The Supreme Court judgment in the case of Ajay Kumar Choudhary [read the judgment here: http://tilakmarg.com/doc/sc/ajay-kumar-choudhary-v-union-of-india-through-its-secretary-supreme-court-judgment-16-february-2015] was delivered in the case of a person who was working under the Central Government and was subject to the Central Civil Services Rules, under which there is a provision laying down that the suspension order can be issued initially for a period of 90 days, during which period it has to be reviewed by the authority and thereafter it can be extended indefinitely for a period of 180 days at a time subject to further review within such extended period. Moreover, this judgment was passed in a case where the suspension was due to some default other than a criminal matter.
I am not sure as to whether there are similar provisions in the rules applicable to you under the Chhattisgarh Government.
However, I am of the opinion that the above Supreme Court judgment should be applicable in your case also. This is due to the fact that the Supreme Court has derived the legal principle of suspension period not exceeding 3 months by extending the benefit of the right of a speedy trial in criminal cases to the issue of suspension in service law jurisprudence. Therefore, a general principle has been laid down, which should be applicable in all similar cases. Secondly, the Supreme Court also referred to the provisions of Section 167(2) Cr.P.C. that lay down a maximum period (of 2 or 3 months) for completion of investigation otherwise an accused gets a right to bail. Supreme Court held that respect and preservation of human dignity as well as the right to a speedy trial should also be placed on the same pedestal. Thirdly, the Supreme Court has also held that “the direction of the Central Vigilance Commission that pending a criminal investigation departmental proceedings are to be held in abeyance stands superseded in view of the stand adopted by us”. In view of these and other reasons, it is clear that the Supreme Court in the above case is generally worded and it should apply in your case.
In the worst scenario, the fact remains that a new beginning has been made by the Supreme Court in the law relating to suspension, and the same principle may get applied also in other types of cases by extension of the same principle. In fact, any rules relating to suspension which are not in conformity with the above Supreme Court judgment may also be challenged appropriately to get them struck down.
Therefore, I feel that the judgment should be made applicable in your case and you should approach the concerned authorities or the court / tribunal for getting the benefit of this judgment.
[Read the full article referred in this reply “Suspension order not to extend beyond 3 months if charge-sheet is not served, says Supreme Court” here: http://tilakmarg.com/news/suspension-order-not-to-extend-beyond-3-months-if-charge-sheet-is-not-served-says-supreme-court/]
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.
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