered his service record in October, 1983 for determining his suitabi­ 'lity for retention in service in accordance with the first proviso to Rule · 7 l(a) of the Orissa Service Code. On the recommendation-of the H -.;. 806 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1989] 3 S.C.R. A Review · Committee · the State Government by its .. order dated ' 10.11.1983 pre-maturely retired the appellant from service. He filed a civil suit before the Subordinate Judge, Bhubanes~ar challenging the · validity of his pre-mature retirement on a number of grounds. On the Constitution of the.Orissa Administrative Tribunal the suit was trans­ ferred to the Administrative Tribunal, Bhubaneswar, under Section 29 B of the Administrative Tribunals Act. The Tribunal by its order dated 21. 12. 1987 dismissed. the suit and upheld the validity of appellant's pre-mature retirement. Hence this appeal. ~ The Tribunal held that the Review Committee on an assessment of the overall performance of the appellant's conduct had bona fide C made recommendations to the State Government that the appellant's retention in servic~was not in public interest, and in pursuance thereof the State Government retired. the appellant pre-maturely. The Tribunal further held that the order of pre-mature retirement does not suffer from any legal infirmity. Learned counsel for the appellant . uri:;ed that the Tribunal committed serious error in upholding the order D of pre-mature retirement as the recommendation of the Review Com­ mittee was vitiated as it was founded on irrelevant and inadmissible material. In this connection, he urged that the Review Committee had considered a number of adverse remarks contained in the appellant's service record for the remote past years which had no relevance and it had further considered adverse entries relating to the recent years E although those adverse entries had not become final as the representa­ tions. against. those adverse entries had not been considered of by the State Government. He urged that while considering overall perform­ ance of the appellant the Review Committee was influenced by the entries of remote past, which had lost their significance as inspite of those entries the appellant had been promoted to higher post on merit '· F and he had also been permitted. to. cross Efficiency Bar. Before we ~consider these submissions it would be pertinent to refer of the recom­ . mendatiims of the Review Committee which are as under:. / G. "From the year 1969-70. to 1982-83, Shri Baidyanath Mahapatra has got adverse remarks for the years 1969-70, 1970-71, 1972-73, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1981-82 and 1982-83. Although he was an .intelligent officer, he did not apply his mind and did not bestow adequate zeal in his work. He did neither assume resixmsibility nor did he work hard for which the Chief Engineer had to deal with his Executive · Engineers and Assis tar : Engineers directly. He was found to be too cursory in deallng with the problems and adept in ' ' I- BAIDYANATH v. STATE OF ORISSA [SINGH, J.] 807 putting the responsibilities for deficiencies on others. His A performrnce during most of the years was found to be of average standard. The Committee, considering his overall performance, was of the view that his continuance in ii§rvice is not desirable in public interest and that he be retired prematurely. This officer would have retired on superannuation on 30.9.1989." B No exception can be taken to the Government's opinion in retir­ l ing the appellant pre-maturely on the basis of the aforesaid recommen­ ~ dation of the Review Committee as it clearly indicated that the appel­ -lant's retention in service was not in public interest. The purpose of the \ Rule conferring power on the Government to retire Government C /- servants pre-maturely is to energise its machinery by "chopping of the dead-wood" as held by this Court in Union of India v. J.N. Sinha, [1971) 1 SCR 791. The question which falls for consideration is whether the Review Committee was justified in making its recommen­ dations on the basis of adverse entries awarded to the appellant in remote past especially when the appellant had been promoted to the D post of Superintending Engineer in 1976 and he had further been permitted to cross Efficiency Bar in 1979. The adverse entries relating -{ to the years 1969-70, 1970-71, 1972-73 and 1975-76, had Jost all signi- . ficance, because inspite of those entries the appellant was considered to ·be an intelligent and efficient officer and in that view he was pro­ moted to the post of Superintending Engineer. If those entries did not E refkct deficiency in appellant's work and conduct for the purpose of pro1notion, it is difficult to comprehend as to how those adverse entries could be pressed into service for retiring him pre-maturely. _ l When a Government servant is promoted to a higher post on the basis '\ of merit and selection, adverse entries if any contained in his service record lose their significance and those remain on record as part of f past history. It would be unjust to curtail the service career of Govern­ ment servant on the basis of those entries in the absence of any signi­ ficant fall in his performance after his promotion. I /. The adverse entries for the years 1969-70, 1970-71, 1972-7;> and 1975-76 were communicated in a lot to the appellant in 1978, although G under the instructions issued. by the State Government the adverse entries must be communicated by December of each year. The purpose of communicating adverse entries to the Government servant is to inform him regarding his deficiency in work and conduct and to afford him an opportunity to make, amend, and improvement in his work and further if the entries are not justified the communication H 808 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989) 3 S.C.R. A ·affords him an opportunity to make representation. If the adverse remarks ·awarded to a Government servant are communicated to him after several years, the object of communicating entries is defeat.ed. It is therefore imperative that the adverse entries awarded to a Govern­ ment servant must be communicated to him within a· reasonable period · to afford him opporiunity to improve his work and conduct and also to B make representatio.n in the event of the entry being unjustified. In the instant case, advers1: