ence No 1 of 1983
Under Article 3 171 of the Constitution of India
RN Mittal Pradeep Gupta Prakash Chandra Mrs Rekha Dayal Mrs Sarla Chandra and Girish Chandra for the Peti tioners
Ashok Desai Additional Solicitor General GL Sanghi A Subba Rao Ms A subhashini SK Mehta Aman Vachher Atul Nanda and CM Nayyar for the Respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SHARMA J
This is a reference under Article 3171 of the Constitution made by the President of India to this Court for inquiry and report on the complaint of Smt
San tosh Chowdhary Chairman of 582 the Punjab Public Service Commission alleging misbehaviour on the part of Sri Gopal Krishna Saini a Member of the Commission
According to the case of Smt
Chowdhary a number of candidates for certain appointments were interviewed at Patiala on 2411
1982 till about 115 pm
Thereafter Smt
Chowdhary along with Sri Saini and the other three Members of the Commission left the Committee room and proceeded towards the complainant s office when a very unpleasant incident took place
Sri Saini had been absent on the previ ous two days and Smt
Chowdhary the Chairman enquired from him the reason
She also asked him to inform her in advance whenever in the future he had to remain absent
According to her further case Sri Saini did not take the advice in the right spirit and suggested that the Chairman may put the same in writing on which she wanted a clarification as to the matter she was being asked to put in writing
She al leges that thereupon Sri Sain without any provocation or any further conversation gave a full blooded hard slap across her face which not only stunned her but left her in great physical shock and pain
Other Members of the Commis sion who were just behind her were also shocked by this conduct
One of the Members led her to her office and the other two Members also later followed but Sri Saini disap peared from the scene
It is said that she sent her com plaint in the form of a confidential letter addressed to Dr M Chenna Reddy the then Governor of Punjab with a copy to Sri Darbara Singh the then Chief Minister of Punjab
Before proceeding further with the other details leading to the present Reference it may be stated that Smt
Chowdhary was appointed a Member of the Punjab Public Serv ice Commission in February 1975 and as the Chairman on 2841980
Sri Saini was appointed a Member on 305
After the Gensral Elections in Punjab Sri Darbara Singh became the Chief Minister 0f the State in early June 1980
The GovernOr was not available in Punjab and there fore it is said that the complaint was forwarded to the Government of India by the Chief Minister on 25111982
The alleged incident did not get any publicity for sometime and a news item appeared in one of the daily papers for the first time on 11121982
Sir Saini thereafter received a charge sheet dated 15121982 from the Chief Secretary asking for his reply
Besides taking several technical objections Sri Saini denied the story of Smt
Chowdhary
The other three Members of the Commission namely Sri HS Deol Sri MS Brar and Sri WG Lall gener 583 ally supported the complainant s allegation
The present Reference was made by the President of India after consider ing the reply of Sri saini and the statements of Sri Deol Sri Brar and Sri Lall
After the receipt of the Reference this Court di rected notice tO be served on all the five Members of the Commission and they filed their sworn statements
Affidavits were also filed by several other persons who claimed to have knowledge of the incident or of its alleged background
The Attorney General for India and the Advocate General of Punjab also appeared to assist the Court
It was contended on behalf of Sri Saini that since the alleged incident if assumed to be true may lead to his indictment of having committed a criminal act or in any event an act which may expose him to civil action the reference should not have been made by the President without fully satisfying himself by getting the matter investigated that a prima facie case was made out
It was argued that this Court should not make an inquiry into allegations involving disputed facts as that may prejudice a future action in the ordinary civil or criminal court
After considering the questions raised by Sri Saini at some length this Court by its judgment dated 1781983 overruled the objections and directed the District and Sessions Judge Delhi to nominate an Additional District and Sessions Judge for the purpose of recording evidence and transmitting the same to this Court
Accordingly evidence which was led before the Additional District and Sessions Judge has been forwarded to this Court
The case however was not promptly listed for final disposal under the wrong impression that it could be disposed of only by a Constitu tion Bench which was not available on account of more urgent cases
Before the Additional District Judge a large number of witnesses were examined at considerable length
A number of documents and affidavits also form part of the records
There does not appear to be any dispute that some incident did take place on 2411
1982 soon after 100 pm in the Public Service Commission building at Patiala
Sri Saini was absent earlier which led to some discussion between the complainant Chairman and the respondent Sri Saini
The parties however differ as to what actually happened at that stage
According to the case of the complainant she has reiterated her earlier version as disclosed in the com plaint
Mr RN Mittal the learned counsel appearing for Shri Saini has however attempted to suggest that her evi dence and the evidence of other witnesses relied upon by her are not fully consistent and that their case has been developing from stage to stage indicating its unreliable nature
A simi 584 lar comment is made on behalf of the complainant on the evidence led by Sri Saini
We will have to deal with the evidence at some length
RN Mittal also contended that several impor tant documents were not filed in the proceeding by State of Punjab and the Public Service Commission inspite of repeated requests which has prejudiced Sri Saini
An application was moved before this Court for a direction to produce a number of documents which was registered as CMP
No 37191 of 1983 and was disposed of by the order dated 912
1983 at pages 1023 1024 of Vol
VI of the paper book
While dealing with some of the documents it was observed that the petitioner Sri Saini would be at liberty to contend during the hearing of the Reference case that he has been prejudiced in his defence by reason of the fact that he was not allowed to inspect them and if this Court accepts that contention it may become necessary to allow the petitioner to inspect those documents and to recall certain witnesses for further examination
When the case was taken up before us Sri Mittal reiterated the stand of Sri Saini and explained the nature of the documents sought to be produced for inspec tion
We examined the matter closely at considerable length and we do no agree with Sri RN Mittal that the petitioner Sri Saini was entitled to inspect the documents referred to above and the refusal in this regard has prejudiced him
Sri RN Mittal next contended that the reference must be treated to have become infructuous and need not be answered
As provided in Article 3 162 the tenure of office of a Member of a Public Service Commission is six years subject to reduction of the period in case of the Member reaching the age of superannuation earlier which is not the case here
The term of office of Sri Saini was to expire in May 1986
The contention of Sri Mittal is that since his tenure expired in 1986 Sri Saini cannot now be removed from his office and it is therefore futile to examine the evidence recorded in the case in pursuance of the earlier order of this Court and to record a finding on the correctness or otherwise of the allegations made against him
Referring to the provisions of Article 316 dealing with the appointment and term of office of Members the learned counsel emphasised the fact that the period of six years has been rigidly fixed making it clear that the period cannot be extended and the Member on the expiration of his term would be ineligible for re appointment
