RANCHI: In a significant ruling, the Jharkhand High Court has held that a departmental proceeding is a quasi-judicial process in which no document can be treated as proved without oral testimony.
Setting aside the dismissal of former Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) employee Abhai Kumar, Justice Deepak Roshan directed the management to pay him all retirement and monetary benefits within 12 weeks.
Abhai Kumar was appointed at CCL's Dhori Colliery on June 19, 1980, following the voluntary retirement of his mother, Jirwa Kamin, and served with an unblemished record for nearly 39 years.
In 2019, shortly before his retirement, he was issued a charge sheet based on a complaint alleging that he had fraudulently secured the job by claiming to be the son of Jagdev Bhuiyan.
The inquiry officer held 18 sittings, but the management failed to produce a single oral witness. Despite this, Kumar was dismissed from service in December 2021, just days before his scheduled retirement on December 31, 2021.
During the hearing, Kumar's counsel argued that neither the complainant appeared before the inquiry officer nor were any documents legally proved.
Citing several Supreme Court judgments, the High Court observed: "After going through the materials on record and the judgments placed by the learned counsels, this Court is having no hesitation in holding that the oral witness is necessary to prove the documents and the charges levelled against the delinquent employee, which is absent in the instant case."
The court said no document proves itself and that, in departmental proceedings, the authenticity of documents must be established through witnesses with knowledge of them.
It further observed: "A dismissal order based solely on documents, in the absence of oral testimony, violates the principles of natural justice and fair procedure."
Holding Kumar's dismissal illegal, the court said the disciplinary proceedings were vitiated by violations of natural justice.
"The High Court, therefore, has rightly observed that the entire proceedings are vitiated having been conducted in complete violation of the principles of natural justice and total disregard of fair play. The respondent never had any opportunity at any stage of the proceedings to offer an explanation against the allegations made in the charge-sheet," the order stated.
As Kumar had already attained the age of superannuation in December 2021, the court quashed both the dismissal and appellate orders.
"It has been informed that the petitioner had attained the age of superannuation on 31.12.2021 itself and, in view of the order of punishment and the order passed by the Appellate Authority being set aside and quashed, the petitioner is entitled to the entire monetary and terminal benefits," the order said.
The court directed CCL to release all terminal dues, including gratuity, provident fund, pension under CMPS 1998 and leave encashment, within 12 weeks of receiving the order.