HAND BOOK ON

DEPARTMENTAL ENQUIRIES

References taken from:-

1. Hand book on Enquiries by Sh L.N. Mishra Dy . Comdt

2. workshop on D.E. by legal branch Dte general
3. Instructions on the subject .
 INDEX

Sl. No. Subject Page No.

1. Definitions
2. Purpose
3. Conduct rules
4. Penalties & procedure for imposing penalties
under CCS (CCA) Rules
5. GOI instructions on departmental proceedings
6. Inquiry officer
7. Presenting officer
8. Disciplinary authority
9. Defence assistant
10. Ex- Parte proceedings
11. Avoiding delay & dilatory tactics
12. Initiation of DE against officers
13. General shortcomings found in DE against
officers
14. DO’S & DON’TS
14. Procedure of DE under CRPF rules
15. Procedure of DE under CCS ( CCA ) rules
16. Procedure if Ex- Parte DE
17. Common proceedings
18. Daily order sheet
19. Inquiry report
20. Difference between DE under CRPF rules and
CCS(CCA) rules
21 Charge sheet
22. Model procedure of DE under CRPF rules
23. Order of disciplinary authority
24. Comparison between PE, COI and DE

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DEFINITIONS :-

Section 3 (a) of Departmental Inquiries Act 1972

"Departmental inquiry" means an inquiry held under and in

accordance with -
(i) Any law made by parliament or any rule made there under;
or
(ii) Any rule made under the proviso to Article 309 or continued
under Article 313 of the Constitution of India into any
allegation of lack of integrity against any person to whom
this Act applies;

Section 3 (b): Departmental Inquiries Act 1972—

''Inquiring authority'' means an officer or authority

appointed by the Central Government or by any officer or
authority, subordinate to that Government to hold a departmental
inquiry and includes any officer or authority who is empowered by
or under any law or rule for the time being in force to hold such
inquiry. Inquiring authority is one who is appointed to inquire into
the charges levelled against Govt. servant by competent
disciplinary authority. He should be fair and unbiased during the
proceedings and should rely on only the evidences produced
before him. He should not act as Presenting Officer. He is also
called Enquiry Officer (E.O/I.O). He has got certain powers and he
has to exercise them in a judicial spirit. Though he enjoys his
powers as delegate of management (Hazrat Saiyed Shah Vs
Commissioner of Wakf AIR 1961 SC 1095) but in discharging his
duties and functions he is supposed to be independent and not
subordinate to the superior officers who have entrusted him with
the enquiry. He is a man of status, unbiased and impartial.

Rule 2(g) CCS (CCA) Rules 1965 –

“Disciplinary authority” means the authority competent

under these rules to impose on a Govt.. Servant any of the
penalties specified in Rule 11.Disciplinary authority in respect of an
official is to be determined with reference to his posting at the
relevant stage of the disciplinary case and not with reference to his

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 posting and status at the time of commission of the offence. He is
competent to take disciplinary action and impose the penalties
against the concerned Govt. servant. There may be different
competent disciplinary authority for major & minor penalties.
Disciplinary authority for major penalties cannot be lower than the
appointing authority.

Presenting Officer (P.O) is appointed by disciplinary

authority to present the case on behalf of state/disciplinary
authority before Inquiry Officer to establish the charge against
Govt. servant on the basis of 'preponderance of probability'
or 'beyond reasonable doubts.'

Defence Assistant (D.A) is a person who is willing to help a

colleague Govt.. servant during proceeding. He is true friend of
charged official. Charged official appoints him as D.A.

Charged Official (C.O) is a Govt.. servant against whom

charge sheet is issued by disciplinary authority. He is known as
delinquent/accused also.

Prosecution Witness (P.W) is one who is produced by or on

behalf of disciplinary authority and relied upon to substantiate the
charges against C.O. He is known as State Witness (S.W) also.

Defence Witness (D.W) is one who is produced by or on

behalf of charged official to defend his case.

PURPOSE: -

The purpose of Departmental Enquiry is to enquire

into the truth of the charges levelled against the Govt.. servant for
alleged disobedience, neglect of duty, remissness in discharge of
duty, misconduct or misbehavior done by the alleged person in the
capacity of being public servant as such. If the charges are
sustained the delinquent may be awarded minor/ major penalties
depending on the gravity of offence/misconduct. The Supreme
Court held that, “The only purpose to hold enquiry is to help
punishing authority to come to a definite conclusion regarding guilt
of the accused. (Venkatramanan Vs UOI, AIR 1954, SC 375) The
second aspect of D.E is to observe the mandatory constitutional

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 provisions under clause (2) of Art 311. Under this provision, no
person who is a member of civil service of the Union or an All India
Service or holds a civil post under the union shall be dismissed or
removed or reduced in rank except after an enquiry in which he
has to be informed of the charges against him and given a
reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of those
charges. Principle of Natural Justice is also to be kept in mind at
all steps during the entire proceedings. Departmental Enquiry is
quasi-judicial in nature (SC- UOI Vs HC Goel AIR 1964 SC 364)
therefore technical rules of criminal trial do not apply to DE (Joga
Rao Vs State AIR 1957 AP-197). Hence, Indian Evidence Act and
Criminal Procedure Code do not apply to departmental
proceedings.

CONDUCT RULES

As per the CCS (Conduct) Rules, normally the departmental enquiries

against every government servant is initiated on the following three grounds:

(i) failure to maintain absolute integrity,

(ii) failure to maintain devotion to duty; and

(ii) committing of an act which is unbecoming of a government servant.

In exceptional circumstances, there may be other grounds like that of a

government servant engaging in plural marriage under Rule 21 of CCS(Conduct)
Rules.

PENALTIES

The following penalties may, for good and sufficient reasons and as
hereinafter provided, be imposed on a Government servant, namely: -

Minor Penalties –
i) Censure;
ii) Withholding of his promotion;
iii) Recovery from his pay of the whole or part of any pecuniary loss
caused by him to the Government by negligence or breach of
orders;

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 a) reduction to a lower stage in the time-scale of pay for a period
not exceeding 3 years, without cumulative effect and not
adversely affecting his pension.

iv) withholding of increments of pay;

Major Penalties-

i) save as provided for in clause (iii) (a), reduction to a lower stage

in the time-scale of pay for a specified period, with further
directions as to whether or not the Government servant will earn
increments of pay during the period of such reduction and
whether or the expiry of such period, the reduction will or will not
have the effect of postponing the future increments of his pay;
ii) reduction to lower time-scale of pay, grade, post or service
which shall ordinarily be a bar to the promotion pf the
Government servant to the time-scale of pay, grade, post or
service from which he was reduced, with or without further
directions regarding conditions of restoration to the grade or
post or service from which the Government servant was
reduced and his seniority and pay on such restoration to that
grade, post or service;
iii) compulsory retirement;
iv) removal from service which shall ordinarily be a disqualification
for future employment under the Government.
v) Dismissal from service which shall ordinarily be a
disqualification for future employment under the Govt..

Provided that, in every case in which the charge of acceptance from any person
of any gratification, other than legal remuneration, as a motive or reward for
doing or forbearing to do any official act is established, the penalty mention in
clause (viii) or clause (ix) shall be imposed;

Provided further that in any exception case and for special reasons recorded in
writing, any other penalty may be imposed.

PROCEDURE FOR IMPOSING MAJOR PENALTIES UNDER RULE-14 OF

CCS (CCA) RULES.

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 1) No order imposing any of the penalties specified in clauses (v)
to (ix) of Rule 11 shall be made except after an inquiry held, as
far as may be, in the manner provided in this Rule and Rule 15,
or in the manner provided by the Public Servants (Inquiries) Act,
1850 (37 of 1850), where such inquiry is held under that Act.
2) Whenever the disciplinary authority is of the opinion that there
are grounds for inquiring into the truth of any imputation of
misconduct or misbehavior against a Government servant, it
may itself inquire into, or appoint under this rule or under the
provisions of the Public Servants (Inquiries) Act, 1850, as the
case may be, an authority to inquire into the truth thereof.

Explanation – Where the disciplinary authority itself holds the inquiry, any
reference in sub-rule (7) to sub-rule (20) and in sub-rule (22) to the inquiring
authority shall be construed as a reference to disciplinary authority.

3) Where it is proposed to hold an inquiry against a Government

servant under this rule and Rule 15, the disciplinary authority
shall draw up or cause to be drawn up-

i) the substance of the imputations of misconduct or

misbehavior into definite and distinct articles of charge;
ii) a statement of the imputations of misconduct or
misbehavior in support of each article of charge, which
shall contain-

a) a statement of all relevant facts including any admission

or confession made by the Government servant;
b) a list of documents by which, and a list of witnesses by
whom, the articles of charge are proposed to be
sustained.

4. The disciplinary authority shall deliver or cause to be delivered to

the Government servant a copy of the articles of charge, the statement of the
imputations of misconduct or misbehavior and a list of documents and
witnesses by which each article or charges is proposed to be sustained and
shall required the Government servant to submit, within such time may be
specified, a written statement of his defence and state whether he desires to
be heard in person.

