V K JAVALI Vs. STATE OF MYSORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner Dr. V. K. Javali, who is at present the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (Headquarters) Bangalore, in the employment of respondent 1, the State of Mysore, was originally selected by the Public Service Commission for being appointed in B. E. S. Class I (Administrative Branch ) in the erstwhile State of Bombay, respondent 2, in 1948. In September 1951, he was confirmed in B. E. S. Class I (Administrative Branch). In June 1953, he was transferred to Dharwar as Educational Inspector. In the last week of June he was invited by the Secretary, Wardha Hindi Prachar Sabha, Dharwar, to distribute prizes and certificates to the candidates who had passed the Hindi examinations that year. Accordingly the petitioner attended the function on July 5, 1953, distributed the prizes and certificates, and delivered a short talk in Kannada to the candidates who had assembled for the function. On July 7, 1953, a report about the said talk appeared in two newspapers, the Samyukta Karnatak, a Kannada Daily of Hubli, and the Times of India, Bombay. According to the petitioner the summary of his talk which was thus published was incorrect and distorted. That is why on the same day the petitioner wrote a letter to the Editor of the Samyukta Karnatak protesting against the incorrect and distorted version of his speech published in his paper but the said letter was not published by the Samyukta Karnatak. On July 7, 1953, the Director of Education, Poona, wrote a demi-official letter to the petitioner calling upon him to submit his explanation in regard to the report of his speech published by the Times of India on the same day. Meanwhile on July 12, 1953, the petitioner supplied to the editor of the Samyukta Karnatak an authorised version of his speech and this was published by the said paper on July 12, 1953. Two days before that, on July 10, 1953, the Under Secretary to the Government of Bombay, Education Department, called upon the petitioner to forward his explanation within three days. In the communication addressed to the petitioner by the Under Secretary it was stated that the petitioner had criticised the Hindi language policy of the Government. The petitioner by his reply, dated July 13, 1953, denied the said allegation and sent to the Under Secretary a copy of the authorised version of his speech. Thereafter on September 22, 1953, the petitioner was suspended on the ground that he had criticised the "Hindi language policy of the Government". On November 16, 1953, he was served with a charge sheet by the Collector of Dharwar who had been appointed the enquiry officer. The charges which were thus served on the petitioner read as follows:

(2.) On December 31, 1953, the petitioner submitted his explanation. He denied all the charges and contended that the grounds on which he was suspended were different from the grounds included in the charge sheet. It support of the charges no witness was examined, but on the other hand in support of his defence the petitioner examined several witnesses all of whom refuted the correctness of the version of his speech published by the newspapers. The Enquiry Officer then made a report in which be expressed his conclusion that the charges framed against the petitioner had not been proved. He, however, appears to have added that in making the impugned speech the petitioner was guilty of indiscretion.

(3.) On April 19, 1954 the petitioner moved the Government for permission to file a suit against the newspapers which had published an incorrect and distorted version of his speech but this permission was refused. The petitioner then explained his case to the Honourable Minister for Education on June 24, 1954 in an interview granted to him; and on June 30, 1954 he submitted a supplementary statement of his defence.