STATE OF BOMBAY Vs. F A ABRAHAM
LAWS(SC)-1961-12-28
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA (FROM: BOMBAY)
Decided on
December 12,1961
STATE OF BOMBAY
Appellant
VERSUS
F.A.ABRAHAM
Respondents
Referred Judgements :-
PARSHOTAM LAL DHINGRA VS. UNION OF INDIA [EXPLAINED AND DISTINGUISHED .]STATE OF BIHAR VS. GOPI KISHORE PRASAD [DISTINGUISHED]
STATE OF ORISSA VS. RAM NARAYAN DAS [REFERRED TO]
Cited Judgements :-
COLLECTOR OF CENTRAL EXCISE HYDERABAD VS. N VENKATA RAO [LAWS(APH)-1964-3-9] [REFERRED TO]BIPLAB BHUSAN MAZUMDAR VS. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [LAWS(CAL)-1981-12-21] [REFERRED]
BHAN SINGH VS. STATE OF PUNJAB [LAWS(P&H)-1973-7-12] [REFERRED TO]
STATE OF PUNJAB VS. APPAR APAR SINGH [LAWS(P&H)-1966-7-2] [REFERRED TO]
LALIT NARAYAN MISHRA VS. STATE [LAWS(PAT)-1986-8-25] [REFERRED TO]
STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH VS. RAM CHANDRA TRIVEDI [LAWS(SC)-1976-9-41] [REFERRED TO]
G S GILL VS. STATE OF PUNJAB [LAWS(SC)-1974-7-10] [RELIED ON]
STATE OF MYSORE VS. M K GADGOLI [LAWS(SC)-1975-9-30] [APPLIED]
DIVISIONAL PERSONNEL OFFICER SOUTHERN RAILWAY MYSORE VS. S RAGHAVENDRACHAR [LAWS(SC)-1965-12-22] [RELIED ON]
RAMPAL SINGH VS. DEPUTY INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE P A C AND [LAWS(ALL)-1968-5-5] [REFERRED TO]
KUNDAN LAL VIJ VS. DELHI ADMINISTRATION [LAWS(DLH)-1970-8-22] [REFERRED 7.]
CAPTAIN R S SAXENA VS. STATE OF GUJARAT [LAWS(GJH)-1963-9-14] [REFERRED]
N SUBRAMANIAM VS. DIVISIONAL PERSONNEL OFFICER SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY [LAWS(ORI)-1969-7-21] [REFERRED TO]
RAJIV CHOPRA VS. UNIVERSITY OF DELHI [LAWS(DLH)-2020-7-22] [REFERRED TO]
RAM SINGH YADAV AND ORS. VS. STATE OF M.P. AND ORS. [LAWS(MPH)-2015-4-132] [REFERRED TO]
M. SRIDHAR VS. THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR, MADURAI DISTRICT, MADURAI AND ORS. [LAWS(MAD)-2008-11-418] [REFERRED TO]
R S DHABA VS. UNION OF INDIA [LAWS(P&H)-1965-5-17] [REFERRED TO]
DEBESH CHANDRA DAS VS. UNION OF INDIA [LAWS(CAL)-1968-8-5] [REFERRED TO]
SUNIL KUMAR BANERJEE VS. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [LAWS(CAL)-1974-3-41] [REFERRED TO]
SUNIL CHANDRA CHAUDHURY VS. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [LAWS(CAL)-1965-4-6] [REFERRED TO]
RAM PAL SINGH VS. DEPUTY INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE (P.A.C.) AND ANOTHER [LAWS(ALL)-1970-11-41] [REFERRED TO]
R S SIAL VS. STATE OF U P [LAWS(ALL)-1971-1-21] [REFERRED TO]
BARADA KANTA MISRA VS. STATE OF ORISSA [LAWS(ORI)-1966-5-4] [REFERRED TO]
STATE OF PUNJAB VS. VIDYA PARKASH [LAWS(P&H)-1968-7-24] [REFERRED TO]
L. DORENDRA SINGH VS. MANIPUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY [LAWS(MANIP)-2014-3-2] [REFERRED TO]
GORACHAND KUNDU VS. DIRECTOR ANTHROPOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA [LAWS(CAL)-1968-6-24] [REFERRED TO]
RAM CHANDRA CHAUDHURI VS. SECRETARY TO GOVT OF WEST BENGAL [LAWS(CAL)-1963-6-6] [REFERRED TO]
SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL HOME DEPARTMENTS VS. RAM CHANDRA CHOUDHURY [LAWS(CAL)-1972-3-10] [REFERRED TO]
SUNIL KUMAR BANERJEE VS. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [LAWS(CAL)-1973-9-26] [REFERRED TO]
COLLECTOR OF CENTRAL EXCISE HYDERABAD VS. N. VENKATA RAO [LAWS(APH)-1962-11-24] [REFERRED TO]