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 5. a) On receipt of the written statement of defence, the disciplinary
authority may itself inquire into such of the articles of charge
as are not admitted, or, if it considers it necessary to do so,
appoint under sub-rule (2), an inquiring authority for the
purpose, and where all the articles of charge have been
admitted by the Government servant in his written statement
of defence, the disciplinary authority shall record its findings
on each charge after taking such evidence as it may think fit
and shall act in the manner laid down in Rule 15.
b) If no written statement of defence is submitted by the
Government servant the disciplinary authority may itself
inquire into the articles of charge, or may, if it considers it
necessary to do so, appoint, under sub-rule (2), an inquiring
authority for the purpose.
c) Where the disciplinary authority itself inquires into any
article of charge or appoints an inquiring authority for holding
any inquiry into such charge, it may, be an order, appoint a
Government servant or a legal practitioner, to be known as
the ‘Presenting Officer’ to present on its behalf the case in
support of the articles of charge.

6. The disciplinary authority shall, where it is not the inquiring

authority, forward to the inquiring authority: –

i) a copy of the articles of charge and the statement of

imputations of misconduct or misbehavior;
ii) a copy of the written statement of the defence, if any,
submitted by the Government servant;
iii) a copy of the statements of witnesses, if any, referred to
in sub-rule (3);
iv) evidence proving the delivery of the documents referred
to in sub-rule (3) to the Government servant ; and
v) a copy of the order appointing the “Presenting Officer”.

7. The Government servant shall appear in person before the inquiring

authority on such day and at such time within ten working days from the date of
receipt by the inquiring authority of the articles of charge and the statement of the
imputations of misconduct or misbehavior, as the inquiring authority may, by
notice in writing, specify, in this behalf, or within such further time, not exceeding
ten days, as the inquiring authority may allow.

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8. a) The Government servant may take the assistance of any other
Government servant posted in any office either at his headquarters or at the
place where the inquiry is held, to present the case on his behalf, but may not
engage a legal practitioner for the purpose, unless the Presenting Officer
appointed by the disciplinary authority is a legal practitioner, or, the disciplinary
authority, having regard to the circumstances of the case, so permits:

Provided that the Government servant may take the assistance of any other
station, if the inquiring authority having regard to the circumstances of the case,
and for reasons to be recorded in writing so permits.

NOTE – The Government servant shall not take the assistance of any other
Government servant who has (three) pending disciplinary cases on hand in
which he has to give assistance

b) The Government servant may also take the

assistance of a retired Government servant to present the case on his
behalf, subject to such conditions as may be specified by the President from
time to time by general or special order in this behalf.

9. If the Government servant who has not admitted any of the articles of
charge in his written statement of defence or has not submitted any written
statement of defence, appears before the inquiring authority, such authority shall
ask him whether he is guilty or has any defence to make and if he pleads guilty to
any of the articles of charge, the inquiring authority shall record the plea, sign the
record and obtain the signature of the Government servant thereon.

10. The inquiring authority shall return a finding of guilt in respect of those
articles of charge to which the Government servant pleads guilty.

11. The inquiring authority shall, if the Government servant fails to appear
within the specified time or refuses or omits to plead, require the Presenting
Officer to produce the evidence by which he proposes to prove the articles of
charge, and shall adjourn the case to a later date not exceeding thirty days, after
recording an order that the Government servant may, for the purpose of
preparing his defence-
i) inspect within five days of the order or within such further
time not exceeding five days as the inquiring authority may
allow, the documents specified in the list referred to in sub-
rule (3);
ii) submit a list of witnesses to be examined on his behalf;

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NOTE – If the Government servant applies orally or in writing for the supply of
copies of the statements of witnesses mentioned in the list referred to in sub-rule
(3), the inquiring authority shall furnish him with such copies as early as possible
and in any case not later than three days before the commencement of the
examination of the witnesses on behalf of the disciplinary authority.

iii) give a notice within ten days of the order or within such further
time not exceeding ten days as the inquiring authority may
allow, for the discovery or production of any documents
which are in the possession of Government but not
mentioned in the list referred to in sub-rule (3).

NOTE – The Government servant shall indicate the relevance of the documents
required by him to be discovered or produced by the Government.

12. The inquiring authority shall, on receipt of the notice for the discovery or
production of documents, forward the same or copies thereof to the authority in
whose custody or possession the documents are kept with a requisition for the
production of the documents by such date as may be specified in such
requisition:

Provided that the inquiring authority may, for reasons to be recorded by it in

writing, refuse to requisition such of the documents as are, in its opinion, not
relevant to the case.

13. On receipt of the requisition referred to in sub-rule (12), every authority

having the custody or possession of the requisitioned documents shall produce
the same before the inquiring authority:

Provided that if the authority having the custody or possession of the

requisitioned documents is satisfied for reasons to be recorded by it in writing
that the production of all or any of such documents would be against the public
interest or security of the State, it shall inform the inquiring authority accordingly
and the inquiring authority shall, on being so informed, communicate the
information to the Government servant and withdraw the requisition made by it
for the production or discovery of documents.

14. On the date fixed for the inquiry, the oral and documentary evidence by
which the articles of charge are proposed to be proved shall be produced by or
on behalf of the disciplinary authority. The witnesses shall be examined by or on

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behalf of the Presenting Officer and may be cross-examined by or on behalf of
the Government servant. The Presenting Officer shall be entitled to re-examine
the witnesses on any points on which they have been cross-examined, but not on
any new matter, without the leave of the inquiring authority. The inquiring
authority may also put such questions to the witnesses as it thinks fit.

15. If it shall appear necessary before the close of the case on behalf of the
disciplinary authority, the inquiring authority may, in its discretion, allow the
Presenting Officer to produce evidence not included in the list given to the
Government servant or may itself call for new evidence or recall and re-examine
any witness and in such case the Government servant shall be entitled to have, if
he demands it, a copy of the list of further evidence proposed to be produced
and an adjournment of the inquiry for three clear days before the production of
such new evidence, exclusive of the day of adjournment and the day to which the
inquiry is adjourned. The inquiring authority shall give the Government servant
an opportunity of inspecting such documents before they are taken on the record.
The inquiring authority may also allow the Government servant to produce new
evidence, if it is of the opinion that the production of such evidence is necessary,
in the interests of justice.

NOTE – New evidence shall not be permitted or called for or any witness shall
not be recalled to fill up any gap in the evidence. Such evidence may be called
for only when there is an inherent lacuna or defect in the evidence which has
been produced originally.

16. When the case for the disciplinary authority is closed, the Government
servant shall be required to state his defence, orally or in writing, as he may
prefer. If the defence is made orally, it shall be recorded, and the Government
servant shall be required to sign the record. In either case, a copy of the
statement of defence shall be given to the Presenting Officer, if any, appointed.

17. The evidence on behalf of the Government servant shall then be

produced. The Government servant may examine himself in his own behalf if he
so prefers. The witnesses produced by the Government servant shall then be
examined and shall be liable to cross-examination, re-examination and
examination by the inquiring authority according to the provisions applicable to
the witnesses for the disciplinary authority.

18. The inquiring authority may, after the Government servant closes his
case, and shall, if the Government servant has not examined himself, generally
question him on the circumstances appearing against him in the evidence for the

11
purpose of enabling the Government servant to explain any circumstances
appearing in the evidence against him.

19. The inquiring authority may, after the completion of the production of
evidence, hear the Presenting Officer, if any, appointed and the Government
servant, or permit them to file written briefs of their respective case, if they so
desire.

20. If the Government servant to whom a copy of the articles of charge has
been delivered, does not submit the written statement of defence on or before
the date specified for the purpose or does not appear in person before the
inquiring authority or otherwise fails or refuses to comply with the provisions of
this rule, the inquiring authority may hold the inquiry ex parte.

21. a). Where a disciplinary authority competent to impose any of the

penalties specified in clauses (i) to (iv) of Rule 11 (but not competent to
impose any of the penalties specified in clauses (v) to (ix) of Rule 11),
has itself inquired into or caused to be inquired into the articles of any
charge and that authority, having regard to its own findings or having
regard to its decision on any of the findings of any inquiring authority
appointed by it, is of the opinion that the penalties specified in clauses
(v) to (ix) or Rule 11 should be imposed on the Government servant,
that authority shall forward the records of the inquiry to such
disciplinary authority as is competent to impose the last mentioned
penalties.
b). The disciplinary authority to which the records are so forwarded
may act on the evidence on the record or may, if it is of the opinion that
further examination of any of the witnesses is necessary in the interest
of justice, recall the witnesses and examine, cross-examine and re-
examine the witnesses and may impose on the Government servant
such penalty as it may deem fit in accordance with these rules.

