Amar Nath Jha vs The State Of Bihar
2023 Latest Caselaw 2163 Patna

    IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                   Letters Patent Appeal No.892 of 2019
                                      In
              Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.17681 of 2012
======================================================

Amar Nath Jha Niwasi Gram - Mansar Colony, Naka No. 2, Kadirabad, Zila-

Darbhanga Bihar                                              ... ... Appellant/s
                                   Versus

The State of Bihar through Principal Secretary, Finance Department.

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Appellant/s : Mr.Amar Nath Jha ( In Person ) For the Respondent/s :

====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV ROY ORAL JUDGMENT (Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV ROY)

Date : 08-05-2023

Heard Mr. Amarnath Jha, the appellant

who has appeared in person.

2. The present appeal has been preferred

against the order dated 07.05.2019 passed by the learned Single

Judge in C.W.J.C. No.17632 of 2012 by which the said writ

petition was dismissed holding that the denial of the claim of the

petitioner-appellant for grant of his 1st and 2nd time bound

promotions as well as annual increment of pay which were

withdrawn by the respondents need no interference.

3. The matrix of facts giving rise to the

present appeal is/are as follows:-

4. The petitioner-appellant was appointed Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

as an Auditor on 03.12.1977 and was further made Senior

Auditor, Class-II effective from 01.05.1980 after the

government decided to merge the post of Auditor with that of

the Senior Auditor, Class-II on which post, he retired on

31.12.2011.

5. As per his service condition, the annual

increment was depending on the passing of the "Hindi Noting

and Drafting Examination" conducted by the Rajbhasha

Department, Government of Bihar. Further, for the confirmation

and promotion to the post of Senior Auditor, he was required to

pass departmental examination consisting of four papers, the

details of which are as follows:-

(i) service condition and allied matters;

(ii) account and financial rule;

(iii) audit and account;

(iv) (a) budget and constitution

( b) works account.

6. The petitioner-appellant got the annual

increment vide office order no. 420 dated 23.07.1987 which was

also entered in his service book. The petitioner-appellant at the

particular time was posted with the office of Deputy Controller

of Account, Darbhanga Division. Later, it came to notice of the Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

Chief Controller of Accounts that wrong entry has been made in

the service book and accordingly, the service book was

requisitioned for verification which was dispatched through

special messenger. However, during the transit, his service book

was stolen from the special messenger which led to the lodging

of the FIR with the Kotwali Police Station, Patna.

7. Later, the service book of the petitioner-

appellant was reconstructed and sent to the office of District

Accounts Officer, Muzaffarpur for verification and fixation. At

the relevant period, the petitioner-appellant was posted in the

office of the Deputy Controller of Account, Tirhut Division,

Muzuffarpur (henceforth for short 'the office').

8. It later came to notice from the issue

register maintained in 'the office' that the service book was

received by the petitioner-appellant himself who also put in his

signature in the issue register. However, when the same was

demanded by 'the office', he chose not to submit it. The

respondent-authority left with no option had to stop his annual

increment of pay and immediately thereafter, the petitioner-

appellant submitted his service book on 04.02.1990. In between,

he kept the same in an unauthorized manner. Thereafter it came

to the notice of 'the office' that in the re-constructed service Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

book, fraudulent entry has been made regarding the petitioner-

appellant having passed the departmental examination as well as

the 'Hindi Noting and Drafting Examination'.

9. So far as the passing of the

departmental examination is concerned, in the service book, it

was recorded as follows:-

"by the order of the Chief Controller of Account, I visited the Board of Revenue and verified the result of the Departmental examination of Accounts and Audit, checked and found that he has been declared passed in higher standard in all the papers of all the subject"

10. Further, so far as the passing of 'Hindi

Noting and Drafting Examination' is concerned, in the re-

constructed service book, the following incorporation was

made:

"by the order of Chief Controller of Account. I visited the Rajbhasha Vibhag and verified the result of Hindi Noting and Drafting and found that he has been declared passed in higher standard"

11. It was found to be forged and Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

fabricated entries in re-constructed service book as no such

order was ever given by the Chief Controller of Accounts.

Further, although there was entry regarding the passing of the

departmental examination, no roll number, year of examination,

name of the examination centre as also the memo number

was/were there.

