MAZHAR ALI and others vs SENIOR SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE/DEPUTY
This matter arises from petitions filed by Mazhar Ali and Akhtar Ali against the judgment and order of the Punjab Service Tribunal, which dismissed their appeals against dismissal from service. The core legal questions for determination involve whether the failure to frame a separate charge regarding absence from duty and to afford an opportunity to meet that charge violated the law, and whether the criminal investigations and subsequent proceedings against the petitioners were vitiated by mala fides arising from a personal dispute with their uncle, a former Inspector-General of Police, particularly in light of their subsequent acquittal in the criminal case. The Supreme Court granted leave to appeal to examine these questions of law of public importance, holding that the petitions warrant a full hearing regarding procedural fairness in departmental proceedings and the impact of alleged mala fides and acquittal.
- Does the failure to frame a separate charge regarding absence from duty and to provide an opportunity to meet that charge vitiate a departmental dismissal?
- What is the legal effect of a criminal acquittal on departmental proceedings arising out of the same factual background?
- How does the presence of mala fides by a superior authority affect the validity of investigations and subsequent disciplinary actions against a civil servant?
ORDER
' SH. RIAZ AHMED, J.---This order shall dispose of the above two petitions preferred by Mazhar Ali and Akhtar Ali, both real brothers against the Senior Superintendent of Police and others. These petitions are directed against the judgment and order dated 7-9-1998 delivered by the Punjab Service Tribunal whereby the appeals preferred by both the petitioners against their dismissal from service were dismissed.
2. After, hearing the learned counsel at some length and having gone through the judgment impugned, we are of the view that in this case the following questions of law of public importance arise for determination by this Court:
(a) That no separate charge with regard to the absence from duty in respect of both the petitioners was framed nor were they afforded an opportunity to meet the said charge in accordance with law.
(b) That the question of mala fides in this case is also apparent because the petitioners were in the first instance employed at the behest of their uncle Nazir Malik, who happened to be the I.-G. Police at the relevant time. Subsequent thereto, the petitioners and their uncle quarrelled with each other in the village to which they belonged and a criminal case was registered against the petitioners, which resulted into acquittal of the petitioners. The crucial question is whether two investigations conducted against the petitioners on the basis of which challan was submitted against them were bona fide or not and what is the effect of the acquittal in such like cases.
' Accordingly leave to appeal is granted in both the petitions.