22. Whenever any inquiring authority, after having heard and recorded the
whole or any part of the evidence in an inquiry ceases to exercise jurisdiction
therein, and is succeeded by another inquiring authority which has, and which
exercises, such jurisdiction, the inquiring authority so succeeding may act on the
evidence so recorded by its predecessor, or partly recorded by itself:

Provided, that if the succeeding inquiry authority is of the opinion that further
examination of any of the witnesses whose evidence has already been recorded

12
is necessary in the interests of justice, it may recall, examine, cross-examine and
re-examine any such witnesses as hereinbefore provided.

(i) After the conclusion of the inquiry, a report shall be prepared and it shall contain-
a) the articles of charges and the statement of the imputations of
misconduct or misbehavior;
b) the defence of the Government servant in respect of each article of
charge;
a) an assessment of the evidence in respect of each article of charge;
b) the findings on each article of charge and reasons therefore.

EXPLANATION – If in the opinion of the inquiring authority the proceedings of

the inquiry establish any article of charge different from the original articles of the
charge, it may record it findings on such article of charge:

Provided that the findings on such article of charge shall not be recorded unless
the Government servant has either admitted the facts on which such article of
charge is based or has had a reasonable opportunity of defending himself
against such article of charge.

ii) The inquiring authority, where it is not itself the disciplinary authority, shall
forward to the disciplinary authority the records of inquiry which shall
include-
a) the report prepared by it under clause (i);
b) the written statement of defence, if any, submitted by the
Government servant;
c) the oral and documentary evidence produced in the course of the
inquiry;
d) written briefs, if any, filed by the Presenting Officer or the
Government servant or both during the course of the inquiry; and
the orders, if any, made by the disciplinary authority and the
inquiring authority

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA’S INSTRUCTIONS ON DEPARTMENTAL

PROCEEDINGS

1. Whether charges can be dropped at the stage of initial written

statement of defence

1. The disciplinary authority has the inherent power to review and

modify the articles of charge or drop some of the charges or all

13
 the charges after the receipt and examination of the written
statement of defence submitted by the accused Government
under Rule 14(4) of the CCS (CCA) Rules 1965.

2. The disciplinary authority is not bound to appoint an Inquiry

Officer for conducting an enquiry into the charges which are not
admitted by the accused official but about which the disciplinary
authority is satisfied on the basis of the written statement of
defence that there is no further cause to proceed with.

It may, however, be noted that the exercise of powers to drop the charges
after the consideration of the written statement of defence by the accused
Government servant will be subject to the following conditions: -

a) In cases arising out of investigations by the Central Bureau of

Investigation, the CBI should be consulted before a decision is
taken to drop any of, or all, the charges on the basis of the
written statement of defence submitted by the accused
Government servant. The reasons recorded by the disciplinary
authority for dropping the charges should also be intimated to
the Central Bureau of Investigation.
b) The Central Vigilance Commission should be consulted where
the disciplinary proceedings were initiated on the advice of the
Commission and the intention is to drop or modify any of, or all,
the charges on the basis of the written statement of defence
submitted by the accused government servant.

2. Whether inquiry is mandatory if charge is not accepted

Proceedings initiated under Rule 14 of the CCS (Classification, Control

and Appeal) Rules, 1965, cannot be closed by imposing one of the minor
penalties after due consideration of the defence submitted by the accused officer.
It is obligatory to hold a formal inquiry before coming to a conclusion about the
quantum of penalty.

3. What is the procedure for holding ex-parte enquiry -

Whenever an official continues to remain absent from duty or overstays

leave without permission and his movements are not known, or he fails to reply
to official communications, the disciplinary authority may initiate action under
Rules 14 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965.

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 In all such cases, the competent authority should, by a Registered A.D.
letter addressed to the official at his last known address, issue a charge-sheet in
the form prescribed for the purpose and call upon the official to submit a written
statement of defence within a reasonable period to be specified by that authority.

If the letter is received undelivered or if the letter having been delivered,

the official does not submit a written statement of defence on or before the
specified date or at a subsequent stage does not appear in person before the
inquiry officer, or otherwise, fails to refuses to comply with the provisions of CCS
(CCA) Rules, the publication through local papers should be resorted to.
Thereafter, the inquiry authority may hold an ex-parte inquiry. The notices of all
hearings should be served on the accused or communicated to him unless the
first notice says that the inquiry will continue from day to day.

In ex-parte proceedings, the entire gamut of the enquiry has to be gone

through. The notices to witnesses should be sent, the documentary evidences
should be produced and marked, the Presenting Officer should examine the
prosecution witnesses and the inquiring authority may put such questions to the
witnesses as it thinks to be fit. The inquiring authority should record the reasons
why he is proceeding ex parte and what steps he had taken to ask the accused
official to take part in the enquiry and avail all the opportunities available under
the provisions of Rule-14 of the CCS (CCA) Rules. In such a case, the details of
what has transpired in his absence, including depositions, should be furnished to
the accused officer.

During the course of enquiry, the accused is free to put in appearance and
participate in the enquiry. If the accused appears in the enquiry when some
business has already been transacted, it is not necessary to transact the same
business against unless the accused official is able to give justification to the
satisfaction of the Inquiry Officer for not participating in the enquiry earlier. The
competent authority may, thereafter, proceed to pass the final orders dismissing
or removing the official from service after following the prescribed procedure.

The procedure outlined above can be observed in the case of a

Government servant whether permanent or temporary remaining absent without
authority etc. Such a Government servant should not be placed under
suspension but when an official who is under suspension disappears and cannot
be contacted at his last known address, the suspension orders should be lifted
and the proceedings in the manner stated above initiated for his removal in
absentia.

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4. What is the time limit for appearance of the charged official before the
inquiring authority -

Sub-rule (7) of Rule 14 envisages that the Government servant shall appear
in person before the inquiry authority on such day and at such time within 10
working days from the date of receipt by him of the articles of charge and the
statement of the imputations of misconduct and misbehaviour, as the inquiring
authority may, by notice in writing, specify, in this behalf, or within such further
time, not exceeding 10 days, as the inquiring authority may allow.

It is hereby clarified that the provisions in sub-rule (7) should be read in

conjunction with the provisions in the preceding sub-rule (6), according to which
the disciplinary authority shall, where it is not the inquiring authority, forward to
the inquiring authority various documents including articles of charge and
statement of imputations of misconduct or misbehavior.

The requirement of the Government servant appearing in person before the

inquiring authority, on such day and at such time within 10 working days, as laid
down in sub-rule (7) is actually with reference to the date of receipt by the
inquiring authority (and not the Government servant) of the articles of charge and
the statement of the imputations of misconduct or misbehavior. The need for
expeditiously appointing an inquiring authority, wherever necessary, cannot
however, be overemphasized.

5. Whether Inquiry Officers should be senior in rank to the officers

enquired against -

The Committee on Subordinate Legislation (Fourth Lok Sabha) have

recently examined the question of appointment of inquiry officers to conduct oral
inquiry into the charges levelled against delinquent officers under CCS (CCA)
Rules, 1965. The Committee has observed that though they agree that may not
be possible to entrust always inquiries against delinquent officers to Gazetted
Officers, the inquiries should be conducted by an officer who is sufficiently senior
to the officer whose conduct is being inquired into, as inquiry by a junior officer
cannot command confidence, which it deserves.

6. Whether the Inquiring Authority is competent to issue formal charge

sheet –

The position, as it emerges, is that an Inquiring authority is not competent

to issue a formal charge-sheet to the charged officer, but is only competent to

16
record its findings on any article of the charge different from the original articles
of the charge, if the proceedings of the inquiry establish the same, provided that
the findings on such article of charge are recorded by the inquiring authority only
if the government servant has either admitted the facts on which such articles of
charge are based or has had a reasonable opportunity of defending himself
against such articles of charge.

7. Can witness function as Inquiry Officer/Presenting Officer

An official who may have to appear as a witness in a disciplinary case

should not be appointed as the Presenting Officer or Inquiry Officer in that case.

9. Whether intimation should be given to the Controlling Authority of

the Government servant assisting the accused –

Rule 14 (8) provides that the Government servant against whom

disciplinary proceedings have been initiated may take the assistance of any other
Government servant to present the case on his behalf. While no permission is
needed by the official who is charge-sheeted to secure the assistance of any
other Government servant, it is necessary for the latter to obtain the permission
of his Controlling Authority to absent himself from office in order to assist the
accused Government servant during the enquiry. It would avoid delay in granting
such permission, if the Inquiry Officers take the initiative in the matter of
informing the Controlling Authority in this regard.

It is, therefore, suggested, that as soon as the accused Government

servant informs the Inquiry Officer of the name and other particulars of the
government servant who has been chosen by him to assist in the presentation of
his case, the Inquiry Officer should intimate this fact to the Controlling Authority of
the Government servant concerned. Further, the date and time of the hearing
should be intimated to the said Controlling Authority sufficiently in advance
adding that if, for any compelling reason, it is not practicable to relieve the
Government servant concerned on the due date or dates to attend the enquiry,
the Inquiry Officer, the accused official and the Government servant chosen for
assisting the accused official may be advised well in time.