12. Accordingly, 'the office' made enquiry

from the office of the Deputy Secretary, Board of Revenue,

Bihar, Patna who in turn vide office letter no. 431 dated

05.05.2011 replied that the petitioner-appellant passed in only

one paper i.e. Budget Constitution and Construction Account

with lower marks in the first half yearly exam held in the year

1990 and has not cleared all the four papers prescribed.

13. Regarding 'Hindi Noting and Drafting

Examination" conducted by the Rajbhasha Department,

Government of Bihar, Patna, the said Department vide its

office letter no. 79 dated 14.09.2005 confirmed that he never

passed the examination and thus it was found that this was also

a forged entry.

14. The petitioner-appellant was thereafter

directed to provide details of his roll number, year of passing

examination and the examination centre so that the genuineness Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

of the incorporation so made could be confirmed. However, no

such material was ever provided by him.

15. The respondent-authorities having

been convinced that the petitioner-appellant, who himself

received the service book and put in his signature in the issue

register was the person behind the forged and fabricated entries

in the said service book initiated departmental proceeding.

Charges framed against him were proved and accordingly vide

office order no. 263 dated 11.11.2005 punishment of 'censure'

was inflicted upon him. Further, direction was given to realize

the excess amount paid to him. The said order also recorded that

since he has not passed the "Hindi Noting and Drafting

Examination' as also the departmental examination, his claim

for promotion will not be considered till he clears the same.

Further direction was given to delete the entries relating to his

passing the examinations from the service book.

16. Aggrieved, an appeal was preferred

which came to be dismissed vide an office order no. 193 dated

23.02.2007 by the Joint Secretary cum Chief Controller of

Accounts, Finance Statistics, (Department), Patna Bihar.

17. Thereafter, the petitioner-appellant

moved before the Hon'ble Lokayukta, Bihar which took up the Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

matter and disposed of the same on 17.10.2008 (communicated

to the petitioner-appellant vide letter no. 848 dated 09.02.2009)

by which after recording the stand of the State, the Hon'ble

Lokayukta, Bihar recorded that it is difficult to grant any relief

to him.

18. Still aggrieved, the CWJC No. 17632

of 2012 was filed for quashing of the order no. 263 dated

11.11.2005 and order no. 193 dated 23.02.2007 as also the order

of the Hon'ble Lokayukta dated 17.10.2008. The further prayer

was made to grant him the 1 st and 2nd time bound promotion as

also the third ACP and to make payments accordingly.

19. While the petitioner-appellant appeard

in person before the writ court, the State was represented

through its Law Officer and a counter affidavit was also filed.

20. Before the writ Court, the petitioner-

appellant confined his prayer to grant of time bound promotion

as well as annual increment. The writ Court taking into account

the entire facts as also the clear observation of the respondents

vide its order dated 07.05.2019 held that no relief as claimed by

the petitioner-appellant can be granted. Accordingly, the same

was dismissed.

21. Aggrieved, the present appeal has been Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

preferred by the petitioner-appellant who has chosen to appear

in person.

22. Heard Mr. Amarnath Jha, the appellant

who has appeared in person.

23. At the outset, this Court informed the

appellant that if need be, legal assistance can be provided to

him. However, he refused to take any legal assistance and

insisted on making the submissions himself. He assailed the

order of the learned Single Judge and submitted that before the

writ Court, although he had preferred the writ petition in Hindi,

the counter affidavit filed by the State was in English and in

absence of its Hindi translation, he could not understand what

was narrated therein which led to the dismissal of his writ

petition.

24. He was reminded of the fact that

although he has the discretion of filing the petition in Hindi, the

mode of language in Patna High Court is English and as such

the petition needs to be translated in English. Further, it would

not be proper to direct the State to file Hindi translation of its

reply. The petitioner-appellant always have the option to get it

translated into Hindi for his better understanding.

25. Further, when it was enquired from Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

him as to whether the said stand was taken by the petitioner-

appellant before the writ Court, the reply was in negative.

26. As the petitioner-appellant kept on

insisting that this being State of Bihar, the mode of language in

the court should be Hindi and not English he was reminded of

the fact that Judges all over the country are transferred to one or

the other High Courts and in Patna High Court also, Judges of

different High Courts as also from Southern India are

transferred, it would not be feasible for them to conduct the

proceedings in Hindi.

27. However, as the appellant stretched the

matter further, to settle the dust, it became important for this

Court to deal with the issue first.

