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Vijay Shankar Pandey v. Union of India and Another

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 9043 of 2014)Decided 22 Sept 2014
Civil Appeal No. 9043 of 2014
Justice J. Chelameswar · Justice A.K. Sikri

Background

An IAS officer faced disciplinary charges connected with his participation in a public-interest petition concerning government handling of black money. An inquiry officer cleared him, but Uttar Pradesh rejected that report and appointed a fresh two-member inquiry board. The Tribunal and High Court upheld the new inquiry, which the officer challenged in the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the High Court decision and allowed the officer's challenge to the fresh inquiry. Disagreement with an exonerating report did not justify discarding the inquiry and starting again; the State's asserted procedural defects were unsustainable where the underlying facts were admitted. The Court also found that these allegations of maladministration in a judicial proceeding did not violate the conduct rules relied upon, and regarded the proceedings as harassment. The respondents were ordered jointly to pay Rs. 5 lakh in costs, with liberty to recover it from responsible officials.

Lesson Learnt

A public employer could not repeatedly restart this inquiry simply to obtain an adverse finding. Public service did not deprive the officer of access to judicial remedies, although the judgment's protection concerned the particular petition and conduct rules examined.

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

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