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Union Bank Of India v. Vishwa Mohan .
Factual and Procedural Background
The respondent joined the appellant Bank as a clerk. After an earlier dismissal for misconduct in 1974, he was reinstated on humanitarian grounds in 1982. He was empanelled for promotion in 1984 and became an officer in 1988. In 1989 the Bank discovered alleged irregularities, suspended him, and issued four separate charge-sheets (17-2-1989, 25-8-1989, 16-12-1989 and 13-2-1990) for bribery, embezzlement, misappropriation and conduct unbecoming of an officer. An enquiry was instituted under the Union Bank of India Officers/Employees (Discipline and Appeal) Regulations, 1976. The respondent attended a few sittings and the enquiry thereafter proceeded ex parte. The Enquiry Officer’s report dated 8-12-1990 found all charges proved.
The Disciplinary Authority dismissed the respondent on 7-1-1991. His initial writ petition was dismissed for non-exhaustion of the statutory appeal. The statutory appeal under Regulation 17 was also dismissed on 30-5-1991. He then filed Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 23286 of 1991. On 30-4-1996 the High Court set aside the dismissal, holding that non-supply of the enquiry report had prejudiced the respondent, ordered reinstatement, and directed a fresh consideration by the Disciplinary Authority. The Bank appealed to the Supreme Court.
Legal Issues Presented
- Whether failure to supply the enquiry officer’s report before the Disciplinary Authority passed the dismissal order vitiated the disciplinary proceedings under the ratio in Managing Director, ECIL v. B. Karunakar (1993) 4 SCC 727.
- Whether the High Court erred in assuming prejudice and in refusing to apply the principle of severability of charges.
- Whether the seriousness of the proven misconduct warranted the punishment of dismissal.
Arguments of the Parties
Appellant Bank's Arguments
- The enquiry report was furnished to the respondent during the statutory appellate stage; he had ample opportunity to rebut it in the appeal and in his writ petition.
- The High Court misapplied ECIL v. Karunakar by automatically inferring prejudice instead of examining whether the result would have differed.
- All four charge-sheets disclose serious misconduct (bribe-taking, embezzlement, lack of integrity); therefore dismissal is justified.
- The respondent’s promotion in 1988 is irrelevant because the Bank became aware of the misconduct only in 1989.
- The principle of severability is inapplicable; even if applied, each charge independently warrants dismissal.
Respondent's Arguments
- Non-supply of the enquiry report before the dismissal order denied him a reasonable opportunity to defend, causing prejudice.
- Charges relating to the period when he was a clerk should not influence the penalty after his promotion, which presupposed a satisfactory record.
- He was not allowed assistance of a legal expert and the enquiry proceeded ex parte, further denying him fair hearing.
- The misconduct alleged after his promotion was not grave enough to justify dismissal in the absence of the earlier clerk-period charges.
Table of Precedents Cited
| Precedent | Rule or Principle Cited For | Application by the Court |
|---|---|---|
| Managing Director, ECIL v. B. Karunakar (1993) 4 SCC 727 | Employee must normally receive the enquiry report; however, setting aside punishment requires showing prejudice or that the result would probably differ. | The Court held the High Court misapplied the precedent by mechanically presuming prejudice; it emphasised that respondent already had the report during appeal and writ proceedings and could not show any prejudice. |
Court's Reasoning and Analysis
The Supreme Court examined the factual record and found that although the enquiry report was not supplied before the Disciplinary Authority’s order, it was in the respondent’s possession during the statutory appeal and writ proceedings. The Court observed that:
- The respondent in his appeal and writ petition had in fact challenged the enquiry findings on merits, appending a copy of the report as an annexure, demonstrating access to and use of the report.
- ECIL v. Karunakar requires courts to assess whether non-supply caused actual prejudice; courts should avoid “mechanically” setting aside punishment. The High Court failed to conduct this enquiry.
- The High Court’s assumption that promotion implied a clean record was unfounded because the misconduct surfaced only after promotion.