28. Chapter- III of Part - XVII the

Constitution of India deals with the language of the Supreme

Court, High Court etc. and read as follows:

CHAPTER III

LANGUAGE OF THE SUPREME COURT, HIGH COURTS, ETC

348. Language to be used in the Supreme Court and

in the High Courts and for Acts, Bills, etc.-(1)

Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing, provisions of this

Part, until Parliament by law otherwise provides Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

(a) all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court.

(b) the authoritative texts-

(i) of all Bills to be introduced or amendments thereto to

be moved in either House of Parliament or in the House or

either House of the

(ii) of all Acts passed by Parliament or the Legislature

of a State and of all Ordinances promulgated by the President or

the Governor of a State, and

(iii) of all orders, rules, regulations and bye-aws issued

under this Constitution or under any law made by Parliament or

the Legislature of a State, shall be in the English language.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in sub-clause (a) of clause

(1), the Governor of a State may, with the previous consent of

the President, authorise the use of the Hindi language, or any

other language used for any official purposes of the State, in

proceedings in the High Court having its principal seat in that

State: Provided that nothing in this clause shall apply to any

judgment, decree principal seat in that State: or order passed for

made by such High Court.

(3) Notwithstanding anything in sub-clause (b) of clause

(1), where the Legislature of a State has prescribed any

language other than the English for use in Bills introduced in, or Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

Acts passed by, the Legislature of the State or in Ordinances

promulgated by the Governor of the State or in any order, rule,

regulation or bye-law referred to in paragraph (iii) of that

language sub-clause, a translation of the same in the English

language published under the authority of the Governor of the

State in the Official Gazette of that State shall be deemed to be

the authoritative text thereof in the English language under this

article.

349. Special procedure for enactment of certain laws

relating to language.-During the period of fifteen years from

the commencement of this Constitution, no Bill or amendment

making provision for the language to be used for any of the

purposes mentioned in clause (1) of article 348 shall be

introduced or moved in either House of Parliament without the

previous sanction of the President, and the President shall not

give his sanction to the introduction of any such Bill or the

moving of any such amendment except after he has taken into

consideration the recommendations of the Commission

constituted under clause (1) of article 344 and the report of the

Committee constituted under clause (4) of that article.

29. Further paragraph-2 of the Patna High

Court Rules which relates to the procedure and practice it read Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

as follows :-

(i) Every application to the High Court shall be by a petition written in the English language.

30. Further, in the case of Vinay Kumar

Singh Vs. BSEB reported in 2003 (2) PLJR 464, it was held

that the petitions and affidavits can also be presented in Patna

High Court in Hindi as an alternative to English language except

writ petition under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India

which must be in English. Further, the annexures thereto can be

in Hindi and in appropriate cases, the High Court can give

direction for translation of the same in English. All petitions

relating to tax reference can be presented only in English

Language.

31. It is important to note that the Full

Bench of Patna High Court in the case of Krishna Yadav Vs.

The State of Bihar through Home Secretary and Others in

Cr. WJC No. 435 of 2015 reported in 2019 (2) PLJR 809 in

paragraph 41 to 43 held as follows:-

41. The study of the said debate on the use of official language vis-a-vis the use of such language in the High Court, therefore, assumes importance as the right of lawyers Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

to practice in all Courts throughout the country coupled with the transferability of the post of a High Court Judge under Article 222 of the Constitution of India cannot be lost sight of. The languages incorporated in the Eighth Schedule may be utilized as an alternative language subject to the fulfillment of the conditions under Article 348(2) of the Constitution of India, but to replace English which still continues to be a common language utilized all over the High Courts of the country cannot be ignored. This has to be viewed from the angle that even though the propagation of Hindi as a National language has seen a growth and adoption in the official work of the Union as well as a large number of the States, but so far as the judiciary is concerned, the use of the English language in all the High Courts of the Country as well as the Supreme Court continues to be English. The wide availability of legal expressions in the English language has not yet been perfectly substituted in any other regional language including Hindi.

42. It should not be forgotten that the use of language is to be a matter of practice and to be inculcated from childhood to adolescence and beyond. This includes the use of language at home, in school and in the official curriculum. The executive in a federal structure has succeeded to a great extent in using the language of Hindi and enforcing its Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

implementation in all matters of the Union, but in view of the federal structure ingrained in the Constitution, the respective States continues to use their local regional language which has a diversity and, therefore, is officially recognized under the Eighth Schedule where the number of languages placed therein is 22.