10. Government servant under suspension eligible to function as

defence counsel –

A question has been raised whether under the provisions of Rule 14

(8) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, a Government servant under

17
 suspension, is eligible to function as defence counsel, if his services
are required by an accused official. The reply to the question is that
merely because an official is under suspension does not mean that he
has ceased to be a Government servant, and as such, an official under
suspension has full right to work as defence assistant. The question
was recently examined by the Kerala High Court and it was opined that
there is no rule that a person under suspension is not entitled to assist
another Government servant in the enquiry proceedings.

11. What are the conditions for engaging retired Government servants as
defence assistants –

It has been decided in terms of Rule 14 (8) (b) of CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965
that assistance of retired Government servants may be taken subject to the
following conditions:-

a) The retired Government servant concerned should

have retired from service under the Central
Government.
b) If the retired Government servant is also a legal
practitioner the restrictions on engaging a legal
practitioner by a delinquent Government servant to
present the case on his behalf, contained in Rule
14 (8) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, would apply.
c) The retired Government servant concerned should
not have in any manner, been associated with the
case at investigation stage or otherwise in his
official capacity.
d) The retired Government servant concerned should
not act as defence assistant in more than five
cases at a time.. The retired Government servant
should satisfy the inquiring officer that he does not
have more than five cases at hand including the
case in question.

12. When is permission to engage a legal practitioner for the defence

required -

18
 Rule 14 (8) (a) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, provides inter-alia, that a
delinquent Government servant against whom disciplinary proceedings have
been instituted as for imposition of a major penalty may not engage a legal
practitioner to present the case on his behalf before the Inquiring Authority,
unless the Presenting Officer appointed by the Disciplinary Authority is a legal
practitioner, or the Disciplinary Authority, having regard to the circumstances of
the case, so permits.

It is clarified that, when on behalf of the Disciplinary Authority, the case is

being presented by a Prosecuting Officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation
or a Government Law Officer (such as Legal Adviser, Junior Legal Adviser), there
are evidently good and sufficient circumstances for the Disciplinary Authority to
exercise his discretion in favour of the delinquent officer and allow him to be
represented by a legal practitioner. Any exercise of discretion to the contrary in
such cases is likely to be held by the court is arbitrary and prejudicial to the
defence of the delinquent Government servant.

13. Whether copies of documents should be supplied to the delinquent

official and access should be afforded to official records -

The question often arises whether a particular document or set of

documents asked for by a Government servant involved in a departmental
enquiry should be made available to him or nor, and pending the decision on the
question, the submission of the written statement by the Government servant
concerned is delayed, in some cases for months.
In view of this and also of the judgment pronounced by the Supreme
Court in Raizada Trilock Nath Vs The Union of India, in which it has been
decided that failure to furnish copies of documents such as the First Information
Report and statements recorded during investigation amounts to a violation of
Article 311( 2) of the Constitution, the whole question of the extent of access to
official records to which a Government servant is entitled under the All India
Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules or the Central Civil Services
(Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules has been examined in consultation
with the Ministry of Law.
The right of access to official records is not unlimited and it is open to the
Government to deny such access if in its opinion such records are not relevant to
the case, or not desirable in the public interest to allow such access. The power
to refuse access to official records should, however, be very sparingly exercised.
The question of relevancy should be looked at from the point of view of the
defence and if there is any possible line of defence to which the document may,
in some way, be relevant, thought the relevance is not clear to the Disciplinary

19
Authority at the time that the request is made, the request for access should not
be rejected.

14. What measures should be adopted to prevent tampering with

records/documents during inspection by delinquent officials -

Recently instances have come to notice where the accused officers while
inspecting the records/documents, tampered with materially vital documents. In
another case, the accused officer tampered with the documents when the Inquiry
Officer temporarily left the inquiry room during the course of the inquiry.

In order to obviate such incidents –

1) The accused officer should be allowed inspection of documents

only in the presence of responsible officer.
2) The I.O. should take sufficient precautions to ensure that the
records/documents are not tampered with.

15. What are the powers available for enforcement of attendance of

witnesses and production of documents at DEs –

Section –4 of Enforcement of Attendance of Witnesses and Production of

Documents Act 1972 empowers the Central Govt. to authorize the inquiring
authority in departmental inquiry to exercise powers specified in Section-5 to
Enforce Attendance of Witnesses and Production of Documents.

16. Whether statement of witnesses recorded at the preliminary

investigation are to be read out to him and got admitted as evidence –

On considering the observations made by the Supreme Court in certain

cases, it may be legally permissible and in accord with the principles of natural
justice to take on record the statements made by witnesses during the
preliminary inquiry/investigation at oral inquiries, if the statement is admitted by
the witness on its being read out to him. It is felt that by adopting this procedure
it should be possible to reduce the time taken in conducting departmental
inquiries.

It has, therefore, been decided that in future, instead of recording the

evidence of the prosecution witnesses de novo, wherever it is possible, the
statement of a witness already recorded at the preliminary inquiry/investigation

20
may be read out to him at the oral inquiry and if it is admitted by him, the cross-
examination of the witness may commence thereafter straightaway.

17. Is it the discretion of the Inquiring Authority whether or not to examine

the witnesses -

An oral enquiry, which the enquiry officer is bound to hold if so requested

by the charge-sheeted employee, can very well be regulated by him in his
discretion, exercised by him in a judicial manner. If the charge sheeted
employee starts cross-examination the departmental witnesses in an irrelevant
manner, such cross-examination can be checked and controlled. If the employee
desires to examine witnesses whose evidence may appear to the enquiry officer
to be thoroughly irrelevant, the inquiry officer may refuse to examine the witness;
but in doing so he will have to record his special and sufficient reasons, so that
the record would, ex-facie, show that the enquiry officer, in refusing permission,
had exercised his discretion in a judicial manner and not in an arbitrary or
perfunctory manner. The enquiry officer would then be justified in conducting the
enquiry in such a way that its proceedings are not unduly or deliberately
prolonged.

18. Is Further cross-examination permissible when witnesses are re-

examined -

Under sub-rule (14) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, the witnesses produced
by or on behalf of the disciplinary authority in a disciplinary proceeding shall be
examined by or on behalf of the presenting officer may be cross-examined by or
on behalf of the government servant and the presenting officer would also be
entitled to re-examine the witnesses on any points on which they have been
cross-examined but no on any new matter without the leave of the inquiring
authority.

If re-examination by the presenting officer is allowed on any new matter not

already covered by the earlier examination/cross-examination, a cross-
examination on such new matters covered by the re-examination may also be
allowed to meet the ends of natural justice.

19. Can disciplinary action be taken in case of refusal to appear as

witness -

21
 A Government servant cannot refuse to be a witness in an enquiry against
another Government servant or against an employee of a Municipal Committee
or other local bodies. In case he fails to do so, it can be construed as a sufficient
reason for initiating disciplinary proceedings against him.

20. Is the supply of a copy of day-to-day proceedings during the enquiry

necessary -

There should be no objection in supplying copies of the oral statements of

witnesses recorded by the Inquiry Officer to the delinquent official, before calling
him to make his own statements, if a specific request to this effect is made by the
delinquent official before recording of oral statements starts.

21. What is the procedure to be adopted for referring disciplinary cases

to UPSC for advice -

a) Original cases -

i) When no enquiry has been held i.e. so far as proceedings under Rule 16
of CCS (CCA) Rules or a corresponding rule are concerned, only the
memorandum containing the allegations and the official reply thereto should
be sent to the Commission and it shall not be necessary to send a self-
contained factual note as a rule. But a note should be sent where
clarifications/comments have to be given to explain the points made in the
official’s explanation.

ii) Where action under Rule 15 (now Rule 14) of the CCS (Classification,
Control and Appeal) Rules, 1957 or a corresponding rule has been initiated
and an enquiry has been held, but the Government consider in the light of the
explanation furnished by the officer and the findings of the Inquiry Officer that
there is no need to impose a major penalty, there may not be any need for
preparing a self-contained note except where it is necessary to clarify the
factual/procedural points in the light of any remarks contained in the enquiry
report.

iii) Where an enquiry has been held and the Government considers that a
major penalty is called for, it will be necessary for the disciplinary authority to
record a provisional conclusion regarding the penalty to be imposed. While
forwarding the reply of the officer to the show cause notice and the other
relevant records to the Commission it will be sufficient in such cases to deal

22
 with any factual/procedural points which may have been raised in the officer’s
reply to the show cause notice in a separate note which will form part of the
record. The note should not, however, discuss the merits of the case and
should not record any findings on the charge, or express any opinion
regarding the penalty to be imposed on the officer.

b) Cases of Appeal - While forwarding an appeal to the Commission there

should not be any expression of opinion on the merits of the case, it should,
however, be ensured that comments of Disciplinary Authority as required under
Rule 29 (now Rule 26) of the CCS (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, or
a corresponding rule, are invariably sent to the Commission.

c) Cases of review on Memorials/Petitions or otherwise - In terms of the

provisions of the Union Public Service Commission (Exemption from
Constitution) Regulations, the Commission are required to be consulted only
when the President proposes to pass an order over-ruling or modifying, after
consideration of any petition or memorial or otherwise, an order imposing any of
the penalties made by him or by a subordinate authority, or an order imposing
any of the penalties in exercise of his powers of review and in modification of an
order under which none of the penalties has been imposed.