- Each of the four charge-sheets alleged serious misconduct involving integrity and financial impropriety; therefore, the principle of severability did not assist the respondent.
- The respondent could not demonstrate how earlier service of the report would have altered the outcome, nor could he show that denial of legal representation or ex parte proceedings had prejudiced him.
- Banking functions demand the highest standards of integrity; proven misconduct of the type involved justifies dismissal.
Holding and Implications
Appeal Allowed – The Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s judgment dated 30-4-1996 and restored the dismissal orders dated 7-1-1991 (Disciplinary Authority) and 30-5-1991 (Appellate Authority).
Implications: The respondent remains dismissed from service and must pay the Bank’s costs. The decision re-affirms that non-supply of an enquiry report does not automatically vitiate disciplinary action; courts must examine actual prejudice, thereby reinforcing the procedural guidance in ECIL v. Karunakar without creating new precedent.
S.P Kurdukar, J.— The first appellant is a nationalised bank incorporated under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (for short “the Act”). The service conditions of its officers/employees are governed by regulations framed under the powers delegated under Section 19 of the Act. The disciplinary proceedings for various acts of breach by its officers/employees are regulated by the Union Bank of India Officers/Employees (Discipline and Appeal) Regulations, 1976 (for short “the Regulations”).
2. The respondent was initially recruited in the services of the Bank as a clerk. Incidentally, it may be stated that in 1974, an inquiry was conducted in regard to certain acts of misconduct and irregularities committed by him and upon such findings by the Enquiry Officer, he was dismissed from service, but, however, on his representations, he was reinstated on humanitarian grounds in 1982 pursuant to the order passed by the Managing Director.
3. On reinstatement, the respondent came within the zone of consideration for promotion. He accordingly participated in the promotion process held in 1982-83 and was empanelled in 1984 for promotion. He came to be promoted as an officer in the year 1988 on his turn in the panel. Sometime in 1989, certain irregularities committed by him prior to the promotion and thereafter came to the notice of the Bank authorities and thereafter he came to be suspended under the Regulations and was paid only the subsistence allowance as admissible under the Regulations. The respondent filed Writ Petition No. 3789 of 1990 and it appears that the High Court by its order dated 9-2-1990 stayed the operation of the orders passed by the Bank authorities. We are told that the writ petition is still pending.
4. The Disciplinary Authority on being prima facie satisfied that the alleged misconduct of the respondent needs to be inquired into under the Regulations, instituted departmental enquiry. The four charge-sheets dated 17-2-1989, 25-8-1989, 16-12-1989 and 13-2-1990 came to be served on the respondent for his alleged acts of bribery, embezzlement, misappropriation and other acts unbecoming of a bank officer. After service of the charge-sheets and the statement of allegations in respect thereof, an Enquiry Officer came to be appointed. During the enquiry proceedings, the respondent attended on a few dates and thereafter the enquiry proceeded ex parte. The enquiry authority after analysing the evidence led before it found the respondent guilty of charges which were levelled against him and accordingly submitted its report dated 8-12-1990 to the Disciplinary Authority.
5. The Disciplinary Authority after considering the report by its order dated 7-1-1991 awarded the punishment of dismissal of the respondent from the service. This order was unsuccessfully challenged in the writ petition and the same was dismissed on 21-3-1991 on the ground that the respondent had not availed the alternate remedy of appeal as provided under Regulation 17. The respondent thereafter preferred an appeal under Regulation 17 to the Appellate Authority which after considering it on merits dismissed the same vide its order dated 30-5-1991. The respondent aggrieved by the orders passed by the Disciplinary Authority and the Appellate Authority filed a Civil Miscellaneous Writ Petition No. 23286 of 1991 in the High Court.
