Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 13: In another big-jolt to State, Division Bench of High Court comprising Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Sanjay Kumar Gupta has dismissed 15 appeals filed by the Government against the judgment of writ court in the ‘dead-wood’ cases.
These appeals were filed against judgment of Single Bench quashing premature retirement of Kishore Kumar Gupta, Chief Engineer, Kamal Mahendru Additional PF Commissioner, Babu Ram, Additional Secretary Social Welfare, Dr Manoj Bhagat, Medical Superintendent and other officials namely Parshotam Kumar, Shabir Ahmed, Madan Lal, Ghulam Hassan Kamal, Padam Dev Sharma, Syed Ikhlaq Hussain, Romesh Chander, Gian Chand, Baj Singh, KrishanLal and Khurshid Ahmed.
After hearing both the sides in all these 15 appeals, the DB observed, “with a view to get information regarding the reputation of an officer the concerned Secretary of the Administrative Department had been co-opted as a member of the committee whose views were given due respect and weightage while making the recommendation”.
“While the committee can always asses the integrity of a Government servant and consider the reputation which he enjoys yet for assessing the same there has to be some basis in the service records. Hearsay reputation or casual statements questioning the integrity of a person ought not to be considered for the same may be baseless or attributed for malafide purposes”, the DB said, adding “even for purposes of assessing the reputation of a Government servant, the material must be cogent, the same must be in the shape of record which must then be considered in the correct perspective”.
“Opinion regarding doubtful integrity and questionable reputation must emanate from an officer, who has had an opportunity to see the work and conduct of the officer from a close quarter on a day to day basis. Relying upon an opinion of Secretary of the Administrative Department, who might not have any firsthand information and experience of having seen and worked with the officer concerned would be both risky and uncalled for”, the DB further said
“The committee has not discussed as to what was the source or material based upon which the petitioners were said to be not enjoying good reputation. If that be so, the orders of pre mature retirement based upon any such assessment can only be said to be arbitrary and thus cannot be upheld on the legal touchstone”, the DB said.
In the case of Kishore Kumar Gupta, the DB observed, “testing the facts on the touchstone of the law, it can be seen that the committee constituted by the Government did not at all consider the relevant material and had taken a decision despite the fact that there was neither any FIR nor any complaint against the officer”, adding “ironically the officer was recommended to be confirmed as Chief Engineer by the Vigilance Organization and General Administration Department”.
“In that view of the matter, there was no justification for the State to pre-maturely retire the respondent-petitioner from service”, the DB said.
Accordingly, Division Bench dismissed the appeals of the State.
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