Experts, kindly save life of a Family at the cost of your precious time.

[Sadiq Hussain]

I was a State Government employee having an unblemished record of service of 30+ years and was due for retirement in 2019. The transfers of the employees of the department to which I was belonging were subjected to the provisions of an Act promulgated in this behalf and rules framed thereunder. It was not possible for the authorities to effect my transfer in accordance with the said provisions.

In fact, I, along with the head of my office, had become impediments to the smoothly going symphonies of corruption of the authorities. The institution in which I was working appertained to the unit of self-government, as declared by the Art. 243(d) of the Constitution and both of us, myself and my boss, were on deputation to the said institution of self-government.

The state level authorities were indulging in the acts of misappropriation of the FUNDS of the said institution. To be frank, my boss was a Medical Officer and I was the Pharmacist. We used to receive every year the Credit Bills from the manufacturers of Medicines towards the cost of medicine, without any reference of the order of supplies and the authority which had placed the orders. But, the Bills purported to have been issued by us, inasmuch as they indicate that;
Your order No: ……………. dated: a.b.c.

However, neither the reference of TIN nor CST was ever quoted therein. Accordingly, we never cooperated with the authorities by drawing and disbursing the amounts towards such suspicious credit bills. But, the heads of rest of the hospitals of the entire district have been drawing and disbursing the amounts based on such credit bills. Despite, the firms never supplied the medicines to such hospitals also and this fact is evident from a concatenated correspondences which were taken up by some of the Medical Officers with the concerned authorities and also by their registered association with the Government. Even the Executive Head of the said unit of self-government had made a detailed report to the Government against the usurpations of the state level authorities in the constitutional jurisdiction of the said authority, requesting it to prevent the authorities from indulging in such unconstitutional acts.

It is most unfortunate that none of the authority did care to pay due heed to such lawful correspondences. highlighting the acts of misappropriations with documentary evidences. As against, I was targeted for victimisation by the authorities who were directly responsible for such deceitful and fraudulent actions of misappropriations. For this purpose, they had placed me under suspension just for period of 5 days. Thereby, transferred me to an institution which fall under the purview of their own control and supervision in the guise of reinstating me in service. In all ten frivolous and yet malicious charges were made against me for the purposes sought to be achieved by them.

No inquiry, into the truth of the charges made against me, was ordered even after the expiry of more than 15 months from the date of my suspension. During this long period the officer who had actually placed me under suspension was replaced with another officer. However, within a period of just 28 days of assuming the office by new appointing and disciplinary authority in relation to the holders of post which was held by me, an enquiry officer was appointed to conduct inquiry into overall 5 charges made against me in the Article of Charges and which were totally different from the charges basing on which I was placed under suspension.

Such of the officials of the office of my appointing authority were produced as Prosecution Witnesses who were present on their duties on the day on which the incidences cited in Article of Charges had occurred at a place as far as 500kms from the office of the appointing authority. Based on the statements of witness deposed by such PWs the newly farmed charges were held to be proved by the enquiring and disciplinary authority and the penalty of Compulsory Retirement is imposed on me.

Similar proceedings were initiated against my boss also and held him guilty of the misconduct. But, as he hails from a highly respectable saintly family, he had responded the Second Show Cause notice; stating that I cannot barter away the fundamental duties imposed on every citizen by virtue of Art. 51-A of the Constitution for the sake of security of my tenure. The conspiracies to have been hatched against me is glaring from the records itself. The appellate authority is the best judge to decide about my guilt of having stood against the corruption. Accordingly, he is ready to accept the decision taken, in either manner, by the appellate authority.

I have preferred the statutory appeal purely based on the suspicion of conspiracy with cogent documentary evidences. A period of more than six moths from the date of Appeal is expired but the appeal is yet to be disposed of by the Appellate Authority.

The Petitions made to HRC came to be dismissed in limine, since the matter pertains to conditions of service.

Therefore, I may kindly be shown proper legal way through which I can meet the ends of justice. I may kindly be excused for the submission that the lawyers practicing in service matters do not have time and patience to hear the facts relating to my case. They are viewing my case as a routine nature of disciplinary proceedings.

• This Question was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Sadiq Hussain.

[Dr. Ashok Dhamija]

The basic issue involved in your case is that in a departmental enquiry initiated against you on certain charges (which you have described as false and frivolous), the penalty of compulsory retirement has been inflicted on you. You have mentioned that you have been victimised since you acted honestly and did not allow corruption of your seniors. Your appeal against the said penalty is pending with the appellate authority for last about 6 months and no decision has yet been taken in that appeal.

The remedy for you is to approach the appropriate court or tribunal in your state, where the service matters from your department are required to be filed (for example, for Central Government servants, the case has to be filed in Central Administrative Tribunal). You’ll have to find out which is the court or tribunal in your state where your service matter will need to be filed in the first instance.

Secondly, you’ll have to check under the appropriate rules applicable to your service, as to whether any specific maximum time period has been prescribed for the appellate authority to take a decision in your appeal against the penalty. If this maximum period is yet to expire, you’ll have to wait. But, if this maximum period has already lapsed and the decision is yet to be taken by the appellate authority, then you may approach the appropriate court / tribunal challenging the penalty of compulsory retirement even though the appellate authority has not decided yet. Thirdly, if you wait for the decision of the appellate authority and if you are not satisfied with his decision as and when it is decided, then also you can challenge it before the appropriate court / tribunal.

As and when you file the case before the court / tribunal challenging the penalty, include all your grounds on merits of the case, including challenging the validity of the evidence adduced against you and also other circumstances that show mala fides of the authorities for victimising you for your honesty. You may also consult some local lawyer (by showing him all the details of your case) for properly including all the issues that may have relevance for your case.
     

---

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.

[Author]

Posts