6. The High Court after hearing the parties and on perusal of their pleadings vide its judgment and order dated 30-4-1996 allowed the writ petition and set aside the orders dated 7-1-1991 and 30-5-1991 passed by the Disciplinary Authority and the Appellate Authority respectively and directed the Disciplinary Authority to serve a copy of the enquiry report on the respondent, who if so chooses, may file a representation against the enquiry report. The Disciplinary Authority thereafter will consider the report and the representation and will pass the order in accordance with law. The High Court further directed that the respondent be reinstated to the post which he held at the time of dismissal forthwith to enable the Disciplinary Authority to conclude the enquiry afresh in the light of the observations made in the judgment. It is this order passed by the High Court which is the subject-matter of challenge in this appeal.
7. We may briefly indicate the reasons which weighed with the High Court to set aside the order of dismissal dated 7-1-1991 and 30-5-1991 passed by the Disciplinary Authority and the Appellate Authority respectively. The High Court assumed that the copy of the enquiry report was never furnished to the respondent at any stage and therefore, the respondent was greatly prejudiced due to non-receipt of the copy of the enquiry report. Factually, this is incorrect. It appears that the copy of the report was not furnished to the respondent until the Disciplinary Authority passed the order of dismissal on 7-1-1991. But, however, the said copy appears to have been served on the respondent when he filed the statutory representation/appeal under the Regulations before the Appellate Authority.
8. On perusal of appeal and the writ petition memos, it is quite clear that the respondent had challenged the enquiry report/findings on merits. In fact, he annexed the copy of the report/findings as Annexure XVI to the said petition. In para 62, he had assailed the findings of the enquiry authority and sought to project that he is totally innocent and none of the charges could be sustained on the material produced before the enquiry authority. It is thus clear that the respondent did have an opportunity to assail the findings of the enquiry authority in the statutory appeal as well as in the writ petition. In the light of this factual position, the question that arises for our consideration is whether the High Court had correctly applied the ratio of the judgment of this Court in Managing Director, ECIL v. B. Karunakar (1993) 4 SCC 727, (1993) 25 ATC 704. The High Court has reproduced para 31 of this judgment in extenso but while applying the ratio, in our considered view, it has committed an error. What weighed with the High Court can be best summarised in its own words as under:
“Whereas the first charge-sheet relates to the period when he was a clerk in the bank, subsequent three charge-sheets relate to the period when he was promoted to the cadre of officers. The contention of the petitioner is that his promotion to the cadre of officers means that he had satisfactory record before the date of promotion. It is submitted that the promotion implies a good and satisfactory past record. Unless the petitioner puts in satisfactory service in the past, it is contended that he will not be promoted to the cadre of officers and if that is so, no charge of the period when he was a clerk in the bank, could be made the basis of disciplinary proceedings by the respondents. It is contended that if the enquiry report had been served on the petitioner, then he would have highlighted this aspect in his representation to the Disciplinary Authority; and in that event the Disciplinary Authority would not have been influenced by the grave charges as stated in the first charge-sheet.”
While dealing with these contentions, the High Court observed:
“It is not shown in what circumstances the charges under the first charge-sheet have been considered. All these questions deserved to be considered. If the Disciplinary Authority comes to the conclusion that the charges stated in the first charge-sheet, cannot be the basis of the proceedings, then the question would be whether the charges as stated in the subsequent three charge-sheets warrant the same punishment which is awarded on the charges of all the four charge-sheets.”
The High Court then went on to observe:
“We have carefully gone through all the charges. In the first charge-sheet relating to the period when the petitioner was a clerk, charges of bribe, misuse of house loan and other serious financial irregularities have been stated which are stated by the Disciplinary Authority in his order. Charges of such serious nature are not stated in other charge-sheets. It is, therefore, difficult to say as to what extent the Disciplinary Authority was influenced by the charges which stand proved under the first charge-sheet. The question for consideration is whether the Disciplinary Authority would have awarded the punishment of dismissal if the first charge-sheet was not there. There is no material to indicate that the Disciplinary Authority would have reached the same conclusion in the matter of punishment even if only the subsequent three charge-sheets were there. On these facts, the submission of the petitioner that he is greatly prejudiced from non-supply of the copy of the enquiry report is not without force. The position would have been different had the Disciplinary Authority imposed the same punishment without taking into consideration the first charge-sheet. On the facts and circumstances of the case, it is difficult to apply the principle of severability, because the charges are so inextricably mixed up. We are, therefore, of the view that non-supply of the copy of the enquiry report as contended by the petitioner seriously prejudiced him.”
