Appeal No 207 of 1975
From the Judgment and Order dated the 19 4 74 of the Gujarat High Court in Special Civil Appln
No 306 of 1973
ST Desai and Girish Chandra for the Appellants
I N Shroff and HS Parihar for Respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by RAY CJ
This appeal is by certificate against the judgment and order dated 19 April 1974 of the High Court of Gujarat in Special Civil Application No 306 of 1973
The question for consideration in this
appeal is wheth er the petitioner before the High Court who was the Regis trar of the Small Causes Court Ahmedabad was subject to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the High Court
The Registrar was appointed on 12 September 1969 by an order of the Governor of Gujarat
The High Court said that in view of the fact that the High Court is not the appointing authority the High Court has no disciplinary jurisdiction over the Registrar
The High Court was in error in considering that the question of appointing authority is relevant in regard to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the High Court
Under Article 235 the control over district Courts and Courts subordinate thereto including the posting and promo tion of and the grant of leave to persons belonging to the judicial service of a State and holding any post inferior to the post of district judge shall be vested in the High Court
The expression judicial service  is defined in Article 236 to
mean a service consisting exclusively of persons intended to fill the post of district judge and other civil judicial posts inferior to the post of district judge
These two articles 235 and 236 are relevant for the purpose
of ascertaining the extent of disciplinary juris diction of the High Court
The Registrar of the Court of Small Causes is a person holding a civil judicial post inferior to the Post of district judge and is in Judicial service  Reference to the presidency Small Causes Courts Act 1882 is necessary to find out the powers position and duties of the Registrar 712 of the Small Causes Court
Section 13 of the Act states 
There shall be appointed an officer to be called the Regis trar of the Court who shall be chief ministerial officer of the Court
The other provisions in the Act which deal with the Powers of the Registrar are to be found in Sections 91 2aa 14 33 34 35 and 36 which read as follows 91 aa
The High Court may from time to time by rules having the force of law empow er the Registrar to hear and dispose of unde fended suits and interlocutory applications or matters
14 The Provincial Government may invest the Registrar with the powers of a Judge under this Act for the trial of suits in which the amount or value of the subject matter does not exceed twenty rupees
And subject to the orders of the Chief Judge any Judge of the Small Cause Court may whenever he thinks fit transfer from his own file to the file of the Registrar any suit which the latter is competent to try
33 Any non judicial or quasi judicial act which the Code of Civil Procedure as applied by this Act requires to be done by a Judge and any act which may be done by a Commission er appointed to examine and adjust accounts under section 394 of that Code as so applied may be done by the Registrar of the Small Cause Court or by such other officer of that Court as that Court may from time to time appoint in this behalf
34 The suits cognizable by the Registrar under section 14 shall be heard and determined by him in like manner in all respects as a Judge of the Court might hear and determine
the same
35 The Registrar may receive applications for the execution of decrees of any value passed by the Court and may commit and dis charge judgment debtors and make any order in respect thereof which a Judge of the Court might make under this Act
36 Every decree and order made by the Regis trar in any suit or proceeding shall be sub ject to the same provisions in regard to new trial as if made by a Judge of the Court
 These provisions of the Act indicate in No uncertain manner that the Registrar of a Small Causes Court exercises judicial powers hears suits passes decrees and an appeal is preferred from a decree of the Registrar
Counsel for the appellant is right in his contention that the Registrar Small Causes Court inasmuch as he exercises judicial functions is a judicial officer in Judicial Service and comes within the scope and intent of Articles 235 and 236
713 The High Court was in error in holding that the High Court had no power to order disciplinary proceedings
It is significant that the High Court abdicated its own discipli nary jurisdiction
The independence of the judiciary has been emphasised by this Court in un mistakable terms in the following two decisions 1
High Court of Punjab  Haryana etc
vs State of Haryana  Ors reported in  and 2
Shamsher Singh  Anr
vs State of Punjab reported in 1975 1 SCR814
The Gujarat High Court like other High Courts is compe tent to enquire into such disciplinary matters
In the present appeal there were five contentions before the High Court on behalf 0f the Registrar
The first contention falls in view of our conclusion that the High Court is the competent authority to hold departmental en quiry