Reliance was placed on several decisions dealing with disciplinary pro ceedings against the government servants and it was argued that the same principle should be applicable to Members of the Public Service Commissions
Reference was made to the decisions in RT Rangachari 585 vs Secretary of State AIR 1937 PC 27 State of Assam and Others vs Padma Ram Borah AIR 1965 SC 473 Dinesh Chandra Sangrna vs State of Assam and Others   BJ Shefat vs State of Gujarat and Others  and CL Verma vs State of Madhya Pradesh and Another JT An examination of these decisions would show that the cases depended on the interpretation and effect of the relevant service rules dealing with the conditions of serv ice including provisions in regard to retirement and compul sory retirement
So far the present case is concerned the conduct of a Member of the Public Service Commission  is in question which has been considered important enough to be directly dealt with by the Constitution itself
The effi ciency and purity of administration are greatly dependent on the right choice of the candidates to be entrusted with official duty and to ensure that suitable persons in whom the public may have full faith are selected it was consid ered necessary to have a body with members of integrity sincerity and practical wisdom capable of commanding the confidence of the people for examining the merits of the candidates and make available to the appointing authorities their conclusion
Taking into account the possibility of their being subject to pressure they were given special protection by the Constitution under Article 3 17 providing that they except in cases covered by Clause 3 can be removed from their office only by an order of the President on the ground of misbehaviour  after an inquiry by the Supreme Court in this regard
The fact that the apex Court of the country was entrusted with such a duty indicates the great importance which has been attached to the office of the Member of the Commission
Under clause 2 of Article 3 17 authority to suspend the Chairman or Member of the Commission pending an inquiry by the Supreme Court has been vested with the Governor in the case of a State Commission
If the position is examined in this background it is diffi cult to suggest that the conduct of a member of the Commis sion under scrutiny of this Court in a reference made by the President can be ignored on account of the tenure being over
The Regulations framed under Article 3 18 by the Governor do not and cannot deal with removal and suspension of a Member of the Commission since they are exclusively covered by Article 3 17
Part V of the Punjab State Public Service Commission Conditions of Service Regulations 1958 provides for the payment of pension with the proviso that a Member who has been removed from office shall not be entitled to the same So far as the government servants are concerned there are specific set of
rules in regard to pension inter alia dealing with cases in which government servants are found guilty of serious charges committed on the eve of their retirement
The rules governing many serv ices also 586 provide for extending the period of service of the govern ment servant with a view to complete a pending disciplinary proceeding
In the case of a Member of the Commission the Constitution while dealing with the removal of a Member does not provide for such contingencies
The issue there fore must be treated as a live one even after the expiry of a Member s tenure
The President of India has requested this Court to investigate into the conduct of a Member and this Court ought to convey its conclusions rather than refuse to answer the question
During the hearing of the case we enquired from Sri Mittal the learned counsel for Sri Saini whether in the event of this proceeding being dropped as suggested on his behalf he is ready to give up his claim for salary for the period he was under suspension and for pension and Sri Mittal after taking instructions from Sri Saini who was present in Court throughout the arguments stated that the respondent would not give up his claim and would demand arrears of his salary and pension
The case of a government servant is subject to the special provisions governed by the law of master and serv ant but the position in the case of a Member of the Commis sion is different
The latter holds a constitutional post and is governed by the special provisions dealing with different aspects of his office as envisaged by Articles 3 15 to 323 of Chapter II of Part XIV of the Constitution
In our view the decisions dealing with service cases relied upon on behalf of the respondent have no application to the present matter and the reference will have to be answered on the merits of the case with reference to the complaint and the respondent s defence
The evidence which has been led in this case is voluminous
The details dealing with the admission of evi dence had been considered by this Court earlier and after considering the relevant Constitutional provisions the Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure and the Supreme Court Rules an order in this regard was passed on 1781983
There is no grievance by the parties before us on this aspect excepting the contention on behalf of Sri Saini that he has been prejudiced in his defence on account of non availability of a number of documents with which we do not agree
We have gone through the entire evidence in the case and have heard elaborate arguments by the learned counsel representing the parties
The questions which have now to be answered are i Whether Sri Saini had slapped Smt
Chowdhary and if so in what circumstances 587 ii Whether Sri Saini acted in a manner which rendered him liable to be removed from his office of Member of the Punjab Public Service Commission 12
The allegation of Smt
Chowdhary which she made in her letter dated 2411
1982 has been mentioned earlier
The letter was drafted by her in her office room immediately after the incident
Immediately thereafter the other three Members Sri Deol Sri Brar and Sri Lall drafted a joint letter addressed to the Governor which reads as follows With great regret we saw a dastardly happening today in the Commission premises
When we were walking down the corridor from the Committee Room after the days inter views with the candidates Mr GK Saini was walking ahead with Mrs Santosh ChoWdhary the Chairman
She was apparent ly inquiring from him about his absence from the interviews on the previous two days
Just outside the Chairman s of fice Mr Saini asked the Chairman to give him in writing
Mr Saini without any provocation slapped her right across the face
This dastardly incident has left us all completely stunned and shocked
Apart from anything else this tran scends all civilised behaviour not only to the Chairman of the Commission but also to a lady who deserves the highest courtesy
We would like to place on record our great sense of shock at this uncivilised and criminal behaviour
We humbly submit that we would not like to sit on the Commission with Mr GK Saini
We strongly urge that action may kindly be taken to have him removed from such a high office forthwith
 It was decided by all four of them that is the Chairman and the three Members to report the matter personally to the Governor and with that view they all proceeded to Chand igarh
The Governor was however not available before the 1st of December 1982 and the matter was reported to the Chief Minister Sri Darbara Singh and the letters were handed over to him
The Chief Minister called Sri KD Vasudeva Chief Secretary and directed him to take necessary action
Sri Deol Sri Brar and Sri Lall also made statements before the Chief 588 Secretary on solemn affirmation on 2012
1982 which were recorded by the Chief Secretary and signed by the Members respectively
According to the statements before the Chief Secretary Sri Deol and Sri Lall suggested to Sri Saini that he should immediately apologise to Smt
Chowdhary but he refused to do so In the meantime Sri Brar accompanied Smt
Chowdhary into her room where the other two Members also joined them after leaving behind Sri Saini in his room