HARI DUTT SHARMA VS. STATE CANE SERVICE AUTHORITY, U.P. AND OTHERS [LAWS(ALL)-1985-9-84] [REFERRED TO]
LAXMIKANT D KOLVEKAR, CHIEF ELECTRICAL ENGINEER VS. STATE OF GOA, THROUGH SECRETARY [LAWS(BOM)-2018-6-138] [REFERRED TO]
THE STATE OF PUNJAB VS. RAJINDER SINGH [LAWS(P&H)-1965-5-56] [REFERRED TO]
THE STATE OF HARYANA VS. SHAMSHER JANG SHUKLA [LAWS(P&H)-1967-12-22] [REFERRED TO]
STATE OF RAJASTHAN VS. RAM SARAN [LAWS(SC)-1963-4-5] [REVERSED]
B S BIRTHARE VS. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH [LAWS(MPH)-1968-8-2] [REFERRED TO]
RADHAKRISHNA TRIVEDI VS. M P STATE WAREHOUSING CORPORATION [LAWS(MPH)-1995-1-12] [REFERRED TO]
V SIVAKAMAYYA VS. SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS POSTS AND TELEGRAPH BOARD NEW DELHI [LAWS(APH)-1966-11-32] [REFERRED TO]
DEBESH CHANDRA DAS VS. UNION OF INDIA (UOI) [LAWS(CAL)-1967-5-33] [REFERRED TO]
KIRBA LOMI VS. STATE OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH [LAWS(GAU)-2012-3-86] [REFERRED TO]
JAGDISH PRASAD PANDEY VS. COLLECTOR DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CONSOLIDATION [LAWS(ALL)-1974-11-12] [REFERRED TO]
PRITHVI RAJ MEHRA VS. THE STATE OF PUNJAB [LAWS(P&H)-1968-10-29] [REFERRED TO]
STATE OF WEST BENGAL VS. DHAJADHARI DUTTA [LAWS(CAL)-1965-5-14] [REFERRED TO]
DIRECTOR GENERAL OF HEALTH SERVICES VS. BIKASH CHATTERJEE [LAWS(CAL)-1968-11-10] [REFERRED TO]
DARSHAN SINGH CH. SURJAN SINGH VS. STATE OF PUNJAB AND ANR. [LAWS(P&H)-1963-11-48] [REFERRED TO]
MILKHA SINGH BHANDU SINGH VS. UNION OF INDIA [LAWS(P&H)-1964-12-16] [REFERRED TO]
REGIONAL MANAGER VS. PAWAN KUMAR DUBEY [LAWS(SC)-1976-3-27] [REFERRED TO]
HARBANS LAL NIHAL CHAND VS. SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE KARNAL [LAWS(P&H)-1968-4-10] [REFERRED TO]
SATCHIDANANDA NANDA VS. STATE OF ORISSA [LAWS(ORI)-1963-4-12] [REFERRED TO]
PREM NATH VS. STATE OF RAJASTHAN [LAWS(RAJ)-1964-11-2] [REFERRED TO]
STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH VS. SUGHAR SINGH [LAWS(SC)-1973-11-8] [RELIED ON]
D.R. Rahul VS. High Court of M.P. [LAWS(MPH)-1998-1-48] [REFERRED TO]
RAM CHANDRA CHAUDHURI VS. GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL [LAWS(CAL)-1963-6-7] [REFERRED TO]
PALLIKOILOTH SYAMA PRASAD VS. CHIEF COMMISSIONER ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS [LAWS(CAL)-1968-8-18] [REFERRED TO]
MONORANJAN TARAN VS. STATE OF WEST BENGAL [LAWS(CAL)-1976-6-36] [REFERRED TO]
ABHAY KUMAR SRIVASTAVA VS. UNION OF INDIA [LAWS(DLH)-2023-11-81] [REFERRED TO]
ISHWAR CHANDRA MOHANTY VS. STATE OF ORISSA [LAWS(ORI)-1965-10-2] [REFERRED TO]
FATEH SINGH CHUGHA VS. STATE OF PUNJAB [LAWS(P&H)-1969-7-2] [REFERRED TO]
K DHRUVA RAO VS. MADHYA PRADESH ELECTRICITY BOARD JABALPUR [LAWS(MPH)-1968-3-8] [REFERRED TO]
CHANDRA PRAKASH SHAHI VS. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH [LAWS(SC)-2000-4-29] [REFERRED]
JUDGEMENT
Sarkar, J. -
(1.)This is an appeal by the State of Maharashtra against the judgment of the High Court at Nagpur confirming the decree of the Additional District Judge, Nagpur, declaring that the order reverting the respondent from the rank of officiating Deputy Superintendent of Police to the rank of Inspector of Police, was illegal and void, and granting certain consequential reliefs.
