Case: State of Assam Vs. Mohan Chandra Kalita &amp; Another

did not go to the S. D.C. to complain about the collection. None of them stated that the S. D.C. had asked for collection of the amounts. Tajmudin, witness No. 8 admitted that he had collected the money for Garibhara. He says the reason for this collection was that on a certain day before 25th September 1963, many people were waiting at Mouzadars office for S. D.C. to come and make payment. He came at about 12 noon by bus from Dekiajuli and told them that it was a school bus and that he will not come again to Missamari to make payment and that all people should go to Dhekiajuli to receive payment. The crowd stated that it would be very inconvenient and troublesome for them to go to Dhekiajuli. As such the crowed themselves decided that they would contribute for the Garibhara of the S. D.C. to come and make payment at Missamari. As a result of the above agreement, Moni Gaonbura collected Garibhara for S. D.C. on 24th September 1963 and on 25th September the A.D.M. Shri Deka who came to Missamari found him collecting moneys. Hiren Saikia entered on a paper the names of the contributors and he collected the money and Bharat Das collected the Pooja subscription. He further says that he learnt that Mohindar Deka and Moniram Gaonbura also collected Garibhara for the S. D.C. According to him when A.D.M. Deka enquired of him as to on whose behalf he collected the money, he told him that S. D.C. Shri Kalita asked him to collect. As will be noticed this is not what A.D.M. Deka says. It was suggested to him in cross-examination that he collected the money for himself which of course he denied. Mohidar Deka who is a Moherrer of Mouzadar said he was collecting the arrears of land revenue and that Tajimudin was collecting the Garibhara for S. D.C. from the recipients money and Hiren Saikia entered their names on a paper. This collection was in pursuance of the peoples decision the previous day to pay for the Garibhara of the S. D.C. and as such as soon as each came out of the room he willingly contributed for the Garibhara and the contributors name was entered on a paper by Hiren Saika and that when A.D.M. asked the S. D.C. as to why Garibhara was being collected, the S. D.C. said he did not know anything. He also admits that no. one informed him that the S. D.C. asked him to collect the Garibhara. Shri Paresh Chandra Sharma is the Mouzadar of Missamari. He says he heard the S. D.C. saying that he cannot come the next day and that the public would have to go to Dhekiajuli to receive payment. He admits that he did not know anything about the collection of Garibhara nor did he hear the S. D.C. demanding it nor did he complain to him that Garibhara was being collected. Hiran Chandra Saika, witness No. 14, though he admits that he did not meet S. D.C. on the 25th September 1963 nonetheless volunteers that the S. D.C. asked all people present there to pay for the taxi charge. Obviously this witness cannot be relied upon. The A.D.M. Shri Deka says that when he enquired of Tajimuddin he tld him he was collecting the money at the instance of Hiren Saika who according to the A.D.M. ran away as soon as he entered. There is no. mention of his ever having asked the S. D.C. as to why this amount was being collected towards Garibhara and without even getting his explanation he had reported the matter to the D.O. in writing. This he did in spite of his further admission that no. person had complained to him that the S. D.C. had personally collected the money from them.8. This evidence does not establish that the S. D.C. had either authorised the collection or that the amount was collected at his instance or that he even connived at it. On the other hand as the A.D.M. Deka admitted, when he asked Tajimudin he informed him that the amount was being collected at the instance of Hiren Saika who immediately on seeing him ran away. According to Tajimudin, two other persons, namely, Mohidar Deka and Moniram Gaonbura were also collecting Garibhara amounts. It appears to us that because compensation amounts were being paid everyone was trying to collect whatever he could from those recipients. There was no. need for the respondent to collect any money for payment of taxi charges because he could recover those from the Government and in fact he had recovered that amount from the government. There is no. dispute that he did express his difficulty in finding a conveyance to come to Missamari as indeed he had to come there on that day in a school bus. He was not sure whether he could get a conveyance to come there the next day and naturally he informed those concerned that if he cannot get any conveyance and come there they should go to Dhekiajuli. It is at that stage that they suggested that he should come in a taxi and they will pay for it; but this did not imply that the S. D.C. had consented to anyone collecting moneys for the hire or much less permit them to pay for the hire on his behalf. All this merely shows that the suggestion that they should come to Dhekiajuli would seriously inconvenience them and they were even prepared to pay his taxi fare if he came to Missamari. Their earnest entreaties must have persuaded the S. D.C. to come there in a taxi. Beyond this, there is no. evidence to show that he had wanted them to pay for his taxi or authorised them to collect money for it. The High Court was therefore right in quashing the order of the A.D.M. Tezpur on the ground that there was no. evidence to sustain the charge.9.