THANGASWAMY T P Vs. S I RAILWAY EMPLOYEES CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) T. P. Thangaswami, the petitioner, was employed as an attender under the South Indian Railway Employees Co-operative Credit Society, Ltd. , Tiruchirappalli. At the relevant period he had a service of more than sixteen years. It appears that one Rajamanickam who resides in the same street as the petitioner, applied to the abovementioned society for a loan. For the purpose of the loan, apparently one P. Veeran had stood surety. On 15 June 1957, a director of the society came to know that Veeran denied that he stood as surety for Rajamanickam. Another director of the society, one Ganapathi, recorded a statement from Rajamanickam on 22 June 1957, stating that it was Thangaswami, the petitioner, who got an unknown person to stand as surety for the loan after obtaining some monetary benefit. This statement of Rajamanickam was shown to the petitioner; and a memo, was issued to him on 27 June 1957, in the following terms: T. P. Thangaswami is chargesheeted for serious misconduct in having obtained the signature of Veeran as a surety for the loan of Rajamanickam without his knowledge and he should show cause within four clear days why he should not be dismissed from service. The petitioner replied to this memo of 27 June 1957, stating that Rajamanickam was neither his friend nor his relative, that he had no transaction with him and that any representation made by him was false and then he added a prayer that an enquiry might be arranged so that he could submit his defence and that he should be permitted to be assisted by an assistant for the purpose of the enquiry. The petitioner followed this communication with another letter to the secretary of the society on 3 July 1957, drawing attention to the fact that Veeran had signed the loan application in the presence of witnesses; and that the witnesses had not stated that the applicant and surety did not sign in his presence. He repeated his statement made earlier about his having no interest in Rajamanickam and repeating his prayer for permission to be assisted by a railway servant at the enquiry. The enquiry was posted to 11 September 1957.

(2.) IN the meantime some witnesses had been examined by the society. They included Veeran examined on 1 July 1957, one Srinivasaraghavan, an attesting witness examined on 5 July 1957 and one Sivaprakasam, examined on 2 August 1957. But when these statements were recorded, the petitioner was not present. The society sent a communication to the petitioner on 3 September 1957 that the enquiry would be held on 11 September 1957 and that he could have an employee of the Society to represent him. The petitioner wrote a letter on 4 September 1957 to the secretary of the society requesting that true copies of the complaint and statements of the witnesses might be furnished to him for the purpose of the enquiry to be conducted on 11 September 1957. He also requested that Rajamanickam, Veeran, Srinivasaraghavan and Sivaprakasam might be directed to be present for the enquiry. On 4 September 1957, he wrote another letter stating that no employee of the society was willing to assist him and asked for permission to be represented by a shareholder, To this communication, the society replied on 7 September 1957, that he would be permitted at the enquiry to peruse all the relevant papers, and that he would be given an opportunity to cross-examine the complainant and the witnesses. By letter, dated 11 September 1957, the petitioner expressed his inability to be present at the enquiry, because true copies of the complaint and the statements Thangaswamy (T. P.) vs. S. I. Railway Employees' Co-operative Credit Society, Ltd. and. . . Page 3 of 11 gaswamy (T. P.) vs. S. I. Railway Employees' Co-operative Credit Society, Ltd. and. . . Page 3 of 11 of the complainant and the witnesses had not been supplied to him.

(3.) BECAUSE of the above stand taken by the petitioner, the rest of the enquiry was conducted ex parte by the society, and the petitioner was served with an order dated 28 September 1957, that he bad been dismissed from service with effect from 27 September 1957.