22. Whether departmental proceedings conducted without timely payment

of subsistence allowance is in order-

Subsistence allowance is meant for the subsistence of a suspended

Government servant and his family during the period as he is not allowed to
perform any duty and thereby earn a salary.

The Supreme Court has observed that where as Govt.. servant under
suspension pleaded his inability to attend the inquiry on account of financial
stringency caused by the non-payment of subsistence allowance to him, the
proceedings conducted against him ex-parte would be in violation of the
provisions of Article 311 (2) of the Constitution as the person concerned did not
receive a reasonable opportunity of defending himself in the disciplinary
proceedings.

INQUIRY OFFICER

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WHO MAY BE APPOINTED AS INQUIRY OFFICER

The essential requirements

1. Impartial and free from bias - The Inquiry Officer must be a person who
is impartial and free from bias. If he has some personal knowledge of the dispute
under inquiry then he is in the position of a witness and, therefore, not eligible to
act as an inquiry officer. The reason is that such a person, while assessing the
evidence will place more reliance on his own information rather than what has
been deposed by other witnesses.

2. No likelihood of bias - The Inquiry officer must not be so situated with

reference to the matter under inquiry that there is a real likelihood of bias taking
place in the final decision. It may be that a person, though personally connected
with the matter, ‘may have the most upright motive and may not allow his judicial
discretion be impaired by personal interest’, but his conducting the inquiry shall
violate the fundamental principle of natural justice that justice should not only be
done but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seem to be done.

3. Precise knowledge of rules imperative – The person selected to hold

inquiry must be familiar with the rules and procedures governing the subject.
The courts have, many a time, tersely commented on the imperative need for the
departmental authorities to possess a precise knowledge of the constitutional
properties and the rules of procedure and to observe them honestly and
efficiently, as their non-acquaintance with such rules and procedures is
responsible for causing a rush of writ petitions with the courts.

4. Familiarity with procedures essential - The unfamiliarity with the

procedure or inadequate appreciation of the difference between a departmental
inquiry and a trial in a criminal court, may lead to over-elaboration or lack of
firmness in dealing with dilatory tactics. This may contribute to undue delays and
faulty disposal of the case.

Disciplinary authority himself holding the inquiry

It has been held that the principle, a prosecutor cannot be a judge, is not
strictly applicable to departmental inquires. The only condition is that he must act
with the detachment of a judge, as he is professing to exercise that dignified
position. Hence, where the statutory rules so provide, the disciplinary authority

24
may hold the inquiry himself. However, the general practice is, and rightly so,
that the inquiry is held by another officer.

Appointment of immediate superior of the charged employee as the inquiry

officer.

The Second Pay Commission had recommended that the disciplinary

inquiry should not be conducted by the immediate superior of the employee
concerned or by an officer at whose instance the inquiry was initiated. Though
there can be no exception to the latter suggestion, the Government did not
accept the former one and it was decided that there was no bar to the immediate
superior officer holding an inquiry but as a rule, the person who undertakes this
task should not be suspected of any bias in such cases. The Government further
emphasized that only dis-interested officers should be appointed as the Inquiry
officers.

Appointment of an outsider as inquiring authority

Occasions may arise where the disciplinary authority may consider it

appropriate to entrust inquiry to an outsider whom may be a consultant or may be
having special qualification or experience in service matters or the particular
problem under the inquiry. Sometimes, the charged officer may demand and the
disciplinary authority may be agreeable that the inquiry may be held by an
impartial outside authority.

The principle in this regard is that if the rules specifically provide that a
person not belonging to the service concerned or even outsider can be appointed
as an inquiry authority, no difficulty shall arise. But, where the rules do not
provide for it, an outsider may be appointed as an inquiring authority only after
the consent of the employee concerned is obtained and relaxation of the rule is
obtained at appropriate level. There is also no objection in making appropriate
payments to the persons so appointed for the services rendered.

Appointment of whole time inquiry officers

Where the volume of the work in connection with departmental inquiries is

so large as to justify the appointment of a whole-time officer for the purpose of
conducting the departmental inquiries, the question of appointing a whole-time
officer, fully trained in conducting disciplinary proceedings, for a department, a
group of officers or for a region may be considered.

25
Can the officer who held the preliminary inquiry be appointed to hold the
regular inquiry also?

Although it is generally avoided but the position in law is that there is no

objection to it provided he has not pre-judged the issue. Thus, in a case where
the officer while holding the preliminary inquiry had reached prima-facie
conclusion only, the holding of regular inquiry by him was upheld by the High
Court. On the other hand, where the officer who held the preliminary inquiry pre-
judged the issues and his report indicated that he closed his mind, the holding of
regular inquiry by him was quashed by the High Court.

Accordingly, the inquiry cannot be entrusted to a person

i) who is personally interested in the case;

ii) at whose instance the disciplinary proceedings were started or against

whom the complaint was made;

iii) who is a witness against the delinquent official;

iv) who has any pecuniary interest in the case.

v) who has pre-judged the issues.

vi) where there is a close relationship between him and one party.

vii) where there was history of personal litigation on seniority matters.

On the other hand, where the presence of bias could not otherwise be
shown, the following circumstances cannot, ipso facto, lead to a presumption of
bias on the part of the inquiring authority, and, hence, holding of inquiry by him
would be valid and lawful –

i) Where the inquiry officer happens to be a subordinate of the disciplinary

authority.

ii) The status of the inquiry officer is inferior to that of the disciplinary
authority.

26
iii) That he had placed the employee under suspension.

iv) That he had issued charge sheet to the employee. The reason is that the
principle, a prosecutor cannot be a judge, is not strictly applicable to the
departmental inquires, since the disciplinary authority, it is so desires, can
hold the inquiry itself also.

v) That he was cited as a defence witness before his appointment as an

inquiry officer.

vi) That he was the investigating officers or had held the preliminary inquiry.
But if he expresses his definite opinion holding the delinquent employee
guilty of the misconduct attributed to him, he will be disentitled to be
appointed as an inquiry officer since he had pre-judged the issue.

The rule of necessity

When there is only one authority who can conduct proceedings and that
authority is biased against the person against whom the proceedings are
conducted, the bias will not vitiate the proceedings. But the rule of necessity is
not applicable where an alternative authority can be found to conduct the
proceedings.

Writing of adverse confidential reports is no proof of bias

The mere fact that the officer appointed as the inquiring authority had
written adverse confidential report of the delinquent employee will not lead to the
presumption of bias. The reason is that the opinion expressed in the confidential
report was properly report formed by the officer and could not be regarded to be
vesting him with bias.

REPRESENTATION AGAINST BIAS IN INQUIRING OFFICER

Objection must be made at the earliest opportunity

The settled position in law is that unless a party can establish its total
ignorance of the points of objection at earlier stages, the fact that it has
acquiesced in the proceedings, by itself, would lead to the presumption of waiver

27
of the objection by it. Hence, the charged officer should come up with the
objection of bias by the earliest. He cannot be allowed to sit on the fence, taking
a chance of the tribunal deciding in his favour, and then going to the Court asking
for a writ to set aside the order. If he remains silent during the inquiry but makes
the objection afterwards, the objection may be dismissed as an after-thought.

Procedure for making the representation

Since, the appointment of inquiry officer is an order of inter-locutory nature,

normally, no appeal lies against such an order. A representation can, however,
be made which should be addressed to the Reversionary Authority. The
representation should be self-contained one giving full facts and the material on
which the charged employee relies. Copies of the representation should be sent
to the disciplinary authority and the inquiry officer.

Stay of the proceedings

The Government of India have decided that whenever an application is

moved by a charged officer against the inquiry officer on the grounds of bias, the
proceedings should be stayed and the application referred, along with the
relevant material, to the appropriate Revisionary authority for considering the
application and passing appropriate orders thereon.

Fate of inquiry held by a biased officer

The proceedings taken by an officer who is biased, or by a tribunal one of whose

member is held as biased, would be null and void.

Transfer/Retirement of the inquiring authority during the inquiry

proceedings

Ordinarily, the officer who records findings of the inquiry should be the
same officer who recorded the evidence and had thus the occasion to observe
demeanor of the witnesses. But, this cannot be said to be an absolute
requirement in the departmental inquiries to ensure justice to the charged officer.
For administrative reasons, many a time, it may become necessary to change
the inquiry officer before the inquiry proceedings are finalized. However, such

28
power should be exercised in unavoidable situations only because it generally
has the effect of dislocating the work of inquiry and causing delay.