9. We are totally in disagreement with the above-quoted reasoning of the High Court. The distinction sought to be drawn by the High Court that the first charge-sheet served on the respondent related to the period when he was a clerk whereas the other three charge-sheets related to the period when he was promoted as a bank officer. In the present case, we are required to see the findings of the enquiry authority, the order of the Disciplinary Authority as well as the order of the Appellate Authority since the High Court felt that the charges levelled against the respondent after he was promoted as an officer were not of a serious nature. A bare look at these charges would unmistakably indicate that they relate to misconduct of a serious nature. The High Court also committed an error when it assumed that when the respondent was promoted as a bank officer, he must be having a good report otherwise he would not have been promoted. This finding is totally unsustainable because the various acts of misconduct came to the knowledge of the Bank in the year 1989 and thereafter the first charge-sheet was issued on 17-2-1989. The respondent was promoted as a bank officer sometime in the year 1988. At that time, no such adverse material relating to the misconduct of the respondent was noticed by the Bank on which his promotion could have been withheld. We are again unable to accept the reasoning of the High Court that in the facts and circumstances of the case “it is difficult to apply the principle of severability as the charges are so inextricably mixed up”. If one reads the four charge-sheets, they all relate to the serious misconduct which includes taking bribe, failure to protect the interests of Bank, failure to perform duties with utmost devotion, diligence, integrity and honesty, acting in a manner unbecoming of a bank officer etc. In our considered view, on the facts of this case, this principle has no application but assuming that it applies yet the High Court has erred in holding that the principle of severability cannot be applied in the present case. The finding in this behalf is unsustainable. As stated earlier, the appellant had in his possession the enquiry report/findings when he filed the statutory appeal as well as the writ petition in the High Court. The High Court was required to apply its judicial mind to all the circumstances and then form its opinion whether non-furnishing of the report would have made any difference to the result in the case and thereupon pass an appropriate order. In para 31, this Court in Managing Director, ECIL (1993) 4 SCC 727, (1993) 25 ATC 704 has very rightly cautioned:
“The Court/Tribunal should not mechanically set aside the order of punishment on the ground that the report was not furnished as is regrettably being done at present. The courts should avoid resorting to short cuts.”
10. In our considered view, the High Court has failed to apply its judicial mind to the facts and circumstances of the present case and erroneously concluded that non-supply of the enquiry report/findings has caused prejudice to the respondent.
11. Mrs Rani Chhabra, learned counsel appearing for the respondent, supported the view taken by the High Court and urged that the respondent was denied a reasonable opportunity as he was not allowed to avail the services of a legal expert and consequently the enquiry authority proceeded ex parte. She further urged that the allegations of misconduct levelled against the respondent could not be said to be so serious which would warrant the punishment of dismissal.
12. After hearing the rival contentions, we are of the firm view that all the four charge-sheets which were enquired into relate to serious misconduct. The respondent was unable to demonstrate before us how prejudice was caused to him due to non-supply of the enquiry authority's report/findings in the present case. It needs to be emphasised that in the banking business absolute devotion, diligence, integrity and honesty needs to be preserved by every bank employee and in particular the bank officer. If this is not observed, the confidence of the public/depositors would be impaired. It is for this reason, we are of the opinion that the High Court had committed an error while setting aside the order of dismissal of the respondent on the ground of prejudice on account of non-furnishing of the enquiry report/findings to him.
13. For the foregoing reasons, we allow the appeal, set aside the order dated 30-4-1996 passed by the High Court in Civil Miscellaneous Writ Petition No. 23286 of 1991 and confirm the order of dismissal dated 7-1-1991 and 30-5-1991 passed by the Disciplinary Authority and the Appellate Authority respectively. The respondent to pay the costs of the appellant.
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