if Deol further stated that when he asked Sri Saini as to why did he behave in the rude and uncultured manner he replied in Punjabi that this is the way we do it
They all insisted that without any provocation from Smt
Chowd hary Sri Saini had slapped her In respect to the better dated 15121982 of the Chief Secretary Sri Saini vide letter dated 24121982 besides taking preliminary objec tion to the said letter which was in substance a show cause notice placed his version of the incident in the following words On 24111982 when we came out of the Committee Room she took me ahead of all other Members since she said that she wanted to talk to me alone so that other members could pot hear
I followed her
She demanded explanation as to why  had not attended the meetings on the preceding two days
I told her that 1 had informed her in advance
But she insisted that the application should have been submitted and got sanctioned from her in advance
I told her that she was proceeding against the decision of the Public Service Com mission taken around July 1981 by all the members
I told her to give in writing so that I could seek a fresh man date
I told her that the Chairman alone could not overrule the decision of all the members
She felt I was challenging her seniority
She lost temper and was going to attack me with a raised hand when I caught her hand to avoid attack and insult
It is absolutely incorrect that I gave any slap or in any other manner attacked her
The other members who were at some distance reached later
Some candidates who had come for interview that day and some office staff had reached earlier and separated us
Sarvshri HS Deol and WG Lall took me aside and asked me to go to the Chairman who they said was a lady
I told them that I have been wronged but they should not 589 add insult to injury by making me to go to the Chairman He told the Chief Secretary that he came from a renowned family of lawyers and that his eider brother had held a judicial post for three decades and had retired from the post of District and Sessions judge
He was himself a lawyer of 18 years standing and was of a cool temperament never losing his temper which would be supported by the members of the public
He further said that his relations with Smt
Chowdhary who was his neighbour were most cordial and the two families were on visiting terms
When his son was in volved in a road accident Smt
Chowdhary was very sympathet ic and helpful to him and the two had been going to the office on many occasions in the same car
However the unfortunate incident happened mainly due to the temperament of the Chairman
She suffers from a complex that she is the boss  and nobody could express an honest difference of opinion even on trifling matters
In the past she had been behaving in a wholly unreasonable manner with the Members of the Commission including one Sri Mitha retired earlier and Sri Deol the sitting Member
All this can be proved from the records available at the Governor s Secretariat
Ex plaining as to why the other Members were supporting Smt
Chowdhary the respondent stated that they became hostile to him as he had refused to apologise to the lady
He also pointed out that although they had indicated in their earli er letters that they did not like sitting with him as a matter of fact they continued holding the interviews of the candidates along with the respondent
After service of notice issued by this Court all these five persons as also Sri Darbara Singh Chief Minis ter and the Chief Secretary and a number of other
persons who claimed to have information of the incident filed their affidavits before this Court
Sri Saini filed a long affida vit along with annexures which is included at pages 19 to 90 in Vol
I of the paper book
He also filed separate counter affidavits explaining his stand with reference to the state ments made by the other persons so far they went against him
The counter affidavit of Smt
Chowdhary in reply to Sri Saini s affidavit is also a detailed one and is included at pages 1 34 of Vol
II of the paper book
Other further affidavits filed by many persons described as counter affi davits or rejoinder affidavits or affidavits in reply were filed before this Court in 1983
Apart from denying the version of the incident as presented in the complaint petition and the affidavits of the Chairman Sri Saini has attempted to give the background in which the present accusation 590 has been made against him
According to his case there were two groups in the ruling Congress Party in Punjab one led by Giani Zail Singh who later became the President of India and the other of Sri Darbara Singh
Sri Saini was appointed a Member of the Public Service Commission on 3051980 that is just a day before the General Elections for the State in which Sri Darbara Singh emerged as the leader
He took charge of the office of Chief Minister on 66
1980 and was disappointed to find that the constitution of the Commission was complete with the Chairman and five Members
In August 1982 Sri DS Sodhi one of the Members retired and Sri Darbara Singh wanted to have his nominee in his place
The Governor Sri Chenna Reddy however declined to fill up the 6th post and Sri Darbara Singh was there fore piqued at the situation
He became determined to get his nominee appointed even if it required some manoeuvre for creating the vacancy
In the meantime some misunderstanding developed between Sri Darbara Singh and the wife of Sri Saini Smt
Krishna Chaudhary who is a social worker
Kirshna had led a deputation of the villagers of certain locality to the then Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi and the Chief Minister felt that this was a move against him and he threatened her publicly
Both the Chief Minister and Smt
Krishna have been examined as witnesses in this case and have been cross examined at considerable length
Mr Mittal the learned counsel for the respondent developed the theory of a conspiracy in his argument on the basis of the evidence led in the case and argued that Sri Darbara Singh hatched out the conspiracy to get the respondent removed from his office to which Smt
Chowdhary became a colluding party
When a minor incident took place on 2411
1982 she exploit ed the situation to her advantage with a view to please the Chief Minister and the Members being impressed by the drama enacted by her fell for her story
It was argued by the learnedcounsel that the original complaint petition of Smt
Chowdhary which was drawn up like an FIR was not trace able on the records of the Governor s Secretariat and could not be filed as evidence
Referring to its zerox copy it was pointed that the same did not bear any official number of the office of the Public Service Commission and the en dorsements made thereon were also characterised as suspi cious
Governor was to return to Punjab by the end of the month but waiting for a single day the Chief Minister decided to take immediate hasty step on the complaint and directed the Chief Secretary accordingly
Relying on the evidence which indicates that Smt
Chowdhary along with the other three Members and a stenographer travelling with his typewriter in another car all proceeded from Patiala to Chandigarh it was urged that if the complaint petition and 591 the joint petition of the three Members had already been drafted at Patiala where was the necessity of two car loads of people along with a typewriter to proceed to Chandigarh
The argument is that Smt
Chowdhary took care of taking the three Members to meet the Chief Minister and get committed to their story
thus closing their way to return to the truth
The evidence of several other witnesses examined in support of the defence of Sri Saini s version of the inci dent was also relied upon
The learned counsel for the respondent placed the subsequent statements of the three Members of the Commission and contended that they show a clear departure from their original stand
Similar criticism has been made against the evidence of Smt
Chowdhary also
In our view there is no vital difference in their statements made from time to time which may render their evidence doubtful
