Civil Writ Petition No1401-CAT of 2006 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.1401-CAT of 2006 Date of decision: January 20, 2011 Ram Singh .....Petitioner VERSUS Central Administrative Tribunal, etc. .....Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR JUSTICE M.M.KUMAR HON'BLE MR JUSTICE T.P.S.MANN PRESENT: Mr. Pankaj Katia, Advocate for the petitioner. None for respondent Nos.2 to 6. ---- 1.To be referred to the Reporters or not ? 2.Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest ? T.P.S. MANN , J. 1. The petitioner is aggrieved of the order dated 29.6.2005 (Annexure P-13) passed by the Chandigarh Bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (for brevity 'the Tribunal' whereby O.A. No.95/HP/2004 filed by him was dismissed. 2. According to the petitioner, he belongs to village Dharman, P.O. Deot, District Kangra which he claimed to be the most backward area and in view of the same, facilities available in tribal areas have been extended to his village. He was appointed as a Postal Clerk in the Ambala Division on 17.2.1971 against a vacancy meant for scheduled tribe (ST). He had submitted all the documents asked for and after verification, he was allowed to join duty. His original ST certificate was retained by the respondents. He had been getting regular promotions from time to time. On 28.3.1995, he was promoted as Assistant Superintendent of Post Offices. Civil Writ Petition No1401-CAT of 2006 -2- However, after 26 years of service, he was served with a charge sheet dated 12.9.2007 under Rule 14 of the Central Civil Services (Class, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, (for brevity '1965 Rules') with the following articles of charges: “Article-I That the said Shri Ram Singh secured appointment as Postal Clerk against ST quota in year 1971 in Ambala Division whereas he neither belongs to ST community nor his village Dharman, P.O. Deot via Barot is in Tribal area. Thus, the said Shri Ram Singh is alleged to have secured appointment in PA cadre on false declaration/certificate in year 1971. Thus, the said Shri Ram Singh alleged to have failed to maintain absolute integrity and acted in a manner unbecoming of a Govt. servant and thereby contravened the provision of rule 3(I)(i) & (3)(1) (iii) of CCS Conduct Rules, 1964. Article-II The said Shri Ram Singh secured promotion as Inspector of Post Offices during the year 1984 by appearing against ST quota in the Exam for the selection of IPOs held from 14th to 16th September, 1983. Whereas he neither belonged to ST community nor his village Dharman PO Deot via Barot is in Tribal area. Thus, the said Shri Ram Singh is alleged to have secured promotion on false declaration. Thus, the said Shri Ram Singh alleged to have failed to maintain absolute integrity and acted in a manner unbecoming of a Govt. servant and thereby contravened the provision of rule 3(1)(i) & 3(1)(iii) of CCS Conduct Rules, 1964.” 3. The petitioner further pleaded that the inquiry officer wrongly held the charges as partially proved and agreeing with the inquiry report, the disciplinary authority passed an order dated 5.3.2001, imposing punishment of reduction in rank from IPOs to the lower post of Postal Assistant. The Civil Writ Petition No1401-CAT of 2006 -3- appeal filed by him against the above punishment was dismissed on 29.5.2001. Even the revision filed by him was rejected on 31.10.2003. The petitioner then filed the O.A. but the same has also been dismissed by the Tribunal vide impugned order dated 29.6.2005. 4. The pleaded case of respondents No. 2 to 6 before the Tribunal is that the petitioner was appointed as Postal Clerk against ST quota in the year 1971. Neither he belonged to a ST nor his village Dharman fell in Tribal area. He was given further promotions against ST quota. In the year 1987, General Secretary, All India Gujjar Parishad made a complaint regarding the fake ST certificate submitted by the applicant. Thereupon, inquiry was held and it was found that applicant had secured appointment on the basis of a false certificate by dubious means and consequently the impugned order of punishment was passed. 5. The Tribunal has held that neither village Dharman, to which the petitioner belonged, had ever been declared and notified as ST area, nor the petitioner belonged to the ST as certified by D.C.Kangra. Therefore, the inquiry proceedings were justified. Moreover, the petitioner had already been dealt with leniently. Thus, no interference was called for in the order imposing punishment of reduction in rank upon the petitioner from the post of Inspector of Post Offices to the lower post of Postal Assistant. The O.A. was held to be devoid of merit, and, accordingly, dismissed. 6. Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner had repeatedly asked the department to supply him copy of the original caste certificate submitted by him but the same was never supplied. Non-supply of the same had vitiated the inquiry proceedings. He has also submitted that the punishing authority as well as the Tribunal wrongly relied Civil Writ Petition No1401-CAT of 2006 -4- upon the complaint received from the General Secretary, All India Gujjar Parishad to the effect that the petitioner did not belong to ST category and he had secured job by submitting a fake certificate. 7. Upon receiving the complaint from the General Secretary of All India Gujjar Parishad wherein it was mentioned that the petitioner did not belong to ST category and had secured the job by furnishing a fake ST certificate, an inquiry was initiated wherein the petitioner was granted full opportunity to defend himself. Despite the same, he failed to prove that he belonged to ST category. His main plea in the inquiry was that the authorities should produce the ST certificate that had been submitted by him at the time of securing the employment which was not available in the records maintained by the department. The said document had not been issued by the appointing authority, though the petitioner might have procured the same from the competent authority. Thus, he failed to prove that he belonged to ST category or at the relevant time, his caste was included in the list of ST but was de-listed later. The petitioner being the beneficiary, it was incumbent upon him to prove that he belonged to ST category. He miserably failed in establishing the said fact. Moreover, neither the village to which the petitioner belonged had ever been declared and notified as ST area, nor the petitioner belonged to ST category, as certified by the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra. 8. Despite obtaining employment on the basis of a fake ST certificate for which the petitioner should have been dismissed from service, he has already been dealt with leniently by imposing punishment of reduction in rank from the post of Inspector of Post Offices to the lower post of Postal Assistant. Civil Writ Petition No1401-CAT of 2006 -5- In view of the above, no case is made out for interference in the order passed by the Tribunal while rejecting the O.A. filed by the petitioner or for that matter in the order passed by the disciplinary authority. Resultantly, there is no merit in the petition, which is, therefore, dismissed. (M.M.KUMAR) (T.P.S.MANN) JUDGE JUDGE January 20, 2011 Pds.