Hence, where the officer holding inquiry retires before completing the
work, it may be considered to continue him as an inquiry officer on the payment
of suitable fees provided the rules permit the appointment of an outsider as an
inquiry officer.

However, no inquiry officer can be appointed to write the report only, after
the recording of evidence is already over. In other words, the change in the
inquiry officer is permissible only when a part of the evidence is still to be
recorded. Even hearing of arguments is not part of inquiry.

Should the proceedings start de novo with the change in the inquiry officer

There is no such requirement and hence de novo inquiry cannot be

claimed as a matter of right, unless some rule specifically provides for it. Hence,
if the inquiry officer starts inquiry from where it had been left by its predecessor,
the proceedings are not in any way vitiated. The reason is – firstly, the
impression, if any, created by any particular witness on the mind of the inquiry
officer has to be translated by him into writing; secondly, the inquiry officer is no
judge of merits as his report is only for assistance of the disciplinary authority,
who has to reach independent conclusions.

Rule 14 (22) of the CCS (CCA) Rules 1965, provides that the succeeding
inquiry officer shall normally take up the threads from where they were left, but
may, in his discretion, recall a witness.

Failure to follow proper procedure may expose the erring departmental officer to
penal proceedings

The inquiry officer must follow the prescribed procedure properly. The
Government of India have held that failure to follow proper procedure may lead to
institution of disciplinary proceedings against the erring departmental officer and
the question of recovery from such authority the whole or part of pecuniary loss
arising from the reinstatement of the employee concerned should be considered.

29
Dispute, if any, as to what happened during the course of inquiry

The Supreme Court has held that if any dispute arises as to what happened
during the course of the inquiry, the statement of the inquiry officer in that regard
is generally taken as correct.

(Q) CHECKPOINTS FOR ENQUIRY OFFICFR

1) On receipt of papers of DE alongwith office order appointing him

as EO, he should call the charged official on a specified date and
time, which should be a working day. The proof regarding delivery
of such orders should be kept on record.
2) The EO should maintain formal relations with charged official &
witnesses; and must not indulge in loose talk. At no stage, he
should give his opinion about charges.
3) The brief of proceedings should be given in the order sheet &
signatures of the charged official/witnesses should be obtained.
4) All documents must be introduced through the witnesses having
custody or who have executed or signed the original documents.
They must have knowledge of the documents and be in a position
to answer questions in cross-examination pertaining to these
documents.
5) The charged official should be explained the charges & he must
be specifically asked whether he pleads " Guilty" or " Not -guilty".
6) The charged official must be given opportunity to inspect all
documents and take extracts, if required.
7) The charged official must be given an opportunity to cross-
examine all witnesses including defence witnesses, if they
become hostile.
8) The charged official must be given statutory period of 15 days for
filing written statement of defence and list of Defence Witnesses
and documents, which he desires to produce in his favour.
9) If charged official doesn't file written statement he should be
examined by enquiry officer.
10) The report must discuss the evidence on record & nothing from
own knowledge be reflected in it. The EO must not recommend
the punishment, which the charged official deserves. The report
should be based purely on evidence on record.

30
 11) If charged official misbehaves during the enquiry, this may be
reflected in the order sheet. Sometimes, he may not agree to sign
the statement of any witness recorded in his presence. In such
cases the fact may be brought on record and signature of other
officials (like writers, steno etc.) present at that time should be
obtained.
12) The delivered or undelivered letters, envelopes, endorsement of
postal authorities pertaining to correspondence should be kept on
record to establish delivery, non acceptance of letter.

PRESENTING OFFICER

Role of the Presenting Officer

By their very nature, the departmental inquiries cannot be equated with

proceeding before the courts of law. The inquiring authority is not a court and the
presenting officer is not a public prosecutor. Such inquiries are basically fact-
finding exercises. Hence, the proper role for the presenting officer is to assist, to
the best of ability, the inquiring authority to reach the truth, by presenting before
him the case of the disciplinary authority in its correct perspective.

Functions of the presenting officer

The primary function of the presenting officer is to marshal facts before the
inquiry officer and to examine and cross-examine the witnesses produced during
the inquiry. Thus, he should-

i) assist the inquiry officer during the preliminary hearing to sort

out the preliminaries;
ii) produce the listed documents before the inquiry officer and
prove the disputed documents by examining the relevant
official witness (s);
iii) lead, in a logical manner, the oral evidence before the inquiry
officer in support of the charge;
iv) cross-examine effectively the witnesses produced by the
defence; and

31
 v) argue the case orally after all evidence has been recorded or
submit his written brief, with a copy to the charged officer.

GUIDELINES FOR THE PRESENTING OFFICER

The aim of the inquiry officer, presenting officer and the defence assistant is to
bring out truth so that justice is secured to the charged employee. In order to
achieve this aim, the presenting officer must act fairly and present the case in its
true color.

1) He should examine properly his order of appointment and that of

the inquiry officer to satisfy himself that there is no legal flaw and
that the orders have been attested by an authority competent to
authenticate them. A useful hint to this regard is that in case
these orders are signed by the authority who had issued the
charge sheet, they are normally, in order;

2) He should have discussion with the investigating officer and also

have a look on the report of preliminary inquiry along with
connected records to get first hand knowledge of the case (it may
be pointed out that this exercise is to enable him to get first hand
knowledge of the case only. The report of preliminary inquiry
cannot be used during the course of inquiry);

3) He should examine all documents to be produced in support of

articles of charge and to arrange for proof of the documents, which
the charged employee does not admit to be correct and, hence,
would need to b proved;

a. He should acquaint himself fully with the departmental rules and the
technical aspects of the issues in dispute;

b. He should remember that on the first day of regular hearing, the

various documents will be marked as exhibits and taken over by the
inquiry officer. For the purpose, he must be ready with such
documents duly detached and separated from the main files, and
arranged in proper sequence. It will save, not only time of the
court, but also himself from a lot of embarrassment.

32
c. He should be polite towards the charged employee and the defence
witnesses and should not lose their sympathy;

d. He should refrain from attacking character of the charged employee

unless it becomes absolutely unavoidable due to exigencies of the
case;

e. He should before-hand decided what aspects of the case he wishes

to be borne out by which witness (es) so that in the examination-in-
chief, he can restrict evidence of each prosecution witness to the
fact best known to him. He should not examine him on other
points, which though exist in his knowledge, do not depend upon
his

f. He should decide the proper sequence in which he wishes to

examine his witnesses. It is not essential for him either to examine
all the witnesses listed in the charge sheet or to examine them in
the order in which they are mentioned therein. The presenting
officer may examine them in the order he thinks best in the interest
of presentation of the case. He may dispense with needless
witnesses.

g. It shall be best for him to examine his witnesses in a logical

sequence i.e. a witness whose evidence pertains to the earliest part
of the prosecution story should be examined first, and so on. It
shall help him to unfold the story in a proper sequence. The
moment he feels that enough evidence has been brought on record
to prove the charge against the delinquent employee, he may drop
the remaining witnesses and close his case;

h. However, he must take care to lead all evidence at the proper time
because to recall a witness or to introduce fresh evidence is a
difficult process and can be resorted to only when there is an
inherent lacuna in the evidence already recorded and, that too, with
permission of the inquiry officer. But, should it become necessary,
he may make a request, giving his reasons, after he has produced
all other evidence and the recording of defence evidence is yet to
being;

i. He should examine the investing officer as the last witness and,

that also, if necessary;

33
j. He must follow the cross-examination of his witnesses carefully and
to re-examine them to clarify any important point, or to put the
records straight, in deserving cases;

k. He should remember that re-examination has a limited role only as

pointed out above. We know a number of cases in which reckless
re-examination resulted in spoiling effectiveness of the witness
which had been built earlier. Proper care must, therefore, be taken;

l. He must satisfy himself about trust-worthiness of the defence

witnesses before their examination begins;

m. He must cross-examine the defence witnesses ably and tactfully to

bring out truth and to expose hollowness of their testimony, where
necessary. He may discredit them by impeaching their trust-
worthiness;

n. At the close of inquiry, sum up arguments or file a written brief. He

must understand that since the burden of proof is on the
prosecution, he should be able to show, with reference to the
documentary and oral evidence produced during the inquiry, that
the articles of charge have been proved substantially;

o. He should take care that his written brief is based only on the
evidence adduced during the course of inquiry. He should avoid
reference to any extraneous matter. Any reference to a document,
or attaching it with the written brief, which was not allowed during
the inquiry must be avoided. The inquiry officer, invariably get
annoyed by such short practice.

DISCIPLINARY AUTHORITY

An authority is a disciplinary authority who is competent to

impose penalties on any particular employee according to
disciplinary rules. Therefore, it is essential to refer to relevant rules,
which are applicable to the employee to locate the disciplinary
authority. For example if DE is to be ordered against a member of
force under CRPF Rules 1955. To order DE under different rules to
which employee is not subject to is a procedural irregularity. There

34
can be different disciplinary authority for major and minor
punishments.