The second contention of the Registrar was that the High Court had no authority to direct further inquiry to be made in respect of recording the statement of Bhatt or to consider the reports made by the inquiry officer and come to a conclusion about the guilt of the Registrar
The third contention of the Registrar was that the direction of the High Court that the statement of Bhatt be recorded was passed without hearing the Registrar and was violative of the rule of natural justice
It will appear that the High Court issued directions and the statement of Bhatt was recorded by the Inquiry Officer
Bhatt is a Lawyer
He was busy in Court
He could not appear before the Inquiry officer on the date fixed for taking his evidence
The High Court asked the Inquiry Officer to record the evidence of Bhatt
The Registrar was given a copy of the statement of Bhatt after recording of Bhatt s evidence
The Registrar was given an opportunity to deal with the evidence of Bhatt
It is idle to contend that the Registrar ought to have been heard before the High Court directed that the statement of Bhatt should be recorded
The fourth contention of the Registrar was that there was failure to give copies of documents demanded by him therefore he did not have reasonable opportunity to defend himself
The High Court did not go into this question in view of the fact that the High Court did not consider this question
Counsel for the Registrar submitted that he wanted to address the Court on the materials which were not available now
We are of opinion that the matter should be remitted to the High Court only on this question viz fail ure to give copies of certain documents demanded by the Registrar thus depriving him of a resonable opportunity to defend himself and therefore the inquiry was contrary to the provisions of Article 311 of the Constitution 
The fifth contention that the impugned order was passed by the Government without consulting the Public Service Commission does not survive in view of our conclusion that the High Court is the competent authority to make departmen tal inquiry
714 For the foregoing reasons the judgment of the High Court is set aside and the matter is remitted to the High Court for consideration only of the fourth question as indicated above
Parties will pay and bear their own costs
SR Appeal allowed and case remitted


Summary:
Pursuant to the departmental enquiry conducted by the High Court and on its recommendation the Gujarat Governor dismissed the respondent from the service of Registrar Small Causes Court Ahmedabad
The respondent challenged by way of a writ the said order contending 1 The High Court was not his appointing authority and he being the member of general State service the High Court has no authority to initiate proceedings the appointment of the enquiry offi cer framing of charges of misconduct and taking discipli nary proceedings etc
2 The High Court has no authority to direct further enquiry to be made in respect of recording the statement of one Mr Bhatt an advocate or to consider the reports made by the enquiry officer and come to the conclusion about his guilt or to issue show cause notice of punishment
3 The direction of the High Court that the statement 0f Mr Bhatt is recorded was passed without hear ing the petitioner and this violated the rules of natural justice
4 The failure to give copies of certain documents demanded by the petitioner deprived him of a reasonable opportunity to defend himself and therefore the enquiry was contrary to the provisions of article 311 of the Constitu tion and 5 The impugned order was passed by the Govern ment without consulting the Public Service Commission and the same was illegal and bad in law
The High Court held 1  The post of the Registrar of Small Causes Court does not fall within the expression judicial service within the meaning of article 235 and 2 The High Court has no disciplinary jurisdiction over the Registrar in view of the fact that the High Court is not the appointing authority
Accepting the State s appeal by certificate and remitting the case the Court HELD 1  The Registrar of the Court of Small Causes is a person holding a civil judicial post inferior to the post of District Judge and he is in judicial service
Sections 91 13 14 33 to 36 of the indicate in no uncertain manner that the Registrar of Small Causes Court exercises judicial powers Inasmuch as the Registrar Small Causes Court exer cises his judicial function he is a judicial officer in judicial service and comes within the scope and intent of article 235 and 236
711 H 712 G H 2 The High Court was in error in considering the question of appointing authority as relevant in regard to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the High Court and also in holding that it had no power to order disciplinary proceed ings
The High Court abdicated its own disciplinary juris diction
The High Court is the competent authority to hold departmental enquiries
711 D E 713 A C
High Court of Punjab  Haryana etc
vs State of Haryana and Ors
 and Shamsher Singh  Anr
vs State of Punjab   referred to
711 3 In the instant case the enquiry was contrary to the provisions of article 311 of the Constitution due to the fail ure to give copies of certain documents demanded by the Registrar thus deprived him of a reasonable opportunity to defend himself
713 G