Union Of India Through Comm. Of ... vs S.I. Baltej Singh
2009 Latest Caselaw 5042 Del

*     IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+           W.P. (Civil) No. 4700/2001

%                                         Reserved on: 20th November, 2009

                                          Decided on: 07th December, 2009

UNION OF INDIA THROUGH COMM. OF POLICE           ..... Petitioner
                  Through: Mr. V.K. Tandon, Advocate

                   versus

S.I. BALTEJ SINGH                                        ..... Respondent
                            Through:    None

Coram:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MADAN B. LOKUR
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MUKTA GUPTA


1. Whether the Reporters of local papers may
   be allowed to see the judgment?                Yes

2. To be referred to Reporter or not?             Yes

3. Whether the judgment should be reported
   in the Digest?                                 Yes

MUKTA GUPTA, J.

1. The Petitioner by way of the present writ petition impugns the order

dated 5th December, 2000 passed in the Original Application No. 977/1998 by

the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi.

2. The Respondent herein was enrolled as a sub-inspector in the year

1981. While in service disciplinary proceedings were initiated against him on

23rd September, 1991, on the charges that the Respondent gave clearance to

passengers against forged passports. Vide order dated 12 th October, 1992 the

disciplinary authority imposed a major penalty of reduction of pay by four

stages. On revision the same was reduced to a censure on 30th October, 1996.

3. During the pendency of the disciplinary proceedings, the name of the

Respondent herein was placed on the secret list of persons of doubtful

integrity. The Respondent made representation to the Petitioners for inclusion

of his name in the „F‟ list. However, by an order dated 3rd March, 1997 which

the Respondent, herein, impugned before the Central Administrative Tribunal,

the Respondent‟s request regarding admission of his name to Promotion List

„F‟ (Executive) was rejected.

4. The Respondent filed an Original Application No. 977/1998 inter alia

challenging the order dated 3rd March, 1997 passed by the Petitioner. This

application of the Respondent was allowed by the Central Administrative

Tribunal vide its order dated 5th December, 2000, following its decision in the

case of Vijender Singh Vs. Union of India & others in O.A. No. 481/1997

rendered on 11th April, 1997. This is how the Petitioner is before us

impugning the order dated 5th December, 2000.

5. The Petitioner in the writ petition has assailed the order of Tribunal

dated 5th December, 2000 only to the extent it directs the Petitioner to treat the

Annual Confidential Reports (in short ACRs) of the Respondent herein as

„Good‟ instead of „Average‟. The contention of the Petitioner is that the

Respondent‟s case for promotion was rejected primarily on two grounds,

namely, indifferent service record and average ACRs which could not make a

grade before the Departmental Promotion Committee (in short the DPC), as

he had failed to achieve the bench mark of three good ACRs during the

preceeding five years.

6. It is the case of the Petitioner that even if the name of the Respondent is

removed from the Secret List and the punishment is reduced to censure, still

the Respondent cannot be enlisted in list „F‟ for promotion to the post of

Inspector as he does not have three good ACRs. It is also contended that the

DPC is not guided by individual columns but by overall performance. It is

also contended that to assess the suitability of the individual is the prerogative

of the DPC and the Tribunal has no jurisdiction to sit in appeal over the

recommendation of the DPC.

7. The Tribunal on the basis of its earlier decision in the case of Vijender

Singh Vs. Union of India, O.A. No. 481/1997 held that since there was no

grading of „good‟ in the format of ACR the grading of "average" be treated as

„good‟ and granted the same relief to the Respondent herein on 5.12.2000. It

is also stated by the learned counsel for the Petitioner herein that the decision

of the Tribunal rendered in the case of Vijender Singh Vs. Union of India

(Supra) is not applicable to the facts of the present case as the grading of

„Good‟ existed in the ACR format

8. In the present case the DPC had assessed the Respondent‟s CRs and

found that he did not have three „good‟ ACRs. The ACRs for the last 5 years

were:

              "1.   1.4.89 to 31.3.90-        Average
              2.    1.4.90 to 16.8.90-        Very Good
                    18.8.90 to 15.1.91-       Good
                    16.1.91 to 31.1.91-       Less than 90 days
              3.    1.4.91 to 27.1.92-        Average
              4.    1.4.92 to 29.9.92-        Average
                    30.9.92 to 31.3.93-       Average
              5.    1.4.93 to 31.3.94-        Average"

9. The present case is thus clearly distinct from the case of Vijender Singh

v. Union of India. As in the present case the ACR grading of „good‟ existed

in the format, the reliance of the Tribunal on its earlier decision in the case of

Vijender Singh (Supra) is incorrect.

10. Moreover it is well settled that the Courts cannot sit in appeal over the

recommendations of the DPC and it is for the DPC to assess the overall

performance of the person. Reliance in this regard is placed on the decision in

the case of Anil Katiyar vs. Union of India & others, 1997 (1) SCC 280.

11. We, therefore, set aside the judgment of the Tribunal dated 5th

December, 2000.

12. The writ petition is allowed accordingly.

MUKTA GUPTA, J

MADAN B. LOKUR, J DECEMBER 07, 2009 vn