But before we proceed to examine the evidence in detail on this aspect we would briefly indicate the nature of the other evidence led in the case
A number of affidavits were attached to main affida vit of Sri Saini filed in this case on 131983
In these affidavits sworn on 282
1983 and 131983 some of the deponents claimed to be eyewitnesses of the incident and they denied the story of slapping of the Chairman by the respondent
They are Ujagar Singh Avtar Singh Labh Singh and Hakam Singh
According to their version it was the Chairman who was shouting at the respondent and had raised her hand in air
Hakam Singh subsequently did not support his earlier statement and according to the case of the respondent supported by a second affidavit of Ujagar Singh he had been won over through the police
The respondent had also attached an affidavit of his wife stating that she being a social worker had met the Prime Minister to press the grievance of certain villagers which enraged the Chief Minister
The Chief Minister subsequently threatened her with a warning that she would be set right
This story has been again supported by the affidavits of Labh Singh Baksh ish Singh Niranjan Singh Mahendra Singh and Swaran Singh
Two advocates Santokh Singh Gil and Hari Mohan Singh Pal stated on affidavits that Sri Saini came from a respectable family and was known for his cool temper and good manners
Some of the deponents later disowned the statements in the affidavits and another affidavit was filed on behalf of the respondent stating that this was the result of an attempt by the other side to win over the witnesses through the police
This allegation has been denied by the police witnesses MS Bhuller and Narender Pal Singh
592 17
So far the case of the respondent about the actual incident is concerned he has narrated his version in sever al affidavits filed in this proceeding
With respect to what actually happened soon after 100 pm on 24111982 he admits that there was some unpleasant incident but the story given out by Chairman and the other Members is incor rect
It is claimed that it was a minor affair which was later blown out of proportion with a view to harm him and get the post occupied by him vacated
Mr Mittal has con tended that if it were not so the newspapers would have reported the story immediately after 24111982 but the incident was not reported in any paper before 1112
1982 when the daily newspaper Indian Express for the first time stated that it was a case of heated exchange between the Chairman and the respondent outside the Committee Room
The report has been fully quoted in the respodent s reply which further stated that some Members and employees of the Com mission were witness to the angry exchange and although the Chairman refused to talk on the issue her husband when contacted described the incident as a minor one
The state ments of the respondent as to what exactly happened may be at this stage considered
According to his reply sent to the Chief Secretary the Chairman was expressing her displeasure on his absence on the previous two days and was insisting that an application should have been submitted and sanction obtained from her in advance
This part of the respondent s statement has been quoted in paragraph 12 above
The re spondent reminded her of the decision taken by tile Commis sion in July 1981 to the contrary and told her that if she wanted to overrule the decision she should say so in writ ing
This reply agitated her and she lost temper and was going to attack him with a raised hand which he caught to avoid the attack
Besides this he did not do anything else
The other Members who were a little behind reached the place where this incident happened later
Some candidates who had come for interview and some members of the office staff intervened and separated them
In his subsequent affidavit filed before this Court the respondent however said in paragraph 1 that the reference had been made on an allegation against the deponent which as a fact never oc curred and what was only a heated exchange of words between the deponent and the Chairman of the Public Service Commis sion Punjab on 2411
1982 at about 115 pm has been blown out of proportion by the interested parties for secur ing their personal ends
 The respondent then quoted the report which appeared in the Indian Express mentioning only the heated exchange Towards the end of paragraph 3 of his affidavit he further argued that if it was actually a case of physical assault like slapping a dignitary like a Chairman of an august body ie the Commission the reporter could not have ignored 593 that fact just to report it as a minor incident and only as heated exchange
This is not consistent with either his earlier statement or with the detailed account mentioned in the affidavit where he once more stated that he noticed one hand of the Chairman going high up in the air and the depo nent with the state of mind that he was in at that time after a humiliating interrogation by the Chairman thought that the raised hand of the Chairman might not come upon the deponent as a blow and as such the deponent just intercepted that raised hand of the Chairman by raising his own hand and bringing her raised hand down by that effort
 The respond ent however is not emphatic in claiming that the Chairman had really intended any physical harm or insult to him by her raised hand
The following statement in his affidavit is relevant in this connection If the Chairman really intended to give a blow to the deponent by her raised hand then the deponent was fully justified to make an attempt at warding off that intended blow to save himself from further humiliation publicly and if the raised hand of the Chairman was not intended for a blow at me but was only an involuntary mannerism on her part in that moment of her great excitement induced by her own self by a mistaken belief in her own importance being de flated by a supposed subordinate in authority then also the deponent s action was justified by the attending circum stances when nothing but an ill motive on the part of the Chairman could be conjectured and concluded in that moment of confusion on the part of the deponent
The main witnesses of the unfortunate incident are the Chairman the respondent and the remaining three Members of the Commission and they are consistent about a physical impact between theChairman and the respondent
The other witnesses relied upon by the respondent who denied any physical contact between them cannot be believed and we do not propose to discuss their evidence at length
Dr Vinod Gupta and Dr Satyadev Saini asserted in their affidavits that the Chairman was shouting at the respondent and there after went to her room
Dr Saini described the tone of the Chairman as insulting
He said that after the intervention of some persons she went to her room
Even the respondent does not simplify the entire happening as the two doctors have attempted to do
They appear to have been biased against the Chairman and were making false statement to protect the respondent
Dr Gupta in his cross examination insisted that although he was getting only a stipend for the house job and was 594 anxious to get a service he and his colleague Dr Saini decided to travel to Delhi engage a lawyer and pay for the affidavits that were filed
The claim is that they were doing it as members of the public in response to call for justice but their statements in cross examination expose their hostile attitude towards the Chairman We have no hesitation in rejecting their evidence as unreliable
The affidavits of the other persons and their evidence do not do any credit to them and we will close this chapter by reject ing their statements as undependable
The main issue with respect to the actual incident must therefore be decided on a consideration of the affidavits of the respondent and the affidavits and evidence of the Chairman anal the other three Members of the Commission in their cross examination So far the respondent is concerned he first decided to examine himself as a witness but later declined to do so