(2.)The judgments of the High Court and the learned Additional District Judge seem to us to be clearly unsustainable. The Courts below held that the respondent had been reduced in rank in violation of the terms of S. 240 (3) of the Government of India Act. 1935, which corresponds to Art. 311 of the Constitution, inasmuch as he was not given an opportunity to show cause against the order proposed to be made. It is not in dispute that the opportunity had not been given. In our view, however, for reasons to be presently stated, the respondent was not entitled to that opportunity.
(3.)On June 8, 1948, the respondent was holding the post of Inspector in the Central Provinces and Berar Police Service. He was appointed to officiate as Deputy Superintendent of Police with effect from June 9, 1948.
On January 27, 1949, his services were lent to the Hyderabad Government in connection with the police action then being taken there. On February 5, 1949, he was sent back to the Central Provinces and Berar. On February 19, 1949, the Inspector General of Police, Central Provinces and Berar, passed an order which reads as follows:
"Shri F. A. Abraham (respondent) Deputy Superintendent Police, Parbhani, is reverted to rank of Inspector."
It is this order which was sought to be impugned by the respondent in the suit out of which this appeal arises.
After the order of reversion had been made the respondent, on February 23, 1949, asked for the reason for which be was reverted. On March 3, 1949, the Government refused to communicate the reasons to him. On May 25, 1949, a confidential memorandum was sent by the District Superintendent of Police, Parbhani, to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Aurangabad, in which he stated that he had conducted an inquiry into certain allegations of corruption made against the respondent while he was acting in the service of the Hyderabad. Government at Parbhani and he thought that those allegations were of substance. Thereupon, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Aurangabad, held a departmental inquiry regarding these allegations and found that they had not been proved. This inquiry had been held behind the back of the respondent. Notwithstanding this, the order reverting the respondent was maintained. There is a letter addressed by the Inspector General of Police to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Madhya Pradesh dated August 19, 1950, written after the departmental inquiry wherein it is stated that the respondent's previous record was not satisfactory and that he had been promoted to officiate as Deputy Superintendent of Police as the Government was in need of officers and that he had been given a chance in the expectation that he would turn a new leaf but the complaint made in the confidential memorandum was a clear proof that the officer was habitually dishonest and did not deserve promotion. The respondent made representations to the Government to revise the order reverting him to the lower rank but the Government expressed its inability to do so. It may be stated here that on the promulgation of the Constitution the Central Provinces and Berar became the State of Madhya Pradesh in the Indian Union.
(2.)The judgments of the High Court and the learned Additional District Judge seem to us to be clearly unsustainable. The Courts below held that the respondent had been reduced in rank in violation of the terms of S. 240 (3) of the Government of India Act. 1935, which corresponds to Art. 311 of the Constitution, inasmuch as he was not given an opportunity to show cause against the order proposed to be made. It is not in dispute that the opportunity had not been given. In our view, however, for reasons to be presently stated, the respondent was not entitled to that opportunity.
(3.)On June 8, 1948, the respondent was holding the post of Inspector in the Central Provinces and Berar Police Service. He was appointed to officiate as Deputy Superintendent of Police with effect from June 9, 1948.
On January 27, 1949, his services were lent to the Hyderabad Government in connection with the police action then being taken there. On February 5, 1949, he was sent back to the Central Provinces and Berar. On February 19, 1949, the Inspector General of Police, Central Provinces and Berar, passed an order which reads as follows:
"Shri F. A. Abraham (respondent) Deputy Superintendent Police, Parbhani, is reverted to rank of Inspector."
It is this order which was sought to be impugned by the respondent in the suit out of which this appeal arises.
After the order of reversion had been made the respondent, on February 23, 1949, asked for the reason for which be was reverted. On March 3, 1949, the Government refused to communicate the reasons to him. On May 25, 1949, a confidential memorandum was sent by the District Superintendent of Police, Parbhani, to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Aurangabad, in which he stated that he had conducted an inquiry into certain allegations of corruption made against the respondent while he was acting in the service of the Hyderabad. Government at Parbhani and he thought that those allegations were of substance. Thereupon, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Aurangabad, held a departmental inquiry regarding these allegations and found that they had not been proved. This inquiry had been held behind the back of the respondent. Notwithstanding this, the order reverting the respondent was maintained. There is a letter addressed by the Inspector General of Police to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Madhya Pradesh dated August 19, 1950, written after the departmental inquiry wherein it is stated that the respondent's previous record was not satisfactory and that he had been promoted to officiate as Deputy Superintendent of Police as the Government was in need of officers and that he had been given a chance in the expectation that he would turn a new leaf but the complaint made in the confidential memorandum was a clear proof that the officer was habitually dishonest and did not deserve promotion. The respondent made representations to the Government to revise the order reverting him to the lower rank but the Government expressed its inability to do so. It may be stated here that on the promulgation of the Constitution the Central Provinces and Berar became the State of Madhya Pradesh in the Indian Union.
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