DO's & DON'Ts FOR DISCIPLINARY AUTHORITY

i. The disciplinary authority or other authority must satisfy him

that he is the competent authority as per rules to award the
punishment after completion of DE.
ii. The charge sheet must contain full particulars of charge,
which the employee is required to explain. The oral or
documentary evidence on which the charge is based should
be disclosed to the employee.
iii. The charge sheet must be delivered to the employees
concerned and he should be given time to submit reply as
per Rules. Evidence of the sheet having been served on the
Charged Officer should be kept on record. After receipt of
reply to the Charge Sheet it should be considered by the
Disciplinary Authority and, if necessary, drop the charges. If
the reply is found unsatisfactory, the enquiry officer should
be appointed.
iv. The Enquiry Officer should be unbiased and impartial
person. If the charged official makes a representation
against the appointment of a particular officer as EO, it must
be considered and decision must be taken on merit.
v. If charged official wants leave to defend himself or to arrange
for his defence, it must be allowed in all fairness.

vi. After receipt of DE proceedings on completion, it must be

scrutinized by the Disciplinary Authority as to whether the
findings of Enquiry Officer are based on record and flow
logically out of it. If Disciplinary authority feels that the
findings are not backed by evidence on record, he can
record his own finding and supply copy of findings of EO to
charged official alongwith the endorsement that the
disciplinary authority will take a suitable decision after
considering the report & submission or representation made
by the charged official.
vii. The final order issued by the disciplinary authority must be a
speaking order containing reasons for conclusions arrived at.

35
 viii. The disciplinary authority has to apply his mind on the point
of award of punishment. The punishment should
commensurate with the gravity of misconduct.
ix. Where the statutory procedure for holding DE has not been
followed by the EO resulting in failure of justice, de-novo
enquiry can be ordered by the disciplinary authority from the
point where the enquiry has been vitiated.

CHECK POINTS FOR DISCIPLINARY AUTHORITY

1. Preliminary Enquiry or Court of Inquiry must be ordered to

gather evidence so as to take decision whether D.E. is to be
ordered or otherwise.
2. To analyze the evidence available before framing charges if
accusation is serious enough to warrant a D.E.
3. Framing of proper charges by appropriate disciplinary authority
competent to impose punishment as per disciplinary rules
applicable to the Govt.. Servant.
4. Delivery of charge sheet to charged official and requiring him to
submit reply to disciplinary authority in a given time, evidence of
this effect should be kept.
5. Considering the reply and to drop the charge(s) if reply is
convincing or to appoint Enquiry Officer to proceed with D.E. if
the reply is not convincing.
6. It must be kept in mind that the E.O. is impartial and unbiased
person and not interested in either of the parties in D.E.
7. The disciplinary authority has to consider to change the E.O. if
requested by charged official, in case, reasons given are
convincing.
8. When proceedings are received after completion of D.E., the
disciplinary authority should carefully scrutinise the proceedings.
If some material procedural defects are found de-novo Enquiry
may be ordered otherwise appropriate orders should be passed.
9. The order so passed must be speaking explaining reasons for
such conclusions. The punishment should commensurate with
the misconduct.

DEFENCE ASSISTANCE TO THE CHARGED OFFICER

36
 In departmental inquiries, the charged officer is entitled to the right to
defence assistance of his choice, of course, within certain statutory limits. This
right of defence assistance flows not only from the statutory rules governing
various services, but also from the principles of natural justice.

Defence assistance from a fellow employee

1. Who can render assistance - The normal practice is that a charged

employee can take defence assistance from a fellow employee. In the
case of Government servant, defence assistance can be taken from any
other Government servant, which term should be interpreted liberally to
include all employees of the Union Government in case of the Central
Government employee. However, as held by the Supreme Court there is
no right of defence assistance from a particular employee.

2. No personal bars - The status in employment of the employee or his

academic attainments are no bar to his assisting any other employee in
the inquiry. Since an employee under suspension does not lose his status
in employment, he also remains eligible to render defence assistance.
The pendency of departmental proceedings are also no bar for the
purpose.

3. Restrictions - The Government of India have put some restrictions on

their employees rendering defence assistance,

Firstly, a Government servant cannot have more than three cases on hand in
which he may be rendering defence assistance; and

Secondly, he must be posted in any office either at the headquarters of the

charged employee or the place where inquiry is held. This condition is relaxable
in suitable cases, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, by the inquiry officer.
The charged officer can make a representation against the refusal by the inquiry
officer to the disciplinary authority, but no appeal shall lie against the order of the
disciplinary authority, as the order will be in the nature of step-in-aid in the inquiry.

Assistance by Retired Government servant

The Government of India has allowed their retired employees to render

defence assistance in departmental inquires. There are no restrictions on them
as regards the period after retirement in which they can render such assistance

37
or the number of cases, which may be handled at a time. Still there are two
bars. These are -

i) If a retired Government servant is also a legal practitioner, the provisions

relating to legal practitioners shall apply to him.

ii) In case the retired Government servant is one who has in any manner
been associated with the case at investigation stage or otherwise in his
official capacity, he becomes ineligible to render defence assistance in that
case.

Approval of the Disciplinary authority not required

Where the rules do not require it specifically, the charged officer need not
submit the name of his defence assistant for approval of the disciplinary
authority. Most of the disciplinary rules do not contain any such requirement.

Permission of the Controlling authority

Although the rules do not require that a person should obtain permission
of his controlling authority to render defence assistance in a disciplinary case,
since such proceedings are held during office hours, the Government servant
concerned has to obtain permission of his controlling authority to be absent from
the place of duty. The controlling authority can if necessary in public interest
refuse to grant such permission. The Supreme Court has held that such refusal
of permission shall not be construed as denying to the charged officer a
reasonable opportunity to defence because he remains free to select some other
government servant of his choice, particularly when the field of choice is quite
wide.

Defence Assistance by a Legal Practitioner

Keeping in view the domestic nature of departmental inquiries,

professional lawyers are not, normally, allowed to assist the either party in
conducting the proceeding. The Charged Officer cannot claim such assistance
as a matter of right. But this general rule is subject to two exceptions, namely,

Firstly, if the presenting officer appointed by the disciplinary authority is a legal

practitioner the charged officer can also, as a matter of right, avail himself of the
services of a legal practitioner.

38
Secondly, the disciplinary authority may itself, in deserving cases, permit the
charged officer to engaged a legal practitioner. Such permission may be granted
in exceptional cases of complicated nature or having legal over-tones. The
Supreme Court has held that if on the facts and complexity of a particular case
the assistance of a legal practitioner is considered to be part of the reasonable
opportunity, then denial of permission to engage a legal practitioner shall be
violative alike of the Constitution provisions in Article 311 (2), and the Principles
of Natural Justice.

Three situations pointed out by the Supreme Court in which the permission
to engage a legal practitioner shall be justified.

If the presenting officer, though not a legal practitioner, is a Public

Prosecutor of the CBI or the Local administration, the permission should not be
refused. This position clearly emerged from the judgement of the Supreme
Court.

The permission should not also be refused where a legally trained

departmental officer such as the Legal Adviser or Law Officer is appointed as the
presenting officer and thus the scales tilt in favour of the Organization. The
reason is that the employers have now on their pay rolls labour officers, legal
advisers, lawyers, who, in the garb of employees may be appointed as
presenting-cum-prosecuting officers and the delinquent employee is pitted
against such legally trained persons.

In a recent judgment where the presenting officer was the Personnel and
Administration Manager of the Organization who was stated to be a man of law
but the permission to engage a legal practitioner was refused, the Supreme
Court held that principles of natural justice were violated.

Factors to be taken into account while considering request for permission

to engage legal practitioner

 While considering a request for permission to engage a legal practitioner,

the key word is the requirements of fair inquiry. In other words, permission
should not be refused where the defence of the charged employee is likely
to be prejudiced by such refusal. It means that the matter must receive an
objective consideration of the disciplinary authority. He should apply his
mind to all relevant circumstances before a decision is reached. The
factors to be taken into account are given below.

39
 If the presenting officer is a legal practitioner, permission cannot be
refused. In fact, in such cases the employee can avail of legal assistance
as a matter of right.

 Permission should normally be granted in the three situations mentioned

in the earlier paragraph.

 The facts to be taken into account are the nature of the accusations
against the employee, the documentary and oral evidence to be examined
during the course of inquiry, the status and qualifications of the presenting
officer and personal qualifications, attainments, ability and capacity of the
charged officer to defend himself. The permission should not be refused
where judicial aspects dominate and legal technicalities are involved.
However, the disciplinary authority will be perfectly justified to refuse
permission where no complicated issues are involved.

 But, the personal qualifications or ability of the charged officer, though a

relevant factor, cannot be the sole ground to refuse permission, where it is
otherwise justified on the facts and circumstances of the case.

Charged employee to be informed of his right to proper defence

assistance?

