THE INDIAN OIL CORPORATION & ORSversusAJIT KUMAR SINGH & ANR.

                         [2023] 5 S.C.R. 447                           447


            THE INDIAN OIL CORPORATION & ORS.                          A
                                 v.
                   AJIT KUMAR SINGH & ANR.
                   (Civil Appeal No. 3663 of 2023)
                           MAY 17, 2023                                B
          [ABHAY S. OKA AND RAJESH BINDAL, JJ.]
       Service Law: Disciplinary proceedings – Scope of judicial
review – Bid tampering matter, wherein disciplinary proceedings
initiated against two employees – Order of imposition of major
                                                                       C
penalty of withholding five annual increments against the
respondent no. 1 and punishment of reduction to a lower grade
against the other employee – Order of punishment against the
respondent no.1 upheld by the appellate authority as also the Single
Judge of the High Court – However, the punishment imposed set
aside by the Division Bench – On appeal, held: During the course       D
of inquiry, fair opportunity of hearing was afforded to the
respondent no.1 at every stage – This was even found by the Single
Judge – However, the Division Bench of the High Court dealt with
in a manner as if it was the first stage of the case, namely, the
inquiry was being conducted and inquiry report was being prepared,
                                                                       E
which is not the scope in judicial review – Division Bench of the
High Court proceeded to reappreciate the entire evidence – When
the changed form of quotation also contained signature of
respondent no.1, it clearly established his involvement in the
tampering of document – Division Bench of the High Court failed
to notice the same, thus, the order passed by the Division Bench set   F
aside and that of the Single Judge restored – Judicial review.
        Deputy General Manager (Appellate Authority) vs. Ajai
        Kumar Srivastava (2021) 2 SCC 612; Ex-Const/Dvr
        Mukesh Kumar Raigar vs. Union of India and Ors.
        (2023) SCC Online SC 27 – referred to.                         G
                       Case Law Reference
(2021) 2 SCC 612                referred to           Para 6
        CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No.3663 of
2023.                                                                  H
                                447
448            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2023] 5 S.C.R.


A           From the Judgment and Order dated 28.02.2019 of the High Court
      of Judicature at Patna in LPA No. 1593 of 2015 in CWJ No. 2176 of
      2004.
            V. N. Koura, Mrs. Paramjeet Benipal, Sirish Kumar, Avneesh
      Arputham, Ms. Anuradha Arputham for M/s. Arputham Aruna and Co.,
B     Advs. for the Appellants.
            Navaniti Pd. Singh, Sr. Adv., Vaibhav Niti, Ms. Sayaree Basu
      Mallik, Md. Madhavi Agrawal, Advs. for the Respondents.
            The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

C           RAJESH BINDAL, J.
            1. Aggrieved against the order passed by the High Court of
      Judicature at Patna in Letters Patent Appeal No. 1593/2015 dated
      28.2.2019, the present appeal has been filed. Vide aforesaid order, the
      judgment and order of the learned Single Judge of the High Court dated
D     25.6.2015 in CWJC No. 2176/2004 was reversed.
             2. The brief facts as available on record are that on 30.6.2001,
      tender notice was issued by the Appellant Corporation for the job of
      ‘Repair of Surface Drain and Tank Pad and Tank No. 235, 236 and 237
      inside Refinery’ (Barauni Refinery), in which three bidders participated.
      Technical bids were opened on 24.8.2001. However, the price bids were
E
      not opened on that day and were kept with the remarks ‘not opened
      today’ in the table drawer of K.C. Patel under lock. The keys thereof
      were available with him and respondent no.1, Ajit Kumar Singh. Price
      bids were opened on 1.10.2001. Form of quotation submitted by each
      bidder was signed by K.C. Patel and G.S. Mahto. Entries were made in
F     the register. While preparing the comparative table on 3.10.2001 K.C.
      Patel noticed change in the price bid of M/s. B.S. Jha as compared to
      the quoted price in the form of quotation, which was recorded on
      1.10.2001. The signatures of K.C. Patel were missing in the changed
      form of quotation of price bid of M/s. B.S. Jha. There was over-writing
      in the quoted percentage wherein digit ‘9’ in the figure of ‘9.6’ was
G
      over-written as ‘5’. M/s. B.S. Jha, who was the second lowest bidder
      (L-2) when the price bids were opened on 1.10.2001, was found to be
      the lowest bidder (L-1). The matter was not reported to the higher
      authorities. Efforts were made to trace the original form of quotation.
      When it was not found, the matter was brought to the notice of the
H     higher authorities.
  THE INDIAN OIL CORPORATION & ORS. v. AJIT KUMAR                               449
           SINGH & ANR. [RAJESH BINDAL, J.]