After the case was closed by the Additional District and Sessions Judge an application was made on his behalf stating that he had changed his mind and that he was on his way to the Court for being examined as a witness but somehow his arrival was delayed
The Additional District and Sessions Judge did not reopen the matter and we think rightly
We do not believe that the respondent had really intended to appear as a witness to be cross examined and the belated application was filed merely by way of an excuse
the re spondent was within his rights not to appear in the proceed ing as a witness specially because on the allegation made against him he was entitled to consider himself in the position of an accused in a criminal case
But he should have boldly taken this stand in the proceeding and should not have vacillated from one stand to another and from one excuse to another from time to time
As a respectable member of the Bar and as a Member of the Public Service Commission one would expect from him a straight forward approach and we do not appreciate his attempt to invent an alibi
It has been argued on behalf of the respondent that the issue must be examined in the background of the circum stances indicating a deep conspiracy to oust the respondent from the Commission hatched out at the instance of the Chief Minister by the Chairman and others
Reliance was placed on the affidavit of his wife Smt
Krishna Chaudhary who has been referred to during the hearing as Smt
Krishna so as to avoid the confusion between her name and the name of the Chairman which was filed along with the main affidavit of the respondent
She is a social worker and has been render ing public service in various capacities detailed in her affidavit
She has stated about her visit to the residence of the Chief Minister Sri Darbara Singh in the company of her husband and the Chairman
She says that 595 on seeing her and her husband the Chief Minister lost his cool and declared that the Public Service Commission would be dissolved
From the manner in which the attack proceeded it was clear to her that the outburst was directed against her husband the present respondent
At the end of the meeting the Chief Minister asked the respondent to align with the Chairman and follow her instructions
She has described another incident when she had to face the wrath of the Chief Minister earlier
She was espousing the cause of certain villagers and in that connection led a delegation to the Prime Minister Smt
Indira Gandhi
The Prime Minister after giving n patient hearing to her sent a telex massage to the Chief Minister instructing him to do the needful and accordingly Sri Darbara Singh paid a visit to the village in question in March 1981
There he made a pointed inquiry from the villagers as to who had led and prompted them to go to the Prime Minister instead of approaching him
When he learnt that it was Smt
Krishna who had gone to the Prime Minister with their case the Chief Minister shouted at her expressing his deep displeasure
She appeared before the Additional District and Sessions judge for cross examina tion
Her deposition in the case attempted to evade many questions which she thought would show her in bad light
Asked about her unsuccessful attempt to get a party ticket for the election to the State Assembly she first stated that she had never made an application but later she had to correct it by accepting that she had asked for the party ticket from Anandpur Saheb Constituency which was refused
From the evidence on the record it is clear that members of both the families of the respondent and his wife s father have been respectable Congressmen of Punjab and their presence in the public life of the State cannot be ignored
But when Smt
Krishna was asked about various details of her association in the political field she did not come out with straight forward answers
She had been arrested and put in custody for about 2 months during the Janata Party regime in the country in 1977 1979 along with Sri Darbara Singh and several other Congress workers
With a view to evade the questions which were being put to her about her company and the manner in which she conducted herself during that peri od she first said that she did not recollect when she underwent the imprisonment and that the other persons men tioned by the cross examining lawyer might have been also there
Another line which was pursued in her cross examina tion was about her and her husband s financial position
About receiving donations for social work she claimed that she stopped collecting donations after her husband became a Member of the Public Service Commission
Several questions were asked about the income of her husband from his law practice as well as that derived from his ancestral proper ties but she evaded to give the necessary 596 information
She said that she did not have any idea as to the extent of the family properties and the income available therefrom
Nor could she say whether her husband was paying income tax or not before he became a Member of the Commis sion
However pursued further she had to admit that the income from the properties could not be substantial
We are not here concerned with the actual properties belonging to the respondent or his income but the manner in which Smt
Krishna answered the questions put to her in her cross examination becomes relevant as it shows that she did not have unflinching respect for truth and that she is capable of making a statement which may suit her
Reliance has also been placed on the affidavits of several other persons in support of her story about the threat publicly given to her by the Chief Minister
For the reasons briefly indicated below they also cannot be believed
One of the affidavits supporting the version of Smt
Krishna was by Labh Singh filed in this Court along with the counter affidavit of the respondent
The affidavit runs in five paragraphs and the deponent mentioned several dates in relation to the incident on five occasions but in his cross examination he conceded that he was totally illiterate except for putting his signature in Urdu and that he had no idea about the English calendar month either which has been used in his affidavit
In his affidavit he has described the present case correctly as a reference under Article 3 171 of the Constitution
But in his cross examination he admit ted his complete ignorance about the Constitution as also about the nature of the present proceeding
When a pointed question was asked in this regard he said that what he meant to say in the counter affidavit was that Sri Darbara Singh was a liar
He had also to say that he did not know what was typed in the affidavit
His statements clearly indicate that he was under the influence of the respondent and his wife and was lending his name to the affidavit without having any idea of its contents
He does not have any respect for truth as indicated by his contradictory statements made in regard to his alleged relationship with the respondent and about the alleged incidents in which Sri Darbara Singh is said to have given an open public threat to Smt
Krishna
Identical affidavits sworn by Bakshish Singh Mahinder Singh and Sarwan Singh were also filed
Sarwan Singh was also cross examined at considerable length and his statements are equally undependable
He was Sarpanch for sometime and was attached to the family of the respondent for decades
He admitted his association with Smt
Krishna for 25 30 years
Another person by the name of Niranjan Singh claimed to have been a witness of the threat by Sri Darbara Singh
The witness was cross examined at 597 length
He has not faired better than the others
We are not impressed by the affidavits of the others and we do not consider it necessary to deal with their evidence individu ally except mentioning that there has been some controversy as to whether there was an attempt on the part of the Chair man through the State Police authorities to influence the witnesses
Affidavits and counter affidavits have been filed by the parties in support of their respective stands
None of these affidavits inspires confidence
Sri Darbara Singh has filed his affidavit denying all the allegations made against him about his annoyance with Smt
