S.S. Sandhawalia, J. - (1.) WHETHER a departmental enquiry can be ordered subsequent to the recording of an adverse annual confidential report on the identical or substantially the same material is the meaningful question which has necessitated this reference to the Division Bench.
(2.) THE facts are neither in serious dispute nor in a wide compass. The Petitioner was posted as Sub -Divisional Officer at Kurali, in the year 1969 -70. He got executed certain maintenance and construction works thereat. Apparently for his work and conduct for the year, an adverse annual confidential report was recorded and wide annexure P/1, dated July 24, 1970, the same was communicated to him with a warning to improve his conduct in future. The Petitioner submitted a detailed representation against these adverse remarks, - -vide annexure P/2, dated November 6, 1970 and acting thereon the Government elicited the comments of the authorities below and on receipt of the same the Petitioner's representation was rejected. In the meantime enquiry proceedings were sought to be initiated against the Petitioner and he was served with the adverse allegations against him in the form of a charge -sheet. The case of the Petitioner is that he received the said charge -sheet (annexure P/3) on January 19, 1972, which expressly mentioned that he had been given an opportunity to explain his conduct by the Executive Engineer, Patiala, by a communication, dated May 13, 1970 to which no satisfactory reply had been submitted by him. The Petitioner filed a reply denying the charges levelled against him, but this also not having been found satisfactory, the Government ordered a regular enquiry and appointed Shri Raghbir Singh Ahluwalia as the Enquiry Officer to go into the charges against the Petitioner. It is the Petitioner's case that the enquiry proceedings culminated sometimes in August, 1973 and even a report was submitted by the Enquiry Officer to the Government thereafter but the result thereof was not conveyed to the Petitioner for well -high five years whereupon he preferred the present writ petition in July, 1978.
(3.) THIS writ petition first came up before my learned brother S.P. Goyal, J. sitting singly and reliance was placed before him on two Single Bench decisions in Bhajan Singh v. Shri Bahal Singh and Anr., 1967 S.C.R. 601 and Kartar Singh v. The State of Haryana etc., 1973 CLJ 56. Expressing a doubt about the correctness of the views expressed therein, the matter was referred to the Division Bench and that is how it is before us now.;