Date from which a suspension order comes into effect

[Smeer J]

I have been served with a Notice to Show Cause as to why I should not be proceeded against for having not relieved my subordinate who had been suspended by the State Head of the Department. Facts of the case are as follows;

The instructions issued by the State Government in the matter of giving effect to, to the suspension order reads as follows;

If the Government servant who has been suspended by the competent authority is on duty, the order takes effect from the date it is communicated to him and he is relieved of his duty. It is, therefore, necessary that the authority who passes the order of suspension should also specify the officer who should take charge of the office held by the Government servant who is placed under suspension. If the authorities which passes the order of suspension is different from the authority which is competent to make arrangement for relief of the suspended Government servant by posting a substitute, then the former should communicate to the Government servant the order of his suspension through the latter who should simultaneously communicate to the suspension Government servant both the order of suspension and the order making arrangement for his relief.

The institution headed by me is devolved to the PRI. The legislation legislated by the legislature of the State, under Art. 243G of the Constitution, declares the Chairmen of the PRIs shall be the Executive Head of their respective PRI and the Executive Officers have been delegated with the powers of controlling and supervising the Officers and Officials working under them, subject to overall control and supervision of the Chairman.

The Chairman had issued written orders to the Executive Officer as well as to me with directions of not relieving the suspended employee. The reasons for such prohibition were that the official was placed under suspension on the alleged misconducts in the discharge of his duties in connection with the affairs of the said unit of self-government when he had nothing to do with its affairs and hence it was a clear case of usurpation of the jurisdiction of that PRI. Simultaneously, The chairman had not only communicated the decision to the Government but also requested to prevent the said State Head of the Department from interfering directly in the affairs of PRIs of the entire State. Several cases of such nature were highlighted by the Chairman in the report so made to the Government.

The State Head of the Department, without knowing the fact of embargo on the order issued by him, had revoked the suspension order when the employee was not at all relieved by me. Since the services of the official were sought to be transferred to an institution which was under the direct control of the State Head of the Department, the Chairman had issued one more order directing me not to relieve the said official until further orders of the PRI. Thus, I had no other option but to act within the scope and ambit of the legislation of the State which confers considerably vast powers in the PRIs and its authorities.

Under this backdrop, the authorities had resorted first to transfer me to a faraway place. And, now they have proposed to subject me to Departmental Proceedings.

Hence, I will be much thankful to the legal experts if I have been guided about the stand required to be taken by me while rendering my explanation to the Show Cause Notice having served to me.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

In your question, you have yourself mentioned the reasons that need to be given as explanation. If the legislation applicable asks you to do certain things as per the orders of the Chairman of the PRI and you have acted accordingly, then this is what you’ll have to explain.     

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Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

[Smeer J]

Ok sir tank you. Since I was not confident enough about my own action, I thought it necessary to seek guidance from the experts, like yours. Certainly, there is not even an iota of difference in the mandatory provisions of the legislation, the gist of which I have extracted in my query.

However, I forgot to make a mention that the Government has not passed any order on the report of the Chairman. Does it amount to acceptance of the same.

[Author]

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