Krishna and the alleged threat to her or his prejudice to the respondent and complicity in any conspiracy
He stated that Smt
Krish na never saw him nor did he receive any direction or message from the Prime Minister in regard to any grievance of the villagers and there was no question of his having threatened Smt
Krishna
He appeared as a witness and was cross exam ined at length
His deposition is at pages 8 13 879 of Vol
V of the paper book portion of which was read by the learned counsel for the parties during the hearing
A large number of questions in regard to the internal politics of the Congress Party in Punjab were put to him
It was sug gested that he and Giani Zial Singh were heading two rival factions of the Congress Party
The Chief Minister evaded such questions by saying that there is a single Congress Party known as CongressI
We do not consider his reluc tance to discuss the internal matter of the Party as unnatu ral and we cannot draw any inference against him on that account
There is nothing in his deposition indicating that his denial of the allegations made against him by the re spondent and his wife is not worthy of acceptance
The story of his outburst against the respondent in presence of other persons and against Smt
Krishna in the presence of a large number of villagers is neither natural nor supported by the circumstances and the evidence led is wholly undependable
For this conclusion we are not depending on the evidence of the Chairman with respect to the alleged interview when Sri Darbara Singh is said to have expressed his displeasure to Sri Saini
It has been argued on behalf of the respondent that the complaint petition of the Chairman and the joint letter of the other three members of the Commission were not draft ed at Patiala and came into existence later at Chandigarh after a deliberation by all the collaborators of the con spiracy
As has been mentioned earlier the argument is that while the Governor was away on leave the matter should have awaited his return and should not have been rushed through by sending the complaint to the President of India for immediate action
It has also been said that the issue was not placed 598 even before the Cabinet before taking these steps and it was only belatedly that a post facto resolution in this regard was got passed by the Cabinet
We have given our anxious consideration to all these aspects and we do not find any merit in the argument of the learned counsel for the re spondent that the theory of conspiracy is fit to be accept ed
We therefore reject the case of Sri GK Saini of a conspiracy to get him removed from the office of a Member of the Commission
The main question is as to whether the allegation of the Chairman about Sri Saini giving her a slap is correct or not
Chowdhary was cross examined for several weeks and her statement is at pages 1 181 in Vol
III of the paper book
Her family and the family of her husband are quite respectable and have been taking keen interest in the State politics
Her father became a Member of the Rajya Sabha in 1975
Earlier he was a Deputy Minister in the erstwhile State of Papsu and later of Punjab
Her father in law was also a Member of the Lok Sabha since 1980
Earlier he was a Member of the State Assembly for several decades
The Chair man was married in 1968 passed her BEd
examination in 1971 and soon thereafter became a Member of the Public Service Commission
Mr Mittal contended that she was an inexperienced young person not well equipped for work of the Commission muchless for the office of the Chairman and was pushed forward because of her connections with the Congress Party
It has been suggested by the learned counsel that her father or some other member of her family must have been instrumental in getting the present Reference made but we do not find any reason to assume so and we will have to judge her statement independent of this consideration
We also accept her case that she was not a tool in the hands of Sri Dabara Singh and did not take any step at his behest or with a view to please him 23
The evidence in the case however does indicate that the Chairman was attempting to exercise her power in an authoritarian manner and lost her patience even with her colleagues if she was not readily obeyed
She claims that it is the prerogative of the Chairman of the Commission to announce the results of interviews with candidates but as a matter of grace she consulted her colleagues before so doing
On more than one occasion in the past she got annoyed with the other Members and attempted to get them removed from the Commission
In their letter to the Governor of Punjab Sri Mitha the then Member of the Commission and Sri Deol detailed the misbehavior on her part and alleged that she was in the habit of threatening the Members to 599 accept her commands whether right or wrong while boasting of being capable to get any Member who did not obey her removed and otherwise harassed
In paragraph 24 of his affidavit Sri Saini has stated that Smt
Chowdhary had made a complaint against Sri Mitha and Sri Deol to the Governor raising untenable charges but the Governor in his wisdom admonished her for the frivolous nature of the charges
In her reply to the said statement Smt
Chowdhary argued that the incident was not relevant for the purpose of the present inquiry but in dealing with the factual aspect she did not deny its correctness
In his cross examination Sri Deol stated how two years earlier when he was also absent for a couple of days the Chairman sent him a note telling him that he had absented without prior information and to which he had reacted by a query about the rule in this regard
Ultimately the matter had to be discussed in a meeting or the Members
Sri Saini has also asserted in his affidavits that a decision was taken on this issue in a meeting of the Members of the Commission but the Chairman still continued to deal with the question of absence of the Members in her own way
So far as the complaint of Sri Mitha and Sri Deol to the Governor against Smt
Chowdhary is concerned the prevaricative answers given by her during this part of her cross examination leave an indelible impression that she does not associate any merit with being frank and straight forward
She however admitted that sometime in November 1980 she had made a complaint against Sri Mitha and Sri Deol to the Governor page 74 Vol III of the paper book
She further stated that she was not
given a copy of the com plaint made against her but she had to accept that around February 1982 when she and the other Members of the Commis sion met the Governor on an invitation by the latter for a cup of tea Sri Mitha complained that whenever she was personally on an Interview Board and an expert had to be appointed she would never consult the other Members
Ac cording to her version the Governor upheld her stand by declaring that it was her prerogative as the Chairman of the Commission
The manner in which she contradicted herself on matters of details about the said complaint reinforces the conclusion that not all her testimony can be taken at its face value
However that does not conclude the case
The other three Members of the Commission have pledged their oath in support of the allegation that the respondent had slapped the Chairman
The circumstances in which the things proceeded also corroborated their version
Over and above all this the statements made by the respondent himself go to support to a great extent Smt
Chowdhary s case of physi cal assault
Let us now consider the evidence of Sri Brar Sri Deol and Sri Lall
600 24
Mr Brar had served the Indian Army for 38 years before he retired as a Major General
He was the General Officer Commanding Punjab Himachal and Haryana and there is no ground for doubting his verasity as a witness
Mr Deol was the Head of the Department of Political Science at GHG Khalsa College Ludhiana before his appointment as a Member of the Commission and appears to be a reliable person
According to the case of the respondent Mr Deol had himself earlier protested against the manner of func tioning of the Chairman which in his opinion amounted to misbehaviour