entries relating to a .number of years were com­ municated to the appellant in one lot under a letter dated 27.2.1978 contrary to the ins fr. uctions issued by the State Government as con- .. ) tained in Circular No. 29 dated 19.2.1953. Belated communication of the entries resulted into denial of reasonable opPQitunity to the appel- - !ant to improve his performance. Further. since adverse remarks for C several years were communicated with inordinate delay it was impossi­ ble for the appellant to make an effective representation against the same. The appellant's representation against the aforesaid entries was rejected on 12.3.1981 on the ground that the representation was bar­ red by time. Since the communication of the adverse entries was itself o highly belated the representation against those adverse remarks should have been considered on merits and the same could not .be rejected on the alleged ground.of delay as the Government itself was· guilty of inordinate delay in communicating the adverse remarks to the appellant. E Adverse remarks relating to the years 1981-82 and 1982-83 were " taken into account by the Review Committee in formulating its opinion against the appellant's retention in service. The appellant's representation against those entries had not been considered, yet the Review Committee placed reliance on those entries. In fact, the adverse remarks for the year 1981-82 were communicated to the appel- . } F !ant under the letter dated 21.6.1983 which was received by him on 5. 7 .1983, and as regards the adverse remarks for the year 1982-83 these were communicated to the appellant under the letter dated 29.7.1983 which was received by him on 9.8.1983. He made represen­ tation to the Government against the aforesaid adverse remarks on 1.11.1983 but before the representation could be considered by the G Government the impugned order of pre-mature retirement was made on 10.11.1983. These facts make it amply clear that the appellant's representation against the aforesaid adverse remarks for the years 1981-82 and 1982-83 was pending and the same had not been con­ sidered or disposed of on the date the impugned order was issued. It is settled view that it is not permissible to pre-mat11rely retire a Govem- H ment servant on the basis of adverse entries, representations against ~: BAIDYANATII v. STATE OF ORISSA (SINGH, J.) 809 which are not considered and disposed of. See· Brij Mohan Chopra v. State of Punjab, (1987] 2 SCR 583. When this aspect was pressed · before the Tribunal, it took a peculiar view in holding that since the representation had not been made before the date on which the Re­ view Committee had considered the appellant's case, the Committee -{_ need not have waited for the disposal of the appellant's representation and it was free to take into account the adverse remarks awarded to the appellant in the years 1981-82 and 1982-83. The appellant placed reliance on the decision of this Court in Brij Mohan Chopra's case but , the Tribunal by some involved logic avoided giving effect to the law \laid down by this Court. It is not disputed that in the State of Orissa a Government servant lias right to make representation within six months from the date of communication of the adverse remarks. The C t appellant had right to make representation against the adverse entries within six months period, therefore, the adverse entries awarded to him in the years 1981-82 and 1982-83 could not be taken into account either by'the Review Committee or by the State Government in form- ing the requisite opinion as contemplated by Rule 7l(l}(a) of the · Orissa Service Code, before the expiry of the period of six months. · D Since the period prescribed for making representation against the adverse remarks for the years 1981-82 and 1982-83 had not expired, ~ the proper course for the Review Committee should have been not to · consider those entries or in the alternative, the Review Committee ·should have waited for the decision of the Government on the appel­ lant's representation. The view taken by the Tribunal is not sustain- E able in law. . There is a disturbing feature of this case which vitiates Tribunal's l order. Shri Gian Chand, Chairman of the Tribunal, ex-Chief Secretary ' of the State of Orissa, was member of the Review Committee which made recommendation against the appellant for his pre-mature retire- F ment, and in pursuance thereof the State Government had issued the impugned order. It appears that Sh. Gian Chand, had later been appointed as Chairman of the Administrative Tribunal. Shri Gian Chand, participated in the proceedings of the Tribunal, and he is party to the decision of the Tribunal. These facts show that Mr. Gian Chand, who had administratively taken a decision against the appellant, con- G ;. sidered the matter judicially as a Chairman of the Tribunal, thereby he acted as a Judge of his own cause. While it is true that there is no allegation of personal bias against Sh. Gian Chand, he may have acted bona fide, nonetheless, the principles of natural justice, fair play, and judicial discipline required that he should have abstained from hearing the appellant's case. While considering the appellant's case the Tri- H 810 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989)•3 S.C.R. A bunal exercised judicial powers and it was required to act judicially, as the jurisdiction of the Civil Court and High Court have been excluded and vested in the Administrative Tribunal. The Members of the Tri­ bunal must follow rules of natural justice in administering justice like Judges, they should not sit in judgment on their own decisions. B Sh. Gian Chand was disqualified to hear the appellant's case. The order of the Tribunal is vitiated on this ground but as the appellant had not raised any objection before the Tribunal against the participation of Sh. Gian Chand, we do not consider it necessary to grant relief to the appellant on this ground. For the aforesaid reasons we hold that the order of pre-mature C retirement is vitiated and the Tribunal committed error in upholding the same. We accordingly allow the appeal, set aside the order of the Tribunal dated 21. 12. 1987 and also the order of the State Government dated 10.11.1983. The appellant is entitled to reinstatement with all consequential benefits of service in addition to the costs. • R.S.S. Appeal allowed. )