STATE OF U P Vs. C S SHARMA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal against the decision of a learned single Judge of this Court allowing a petition of the respondent made under Article 226 of the Constitution and issuing n writ of certiorari quashing an order of the State Government dated the 28th July, 1955, and awarding the respondent costs of the proceedings. The State Government has come up in appeal against the aforementioned order. In order to appreciate the points raised in this appeal it is necessary, even though briefly, to know a few facts.

(2.) The respondent, C. S. Sharma, was appointed on the 25th January, 1949, as a Sales Tax Officer in a temporary capacity. In April, 1950, he was posted at Hathras and on the 3rd October, 1952, he was transferred to LakhimpurKheri. It appears that Sharma was suspected by his superior officers not to have conformed, to say the least of it, to the strict rules of conduct and behaviour expected of a public servant; this belief led to an enquiry in the conduct and dealings of Sharma by an Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax. This enquiry was made ex parte against Sharma but even so we find that by an order of the 14th December, 1952 Sharma was asked not to visit Hathras. This order presumably was made in order to obviate the possibility of Sharma tampering with the evidence that could have been available in order to find the truth or falsity of what was suspected against Sharma.

(3.) On the 28th January, 1953, the Sales Tax Commissioner recommended to Government the suspension of Sharma and Sharma was in fact put under suspension on the 18th February, 1953. This letter of the Sales Tax Commissioner to Government will be considered by us at a later stage in connection with the consideration of the question whether or not there was "bias" in the enquiring officer as against Sharma and whether or not that bias under the circumstances of the case was sufficient to enable this Court to set aside the entire proceedings which culminated in the dismissal of Sharma, but in this context all we need note is that in the letter the Sales Tax Commissioner said that he had by his "personal enquiries also satisfied himself that Sharma was to quote his own words again "undoubtedly corrupt".