       3. G.S. Mahto confessed that at the instance of M/s. B.S. Jha            A
along with B.K. Mishra, he replaced the form of quotation/price bid and
destroyed the originals thereof so that the firm comes at L-1. Inquiry
was initiated against them. The envelope containing the price bid of M/
s. Laxmi Singh was also sent to the Central Forensic Institute, Bureau
of Police Research & Development, Kolkata, vide letter dated 8.4.2002.
                                                                                B
The report established that the said envelop had been tampered with by
opening and then resealing. Considering the fact that the envelopes
containing bid were kept in a drawer of which a duplicate key was
available with the respondent no.1, chargesheet was issued to him to
explain as to why departmental proceedings be not initiated against him
for changing the form of quotation/ price bid of M/s. Laxmi Singh to            C
enable him to be L-1 in the tendering process. Simultaneously, chargesheet
was also issued to K.C. Patel for tampering with the quotation of price
bid of M/s. Laxmi Singh. Since the response to the show cause notice
was found to be unsatisfactory, departmental proceedings were initiated
against the respondent no.1 and K.C. Patel. In the Inquiry Report, the
                                                                                D
Inquiry Officer opined that there was tampering with the bids. It was
found that tampering was done in the case of tender of bidders M/s.
Laxmi Singh and M/s. B.S. Jha. The changed form of quotation of M/s.
Laxmi Singh contained the original signature of respondent no.1. The
charges were proved. The report was forwarded to the Disciplinary
Authority. Copy was sent to the respondent no.1 to enable him to make           E
representation. The respondent no.1 filed representation against the
Inquiry Report. After considering the same, the Disciplinary Authority
vide order dated 7.8.2003 imposed major penalty of withholding five
annual increments with cumulative effect, effective from 1.1.2004. To
put the record straight, it is added that K.C. Patel was inflicted punishment
                                                                                F
of reduction to a lower grade. The appeal preferred by the respondent
no.1 against the order of punishment was dismissed on 18.11.2003.
Thereafter, the respondent no.1 filed a writ petition challenging the order
of Disciplinary Authority as well as the Appellate Authority, which was
dismissed by the learned Single Judge. However, in the intra-court appeal,
the order of the Single Judge was reversed and the punishment imposed           G
on the respondent no.1 was set aside. It is the aforesaid order which is
impugned in the present appeal.
      4. The argument raised by the learned counsel for the appellant
was that in the matter of judicial review only scope for interference by
the High Court in the disciplinary proceedings is to see as to whether the      H
450                SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2023] 5 S.C.R.


A     due process was followed during the course of inquiry and fair opportunity
      was given to the employee concerned. Threadbare evidence could not
      be examined, that too in an intra-court appeal, when the order of
      punishment and the appellate order were already upheld by the Single
      Bench of the High Court. It was a case in which tampering in the price
      bid was found to be fully established from the report of Central Forensic
B
      Institute, Bureau of Police Research & Development, Kolkata. During
      the period tampering was done, the bid documents were lying in the joint
      custody of the respondent no.1 and K.C. Patel. Most important part
      was that on the changed form of quotation of M/s. Laxmi Singh, original
      signature of respondent no.1 was found. It was not possible unless he
C     was involved. The order passed by the Division Bench was to be set
      aside.
             5. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent no.1
      submitted that the injustice done to the respondent no.1 was corrected
      by the Division Bench of the High Court. The appellants should not have
D     any grievance against that. Merely because the duplicate key of the
      drawer in which the bid documents were kept was with the respondent
      no.1, he cannot be made liable for any tampering or replacing of the
      bids. In fact, he has been made a scapegoat by the other employees.
      The respondent no.1 is already suffering in the process for last more
      than two decades. There is no error in the order passed by the Division
E     Bench of the High Court. The appeal may be dismissed.
              6. The facts of the case leading to the issuance of chargesheet,
      initiation of departmental inquiry, the report of the inquiry officer and the
      punishment inflicted upon respondent no.1 have already been narrated
      in the preceding paragraphs. It is not in dispute that during the course of
F     inquiry, fair opportunity of hearing was afforded to the respondent no.1
      at every stage. This was even found by the learned Single Judge while
      dismissing the writ petition challenging the punishment inflicted upon
      him. The judgment passed by the Division Bench of the High Court
      shows that matter was dealt with in a manner as if it was the first stage
G     of the case, namely, the inquiry was being conducted and inquiry report
      was being prepared, which is not the scope in judicial review. The views
      expressed by this Court on the scope of judicial review in Deputy General
      Manager (Appellate Authority) vs. Ajai Kumar Srivastava 1, are
      extracted below:

