MADAN MOHAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, who belongs to the Indian Civil Accounts Service, was issued a charge-sheet on 5/7/2018 by the Joint Controller General of Accounts (Vigilance), by order and in the name of the President of India, proposing to hold a disciplinary enquiry against him under Rule 14 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 "the CCS (CCA) Rules" . The allegations in the charge-sheet pertained to the period during which the petitioner was working as Joint Controller General of Accounts (Administration) in the office of the Controller General of Accounts "CGA" . For the purposes of the present judgment, and in view of the limited ground canvassed by the petitioner, it is not necessary to refer to the charges against him.

(2.) Admittedly, the charge-sheet dtd. 5/7/2018 was, before it was issued to the petitioner, approved by the Minister of State (Finance) "the MOS", on the basis of the following Office Order dtd. 3/4/2018, issued by the Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Expenditure "DoE", Ministry of Finance:

(3.) Without submitting himself to disciplinary proceedings, the petitioner assailed the chargesheet dtd. 5/7/2018, as well as the earlier Office Order dtd. 3/4/2018, issued by the DoE, to the extent it allocated, to the MOS, all powers to initiate disciplinary proceedings and pass final orders thereon. The petitioner contended that, as a Group A ICAS Officer, his disciplinary authority was the Union Minister of Finance 'MOF', and that the Office Order dtd. 3/4/2018, to the extent it permitted the MOS to institute disciplinary proceedings in respect of Group A officers such as the petitioner, was illegal. Consequently, it was submitted that, as the charge-sheet dtd. 5/7/2018, prior to being issued, had not been approved by the MOF, but only by the MOS, who was incompetent to do so, the disciplinary proceedings stood vitiated ab initio, in the light of the judgment of the Supreme Court in UOI v B.V. Gopinath (2014) 1 SCC 351, which requires the charge-sheet, prior to its being issued, to be put up before, and approved by, the disciplinary authority.