43. Coming back to the use of language in the High Court and with the recognition of the regional languages as a mode of spoken communication in Courts throughout the country, will it be feasible for a lawyer proficient in the Hindi language to argue his case in Hindi efficiently and promptly, say in the High Court of Kerala where Hindi is not the official language of the Court. This can be viewed vice versa in respect of all the States that are divided into different regions. The Hindi in its usage does have a natural wide acceptance in a large region of Northern India comprising of various States, like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar, but the moment one crosses the boundaries of these States, this acceptability of communication as a Court language gets reduced and the local regional languages take over. This is not to say that the promotion of Hindi should be impeded and not promoted, but this is a practical outlook that was envisioned by the Constitution framers and appropriate provisions were made in order to Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

achieve the objective of a National official language.

32. This Court also took note of the

observation of the Full Bench where it was held that the right of

the lawyers to practice in all courts through out the country

couple with the transferability of the post of High Court under

Article 226 of the constitution of India cannot be lost sight off.

Further, the Hindi units does have a wide acceptance in region

of Northern India, but the moment one crosses the boundaries of

the Northern States, this acceptability of communication as a

court language gets reduced in the local regional language

States.

33. Thus, in the considered view of this

Court a litigant, who is appearing in person, as in this case, has

the option of filing his/her petition in Hindi and the same can

be translated to English; it would not be feasible to insist that

the replies by the respondents be also provided to him/her in

Hindi.

34. As observed earlier, the appellant was

repeatedly asked whether he needs legal assistance by any

lawyer to which his answer was in negative.

35. Having clarified the language issue,

now the facts of the present case. This Court has gone through Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

the appeal and also perused the records. The story that unfolds

gives a clear picture that:

(i) the petitioner-appellant was required

to pass 'Hindi Noting and Drafting Examination'

conducted by the "Rajbhasha Department, Bihar,

Patna" for annual increment;

(ii) he was further required to pass

departmental examination consisting of four

papers, for confirmation and promotion;

(iii) he never cleared 'Hindi Noting and

Drafting Examination' and further appeared in only

one paper i.e. "Budget Constitution and

Construction Account" out of four papers in the

departmental examination and got lower marks;

(iv) however, while being posted in the

office of Deputy Controller of Accounts,

Darbhanga Division, Darbhanga, the allegation was

that in 1987, he got forged entries regarding

passing of both the examinations in his service

book and accordingly was able to get the benefits,

he was not entitled for;

(v) upon knowledge, the Chief Controller Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

of Accounts requisitioned service book of the

petitioner-appellant which was stolen from the

special messenger resulting into lodging of the

F.I.R.;

(vi) the service book was re-constructed

and sent to the District Accounts Officer,

Muzaffarpur but the petitioner-appellant himself

received the same as per the issue register

maintained in the office of Deputy Controller of

Accounts, Tirhut Division, Muzuffarpur and

despite request chose not submit it to the office;

(vii) only after his annual increment was

stopped that he submitted the service book on

04.02.1990;

(viii) upon perusal, the forged entries

came to the knowledge of the respondent-

authorities;

                                      (ix)             accordingly,         departmental

                          proceeding         was      initiated   against     him   and

punishment inflicted vide order no. 263 dated

11.11.2005;

(x) it was further observed in the said Patna High Court L.P.A No.892 of 2019 dt.08-05-2023

order that he will not be entitled for any benefit

until he clears the examination;

(xi) the said order thereafter was

confirmed in appeal;

(xii) even the petition before 'the

Lokayukta' was rejected.

(xiii) aggrieved, he preferred a case vide

C.W.J.C. No. 17681 of 2012 which was dismissed

on 07.05.2019 by the learned Single Judge with

reasoned order.

36. We have incorporated the entire facts

in the order. It has taken us to only one conclusion that the order

dated 07.05.2019 passed by the learned Single Judge in CWJC

No. 17681 of 2012 is fully justified and need no interference.

37. There is no merit in the appeal. The

same is accordingly dismissed.

(K. Vinod Chandran, CJ)

(Rajiv Roy, J) Jagdish/-

AFR/NAFR                       AFR
CAV DATE                       N/A
Uploading Date               12.05.2023
Transmission Date            12.05.2023