The Chairman also had made a complaint against him to the Governor on the basis of some frivolous charges
It cannot therefore be legitimately suggested that he was either such a close friend of the Chairman or under her thumb so as to concoct a story and send a letter to the Governor immediately after the unfortunate incident
Al though many suggestions were thrown to him and to Mr Brar in their crossexamination for the purpose of an argument that they should be disbelieved we do not find any sub stance therein
We are satisfied that what prompted them to act in the present case was not their interestedness in the Chairman or any prejudice against the respondent but their disapproval and shock at the physical violence in which the respondent indulged in the open corridor of the Commission building
So far as Mr Lal is concerned in the opinion of Sri Saini he did not have requisite qualification for being appointed as a Member
According to the case of the respond ent Mr Lall may have been prejudiced against him on ac count of his respondent s view on Sri Lall s eligibility to hold the office but that does not explain his conduct in joining the other two Members in their complaint against Sri Saini
Mr Mittal elaborately dealt with the direct evi dence of the incident and urged that there were discrepan cies in the statements of these three witnesses sufficient to discredite their testimony
We are not in a position to agree with him and we proceed to briefly indicate our rea sons
Let us now consider the evidence with respect to the details of the incident
Admittedly the Chairman the re spondent and the other three Members of the Commission were in the Committee room on 2411
1982 interviewing candi dates for appointment to certain posts
The sitting contin ued till about 115 pm when all the aforesaid five persons along with Dr PR Sondhi Retired Director Haryana Health Service who was assisting the Commission as an expert came out of the Committee Room through the doors opening into the cor 601 ridor
A plan of the building has been placed on the records of this case
Admittedly the entire party of six started moving in the same direction towards the office of the Chairman
The Chairman indicated her intention to talk to Sri Saini about his absence in privacy and the two pro ceeded further forming a separate group and the other Members discretely slowed down their pace
Dr PR Sondhi has not appeared as a witness in the case
When the respond ent and the Chairman were near the doors of the office of the Chairman the physical act of the incident took place
Earlier the Chairman had expressed her displeasure on the absence of Sri Saini
Sri Saini insisted that he had in formed the office in advance and that she must put in writing whatever she had to say
According to the evidence of the Chairman she asked Sri Saini as to what was there to put in writing and she was going to complete the sentence by adding that she would put in writing whatever Sri Saini would suggest but before she could do so she received from Sri Saini a hard slap across her face
She says that this happened when she was politely talking to Sri Saini
We are not inclined to accept her statement that the respondent had slapped her without any provocation as stated in her complaint petition and in her first affidavit filed before this Court and that she was talking to him politely as mentioned in her cross examination
The version of the respondent with respect to the manner in which she was asking for his explanation may be correct
She was used to her arrogant ways and authoritarian manner while talking even with her colleagues and hence the statement of Sri Saini may be correct that she was assuming a bossy posture and was insisting on a spot oral explanation from him
The respondent was a lawyer of 17 years standing when he was appointed a Member of the Commission
The evidence does not indicate that he was schizophrenic prone to be excited without a cause and it would therefore be very unnatural to assume
that although the Chairman was talking to him po litely and did not give any reason for provocation whatsoev er the respondent hit her
All the three Members of the Commission are unani mous and emphatic in stating that the respondent did slap the Chairman hard on her face
They also say that this was without provocation
By this part of their statement we understand that there was no physical provocation on the part of the Chairman
Mr Mittal the learned counsel for the respondent strenuously contended that their evidence also suggest that the Chairman was not talking rudely or in a bossy manner with the respondent when the latter hit her and this is very unnatural
We have gone through their affidavits as well as their statements in the cross examina tion
The affidavit and evidence of each of 602 these witnesses have to be considered in their totality and a part of a sentence in their deposition cannot be allowed to be picked up in isolation and analysed and scanned as a statutory provision
In their joint letter written to the Governor soon after the incident they stated thus Mr GK Saini was walking ahead with Mrs Santosh Chowd hary the Chairman
She was apparently inquiring from him about his absence from the interviews on the previous two days
emphasis supplied Sri Brar was asked in his cross examination about the use of the word apparently and he explained that while discussing the general details of the conversation Sri Lal and Sri Deol were not sure of having heard the first portion of conversa tion
Sri Deol stated that the Chairman asked Sri Saini to come ahead and therefore they that is the other Members slowed down in their pace
In the statement recorded by the Chief Secretary Sri Lall also said that the Chairman and the respondent were walking ahead and they over heard the Chairman
The picture which emerges is that the talk between the Chairman and the respondent was not meant for others and they were not talking very loudly
It is therefore not expected that the Members could hear every single word which passed between the two
If their voice was not raised and they were not shouting at each other one would not assume that there was a quarrel going on
In this background the Members in their joint letter used the word apparently
Their statement that the attack on the Chairman was without any provocation was based on the physical side of the entire incident and was an expression of opinion with regard to it
Although however they could not hear their talk properly which was going on not in high pitched or raised voice it cannot be suggested that they were not in a position to watch as to what the two were actually doing
It was day time and from the plan which is on the records of the case it is clear that the place where all this was happening was not poorly lighted
The total distance between the Committee Room and the office of the Chairman was 66 feet and the distance between the two groups could not be so long so as to place the Members of the Commission as not to be sure about the physical activities of the two ahead
Their im pression as to what they actually saw cannot be confused with what they could make out of the discussion going on between the two
The consistent evidence also indicates that the Chairman and Sri Saini were walking ahead while ap proaching the office room and before the assault took place they had reached the door and were standing there
The witnesses however did not stop 603 and continued walking towards the Chairman and the respond ent
The suggestion of Mr Mittal appearing on behalf of the respondent that if they could not hear the talk going on between the parties properly they could also not see the physical side of the incident cannot be accepted
The three witnesses were cross examined at great length and were subjected to a very large number of searching questions and we do not find any material coming out of the same on the basis of which they can be discredited
We accordingly rely upon their evidence which indicates that although they were not able to properly hear the talk going on between the Chairman and Sri Saini and picked up only fragments of discussion they clearly watched their physical activities without any chance of mistake