H     1
          (2021) 2 SCC 612
     THE INDIAN OIL CORPORATION & ORS. v. AJIT KUMAR                          451
              SINGH & ANR. [RAJESH BINDAL, J.]

         “24. It is thus settled that the power of judicial review, of the    A
         constitutional courts, is evaluation of the decision-making
         process and not the merits of the decision itself. It is to ensure
         fairness in treatment and not to ensure fairness of conclusion.
         The court/tribunal may interfere in the proceedings held
         against the delinquent if it is, in any manner, inconsistent with
                                                                              B
         the rules of natural justice or in violation of the statutory
         rules prescribing the mode of enquiry or where the conclusion
         or finding reached by the disciplinary authority is based on
         no evidence. If the conclusion or finding be such as no
         reasonable person would have ever reached or where the
         conclusions upon consideration of the evidence reached by            C
         the disciplinary authority are perverse or suffer from patent
         error on the face of record or based on no evidence at all, a
         writ of certiorari could be issued. To sum up, the scope of
         judicial review cannot be extended to the examination of
         correctness or reasonableness of a decision of authority as a
                                                                              D
         matter of fact.
         25-27                xx      xx       xx
         28. The constitutional court while exercising its jurisdiction
         of judicial review under Article 226 or Article 136 of the
         Constitution would not interfere with the findings of fact           E
         arrived at in the departmental enquiry proceedings except in
         a case of mala fides or perversity i.e. where there is no
         evidence to support a finding or where a finding is such that
         no man acting reasonably and with objectivity could have
         arrived at those findings and so long as there is some evidence
         to support the conclusion arrived at by the departmental             F
         authority, the same has to be sustained.”
                                                    (emphasis supplied)
       Similar view was expressed in the later judgment of this Court
in Ex-Const/Dvr Mukesh Kumar Raigar vs. Union of India and Ors.2              G
      7. If the facts of the case are examined in the light of the settled
principles of law in scope of judicial review, we find that the Division
Bench of the High Court proceeded to reappreciate the entire evidence

2
    (2023) SCC Online SC 27                                                   H
452              SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2023] 5 S.C.R.


A     as if conviction in a criminal trial was being re-examined by the next
      higher court. The stand taken by the respondent no.1 was that he was
      on leave and there was no question of his tampering with any document.
      His contention was that merely because he had the duplicate key of the
      drawer where the documents were kept, he cannot be made responsible
      for any tampering. However, there was no answer to the finding recorded
B
      by the Inquiry Officer in the Inquiry Report, namely, that the changed
      form of quotation of M/s. Laxmi Singh contained original signature of
      respondent no.1. The fact that this “Form of quotation” was changed is
      not in dispute. When the changed form of quotation also contained
      signature of respondent no.1, it clearly established his involvement in the
C     tampering of document. This fact has not even been noticed by the
      Division Bench of the High Court.
            8. For the reasons mentioned above, the appeal is allowed. The
      impugned order dated 28.2.2019 passed by the Division Bench of the
      High Court in Letters Patent Appeal No. 1593/2015 is set aside and the
D     order dated 25.6.2015 passed by the Single Judge in CWJC No. 2176/
      2004 is restored.

      Nidhi Jain                                                   Appeal allowed.
      (Assisted by : Rakhi, LCRA)

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