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]From the evidence recorded by the enquiry officer which we have perused and to which a reference will be made presently, it is clear beyond doubt that none of the witnesses testified to the fact that on 25th September, 1963 or earlier, neither the respondent authorised the collection of Garibhara nor did anyone say that they complained to him about the collections that were being made outside his room. The enquiry officer recorded evidence on allegations extraneous to the charge such as that certain amounts were being collected as fee to be paid to the respondent, that the respondent had disbursed amounts less than those that were payable to the persons entitled to them and concluded that the respondent must have also authorised the collection of Garibhara.6. As we said earlier, there was no. charge against the respondent that he had not paid the full amounts to those entitled to compensation or that he had authorised anyone to collect any fee.This enquiry into extraneous allegations with which the respondent was not charged must have certainly prejudiced the enquiry officer against the respondent. Even if we were to ignore this aspect, there is no. evidence to connect the respondent with the allegation that he had authorised the collection of Garibhara much less can it be said, as averred in the charge, that he realised from those persons to whom compensation was being paid certain percentage of compensation money due to them for payment of hire charges of the vehicle in which he had visited the office of the Mauzadar from Dhekiajuli.The learned advocate for the State submits that there is evidence in the case to connect the respondent with the collection by Tajmudin of the Garibhara charges.This evidence however does not substantiate his contention. Mathew Kosla, witness No. 3, Jiban Deka, witness No. 4 and P.C. Deka, witness No. 5 and Rathu Kurmi, witness No. 6 though they say that amounts were collected by Bharat Chandra Das and Tajmudin, some of them had protested but they did not go to the S. D.C. to complain about the collection. None of them stated that the S. D.C. had asked for collection of the amounts. Tajmudin, witness No. 8 admitted that he had collected the money for Garibhara. He says the reason for this collection was that on a certain day before 25th September 1963, many people were waiting at Mouzadars office for S. D.C. to come and make payment. He came at about 12 noon by bus from Dekiajuli and told them that it was a school bus and that he will not come again to Missamari to make payment and that all people should go to Dhekiajuli to receive payment. The crowd stated that it would be very inconvenient and troublesome for them to go to Dhekiajuli. As such the crowed themselves decided that they would contribute for the Garibhara of the S. D.C. to come and make payment at Missamari. As a result of the above agreement, Moni Gaonbura collected Garibhara for S. D.C. on 24th September 1963 and on 25th September the A.D.M. Shri Deka who came to Missamari found him collecting moneys. Hiren Saikia entered on a paper the names of the contributors and he collected the money and Bharat Das collected the Pooja subscription. He further says that he learnt that Mohindar Deka and Moniram Gaonbura also collected Garibhara for the S. D.C. According to him when A.D.M. Deka enquired of him as to on whose behalf he collected the money, he told him that S. D.C. Shri Kalita asked him to collect. As will be noticed this is not what A.D.M. Deka says. It was suggested to him inthat he collected the money for himself which of course he denied. Mohidar Deka who is a Moherrer of Mouzadar said he was collecting the arrears of land revenue and that Tajimudin was collecting the Garibhara for S. D.C. from the recipients money and Hiren Saikia entered their names on a paper. This collection was in pursuance of the peoples decision the previous day to pay for the Garibhara of the S. D.C. and as such as soon as each came out of the room he willingly contributed for the Garibhara and the contributors name was entered on a paper by Hiren Saika and that when A.D.M. asked the S. D.C. as to why Garibhara was being collected, the S. D.C. said he did not know anything. He also admits that no. one informed him that the S. D.C. asked him to collect the Garibhara. Shri Paresh Chandra Sharma is the Mouzadar of Missamari. He says he heard the S. D.C. saying that he cannot come the next day and that the public would have to go to Dhekiajuli to receive payment. He admits that he did not know anything about the collection of Garibhara nor did he hear the S. D.C. demanding it nor did he complain to him that Garibhara was being collected. Hiran Chandra Saika, witness No. 14, though he admits that he did not meet S. D.C. on the 25th September 1963 nonetheless volunteers that the S. D.C. asked all people present there to pay for the taxi charge. Obviously this witness cannot be relied upon. The A.D.M. Shri Deka says that when he enquired of Tajimuddin he tld him he was collecting the money at the instance of Hiren Saika who according to the A.D.M. ran away as soon as he entered. There is no. mention of his ever having asked the S. D.C. as to why this amount was being collected towards Garibhara and without even getting his explanation he had reported the matter to the D.O. in writing. This he did in spite of his further admission that no. person had complained to him that the S. D.C. had personally collected the money from them.8. This evidence does not establish that the S. D.C. had either authorised the collection or that the amount was collected at his instance or that he even connived at it. On the other hand as the A.D.M. Deka admitted, when he asked Tajimudin he informed him that the amount was being collected at the instance of Hiren Saika who immediately on seeing him ran away. According to Tajimudin, two other persons, namely, Mohidar Deka and Moniram Gaonbura were also collecting Garibhara amounts. It appears to us that because compensation amounts were being paid everyone was trying to collect whatever he could from those recipients. There was no. need for the respondent to collect any money for payment of taxi charges because he could recover those from the Government and in fact he had recovered that amount from the government. There is no. dispute that he did express his difficulty in finding a conveyance to come to Missamari as indeed he had to come there on that day in a school bus. He was not sure whether he could get a conveyance to come there the next day and naturally he informed those concerned that if he cannot get any conveyance and come there they should go to Dhekiajuli. It is at that stage that they suggested that he should come in a taxi and they will pay for it; but this did not imply that the S. D.C. had consented to anyone collecting moneys for the hire or much less permit them to pay for the hire on his behalf. All this merely shows that the suggestion that they should come to Dhekiajuli would seriously inconvenience them and they were even prepared to pay his taxi fare if he came to Missamari. Their earnest entreaties must have persuaded the S. D.C. to come there in a taxi. Beyond this, there is no. evidence to show that he had wanted them to pay for his taxi or authorised them to collect money for it.