Their version of the physical part of the incident must therefore be accepted which is to a great extent corroborated by the respondent s state ments and the affidavits themselves
Accordingly we hold that the Chairman did not attack or intimidate Sri Saini with physical violence and Sri Saini losing his self con trol at the arrogance of the Chairman in her talk with him slapped her as alleged
It has been contended by Mr Mittal that from the evidence of Sri Brar and Sri Lall it appears that their group almost reached the point where the Chairman and Sri Saini were standing and except for a very short distance between the two groups they ultimately formed one single group in which the relative position of the Chairman and Sri Saini was such as stated by Mr Lall in his cross examina tion that it was not possible for the respondent to hit the Chairman hard on her face
For the basis on which any such inference can be drawn one has to indulge in a lot of imagination
The statements relied upon do not lead to this conclusion
Besides the description given by the three witnesses in this regard cannot be scanned with a micro scope nor the available evidence is sufficient to determine with geometrical precision the exact points where everybody stood at the crucial moment
So far the version of Sri Saini is concerned we agree with him that it was not a completely unprovoked situation in which he had hit the Chairman
But we do not accept his statement as correct that the provoca tion was not limited to a verbal duel and extended to the Chairman raising her hand as if to assault him justifying him to slap her
Mr Mittal has also relied upon certain circum stances which according to him disproved the case of the complainant
Great emphasis has been led on the statement of Smt
Chowdhary s husband to the Press describing the inci dent as a minor one
This is a natural conduct
If a lady occupying the high position of a Chairman of a Public Serv ice 604 Commission is physically assaulted it is expected that people closely related to her and interested in maintaining her high dignity would like to hush up the matter rather than give it a wide publicity
It is therefore not possi ble to discredit the story of assault on the basis of the newspaper report
It has been next argued that having regard to the incident taking place in the open corridor of the building and the position of the room or the rooms where the members of the staff sit it was to be expected that at least some members of the staff must have witnessed what had happened but none has come as a witness to support the allegation
This also is not an unexpected conduct on their part
There is nothing unnatural if they decided not to involve themselves in their individual capacities in a dispute of this nature
Besides there is a resolution on the record of this proceeding passed by the members of the staff collectively condemning the incident in general terms
It has been suggested on behalf of the respondent that this has been obtained by the Chairman by exercising her influ ence
If some of the employees of the Commission had come to the witness box the same criticism would have been made by the respondent against their evidence
We are also conscious of the fact that Sri Sondhi who was assisting the Commission as an expert has not been examined in the case
This merely indicates that he was not willing or available to support either party
The consistent evidence of the three Members of the Commission further indicates that an attempt to bring about a reconciliation by persuading the respondent to tender an apology was made but failed
The Chairman was under great stress both physical and mental and she had to be consoled by her colleagues
We would at this stage again emphasise that no special reason can be suggested for the Members to cook up a false story specially when they had also earlier tasted the arrogance of the Chairman and complaints and countercomplaints between her and at least one of them had reached even the ears of the Governor
Now the question is whether Sri Saini deserved to be re moved on account of his conduct
Persons occupying high public offices should maintain irreproachable behaviour
A certain minimum standard of code of conduct is expected of them
What may be excusable for an uneducated young man cannot be tolerated if a Member of Public Service Commission is involved
Besides it has to be remembered that the respondent and the Chairman were not thrashing out a person al matter or a private dispute
They were discussing a question involving their office and this in broad day light in the open corridor of  605 the Commission s building
Whatever the provocation offered by the Chairman the respondent was not justified in losing his cool to the extent of indulging in physical violence
That the violence should have been directed against a lady makes his conduct all the more reprehensible
In our view Sri Saini miserably failed in maintaining the standard of conduct expected of a Member of the Commission and thereby brought great disrepute to his office
Hence our answer to the question referred by the President is that Sri Saini s conduct amounted to misbehavior within the meaning of Arti cle 3171 of the Constitution and it rendered him liable to be removed from his office of the Member of the Punjab Public Service Commission


Summary:
The respondent landlady filed a suit for eviction of the appellanttenant on the ground of default in payment of rent
The appellant deposited the rent and made an application under section 172 of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act 1956
The Trial Court determined the rent payable and di rected deposit of the arrears of rent
The suit was subse quently compromised
The appellant again committed a default in payment of rent and the respondent filed another suit for eviction
The appellant filed petition under section 172 and 2A disputing the amount of rent and also seeking permission to deposit rent by installments
The Trial Court decided the rent payable and directed the appellant to deposit the arrears of rent in monthly installments by the 15th of each month
Thereupon the appellant tenant claimed protection under section 174 which was resisted by the landlady on the ground that i the protection cannot be granted as per the proviso to section 174 since he has already been granted relief once in the earlier suit and ii Appel lant s non compliance with the Court s order in depositing the rent disentitled him from claiming relief under section 174
The Trial Court decreed the respondent s suit and the first appellate Court as well as the High Court confirmed the same by dismissing the appeals preferred by the appel lant
611 In the appeal to this Court it was contended on behalf of the appellant that since the follow up action of the Court under section 173 viz striking off the defence has not been ordered it should be presumed that the delay in depositing the rent was condoned thereby entitling the appellant to relief under section 174
Dismissing the appeal this Court HELD The mere fact that the Court has not passed an order striking off the defence as contemplated under Section 173 because of the tenant s failure to deposit within the time specified in the order passed under Section 172 and 172A does not necessarily lead to a presumption that the time was extended
On the other hand Section 172B which is a mandatory provision lays down that no application for extension of time for the deposit or payment of any amount under clause a of sub section 2A shall be entertained unless it is made before the expiry of the time specified in sub section 1
615H 616C In the instant case no application for extension of time was made by the appellant
Therefore in the absence of such application it cannot be contended that the Court is deemed to have condoned the delay
616G Since deposit of rent as per Court s order under Section 172 and 2A is the condition precedent for seeking relief under section 174 the appellant who has not fulfilled the same cannot claim the said relief
The orders of the Court below are therefore confirmed
616H