VIGILANCE MANUAL VOLUME III - AP Online

DECISION - 87
317
Another grievance of the petitioner was that the Inquiring
Officer played the part of prosecutor by collecting evidence against
the petitioner on behalf of the Department, as the Inquiring Officer
suo motu decided to hold the proceedings at Darjeeling for
examination of documents and the petitioner was never informed as
to what documents would be inspected at Darjeeling. The High Court
observed that a copy of the Memo sent by the Inquiring Officer to Sri
D.N. Das to Darjeeling requesting him to keep all relevant documents
ready for inspection was endorsed to the petitioner who was given
advance traveling allowance for his journey to and from Darjeeling.
The petitioner was therefore given timely intimation as to the venue
of the inquiry. The witnesses were examined at Darjeeling in his
presence and no books or papers were inspected behind the back of
the petitioner. The Inquiring Officer was therefore within his jurisdiction
in deciding suo motu to hold the inquiry at Darjeeling. When the
charge is related to stock books of a farm at Darjeeling, there cannot
be any hard and fast rules as to where the inquiry is to be held. The
only thing to be seen is whether the petitioner was in any way denied
the opportunity of defending himself by reason of the selection of
such a venue. Since the petitioner was not prejudiced in any way by
reason of the inquiry being held at Darjeeling, there was no violation
of the principles of natural justice.
Another contention of the petitioner was that the Joint Director
of Agriculture, who had no locus standi in the case, considered the
report of the Inquiring Officer and suggested the punishment to be
inflicted and that the Director of Agriculture, who was the disciplinary
authority, did not apply his own mind but merely endorsed the opinion
of the Joint Director. The High Court observed that if the punishing
authority makes his decision in consultation with any officer, the
decision remains the decision of the disciplinary authority as he adopts
the opinion of the officer whom he consults.