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The Indian Oil Corporation & Ors. vs. Ajit Kumar Singh & Anr. (Civil Appeal No. 3663 of 2023)

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 546Decided 17 May 2023
Civil Appeal No. 3663 of 2023
Abhay S. Oka · Rajesh Bindal

Background

During a 2001 tender process at Indian Oil Corporation's Barauni Refinery, price bids were found to have been tampered with: one bidder's form was altered to make it appear the lowest bid, and a forensic report confirmed an envelope had been opened and resealed. The bid documents had been kept in a drawer to which the respondent, Ajit Kumar Singh (a company employee), held a duplicate key along with a colleague, K.C. Patel. A departmental inquiry found the changed bid form of one bidder bore the respondent's original signature, and he was given a major penalty of withholding five annual increments. His departmental appeal failed, and his writ petition before a Single Judge of the Patna High Court was also dismissed, but a Division Bench (in an intra-court appeal) reversed this and set aside his punishment, prompting Indian Oil to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court's Division Bench had exceeded the limited scope of judicial review permissible over disciplinary proceedings, re-appreciating the entire evidence "as if conviction in a criminal trial was being re-examined," instead of confining itself to whether due process was followed and whether the finding was supported by some evidence. Citing precedent (Deputy General Manager v. Ajai Kumar Srivastava), the Court reiterated that judicial review of departmental inquiries is not an appeal on the merits and courts should not interfere unless there is no evidence at all or the finding is perverse. Since the tampered bid document itself bore the respondent's original signature, a fact the Division Bench had not even addressed, his involvement was clearly established, and the appeal was allowed, restoring the original disciplinary penalty.

Lesson Learnt

Courts reviewing a disciplinary/departmental inquiry (through a writ petition) are not meant to re-weigh the evidence like an appellate court in a trial. They can only check whether fair procedure was followed and whether some evidence supports the finding; if it does, the finding must stand even if a court might have judged the facts differently itself.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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