The Supreme Court has observed that the justice and fair play demand that the
disciplinary authority at the time of the appointment of the presenting officer or in
any case, the inquiry officer before he begins the inquiry should ascertain from
the charged officer, particularly when he is a low-placed employee, whether he
would like to engage someone to defend him. The position of the rules and his
rights there under should be brought to his notice. If the charged employee is not
so informed and an overall view of the inquiry shows that he was at a
comparative disadvantage as compared to the disciplinary authority represented
by the presenting officer, then, unless is shown that he had not suffered any
prejudice, the inquiry shall stand vitiated.

40
Can Defence assistant continue with the proceedings in the absence of the
charged officer?

The normal practice is that the inquiry is held in the presence of the charged
employee. His defence assistant may be there to help him. However, in
exceptional circumstances, there appears to be no objection in the inquiry officer
permitting a duly authorised defence assistant to continue with the proceedings
in the absence of the charged employee. But, at best it has to be a temporary
arrangement in the very nature of the things.

Can Defence assistant appear as a witness?

There is no bar in examining the defence assistant as a witness also, where the
inquiring authority considers his evidence to be relevant to the facts of the case.

(note:- as per instructions contained in CO /2006 defence assistant can be

taken by the delinquent in DE under CRPF Act)

EX-PARTE PROCEEDINGS

There are occasions when the charged employee fails, omits or refuse to
be present during inquiry proceedings, despite proper notice to him. How should
the inquiry officer proceed in such a situation? What are the provisions of rules
and law, and the practice in this regard? How should the inquiry officer evaluate
the evidence collected by him in ex-parte proceedings?

Three important points

There are three important factors having a bearing on the holding of ex-
parte proceedings.

i) The charged employee must attend the hearings personally

41
 Unlike the courts of law, the personal attendance of the charged employee
is mandatory in departmental inquiries. He cannot be represented through an
attorney or an agent. In this connection attention is invited to sub-rule (7) of Rule
14 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, extracted below –

“14 (7). The Government servant shall appear in person before the
inquiring authority on such day and at such time within ten working days
from the date of receipt by him of the articles of charge and the statement
of the imputations of misconduct or misbehaviour, as the inquiring
authority may, by a notice in writing, specify in this behalf, or within such
further time, not exceeding ten days, as the inquiring authority may allow.”

ii) Inquiry officer can proceed ex-parte only if the charge sheet has
been delivered

Ex-parte proceedings cannot be held unless it is established that the

charge sheet had been delivered to the delinquent official. On this point, Rule 14
(20) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 makes very clear provision-

“14(20). If the Government servant to whom a copy of the articles of

charge has been delivered, does not submit the written statement of defence on
or before the date specified for the purpose or does not appear in person before
the inquiring authority or otherwise fails or refuses to comply with the provisions
of this rule, the inquiring authority may hold the inquiry ex-parte.”
The inquiring authority has, therefore, no jurisdiction to proceed ex-parte if
the charge sheet has not been delivered to the charged employee.

iii) Natural justice has its limits too

The law requires that an accused employee must be afforded a

reasonable opportunity to be heard. But, once it is done, he cannot be allowed to
stultify the inquiry by non-co-operation, without sufficient cause. No doubt, in
quasi-judicial proceedings, hearing one party in the absence of the other shall
violate the principles of natural justice but a party may lose this right by improper
conduct.

There are cases on record where the employees withdrew themselves

from inquiry on flimsy grounds, as if “running from pillar to post to find out some
accuse to justify their non-co-operation”(H.C. Sarin Vs. Union of India, AIR
1976 SC 1686). In this case, the Supreme Court observed –

42
 “It is found more often than not that Government servants who have no
real defence to take against the accusations are advised, and sometimes
not without success, to non-co-operate with the inquiry. It seems to us
that this was one such case.”

Guidelines for the Inquiry Officer when to proceed ex-parte

The non co-operation of the charged employee with the inquiry officer may take
either of the following three shapes: -

i) Not attending the inquiry proceedings at all;

ii) Attending the proceedings but not co-operating; or
iii) Attending but creating obstructions and hurdles in the proceedings.

While in the case at (ii) and (iii) above, ex-parte proceedings shall
normally be justified as a strict approach is necessary for the smooth running of
inquiry, in cases covered by (i) above, the inquiry officers are advised to proceed
ex-parte cautiously and only where they find that the failure of the employee to
be present is deliberate and without justification.

ILLUSTRATIONS

To illustrate, in the following circumstances, it was held that the holding of

proceedings ex-parte was justified:

i) where the charged employee did not appear bore the inquiry officer
on the dates fixed for the purpose although inquiry was adjourned
several times.

ii) where he asked for mercy without adducing any evidence.

iii) where he declined to take part in the proceedings and failed to

remain present.

iv) where though, in terms, he did not refuse to participate, his conduct
amounted to declining to take part in the proceedings .

43
 v) where he intended or attempted to stultify the inquiry and his
attitude was of complete non-co-operation.

vi) where intimations were sent to the charged officer at every stage of
inquiry but he failed to be present. Even the show cause notice
against the proposed penalty, enclosing the report of inquiry, sent
by registered post was received back as refused.

vii) where the applicant failed to be present on the date of hearing of

which he had due notice. The Tribunal found that the telegram
intimating his illness was addressed to some other officer and the
latter sent to the inquiry officer was received only the next day
when the proceedings had been finalized. The Tribunal observed
there was nothing in the rules to prohibit the inquiry being
completed on the same day.
vii) where the attitude of the charged employee was of non-
cooperation. He refused to submit explanation to the charge sheet.
Thirteen hearings were held in which, a number of times, he or his
defence assistant were absent. The holding of hearings ex-parte
was held valid by the Tribunal.

On the other hand, the holding of inquiry ex-parte was set aside, as being
unjustified –
i) the applicant was transferred from Cannanore to Pune where he did not
join. The proceedings were taken up at Pune, which he did not attend
due to ill-health and financial stringency. The action of the inquiry
officer of holding inquiry at Pune was held unjustified.

ii) where a medical certificate of his illness was filed on the third hearing
requesting for adjournment, but the inquiry officer, proceeded ex-parte.

iii) where the employee who was under suspension and he not been paid
his subsistence allowance for nine months expressed his inability to
attend the inquiry held at a place about 500 kms away, due to paucity of
funds. However,, this does not mean that the delay or non-payment of
subsistence allowance shall always have the effect of vitiating the
inquiry. In R.B. Subrahmanyan Vs UOI, SLJ (1988) 1 CAT 253, the
petitioner had not participated in the inquiry held at the same place.
The delay of about two and a half months in payment of subsistence
allowance was held as not to effect the position.

44
 iv) where a part of inquiry had been held but before the next date of
hearing, the inquiry officer received a letter from the accused in which
certain allegations were levelled against him. The inquiry officer
thereon closed the inquiry and proceeded to write the report. The
Tribunal held that the inquiry officer should have continued with the
inquiry according to the schedule already laid down.

v) where a petition alleging bias of the inquiry officer was pending with the
competent departmental authority but the inquiry officer continued with
the proceedings, though he had the due notice. Further, the inquiry
officer rushed through the case, ex-parte, ignoring the medical
certificate issued by Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi.

Procedural requirements in ex-parte proceedings

Even in a ex-parte proceedings the various provisions of the statutory

rules prescribing procedural requirements have to be complied with. An ex-parte
proceeding shall not, Ipso facto, mean that the charged employee is in fact
guilty. Nor does it give discretion to the inquiry office to hold inquiry as he likes
and in violation of the procedure rules. For instance, the ex-parte proceedings
were held vitiated, because –

i) lists of documents and witnesses supplied along with charge sheet did
not mention some of the documents and witnesses relied upon by the
inquiry officer;

ii) an order for inspection of documents was not passed by the inquiry
officer, and

iii) fresh notice of production of new evidence as required in the rules

(Rule 14 (15) of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 was not issued.

Even in ex-parte proceedings, an inquiry officer is duty bound to –

i) call upon the presenting officer to present the evidence by which he

proposes to prove the articles of charge.

45
 ii) pass an order asking the charged employee to inspect the documents in
support of the charges and also to submit his list of defence documents
and witnesses.

iii) fix dates for regular hearings and send intimation to the charged
employee. In some exceptional case where it is not possible to
communicate with him through regular channels, a notice for ex-parte
proceedings indicating the date of hearing may be published in the
Gazette or any local paper.

iv) examine the witnesses himself during the inquiry proceedings and test
their veracity in the absence of the delinquent officials. In the absence of
the witness, the statement recorded in preliminary inquiry cannot be relied
upon even in ex-parte proceedings.

v) allow the charged officer to participate in the proceedings at any stage but
it shall not be necessary to repeat the proceeding already taken lawfully.
However, if he so desires, copies of the depositions of witnesses
examined in his absence may be supplied to

AVOIDING DELAYS AND DILATORY TACTICS

Delays are the bane of disciplinary proceedings. The object of domestic

inquiry is speedy disposal in conformity with fairplay. It is, therefore, the duty of
the inquiry officer, the presenting officer, the charged employee, and his defence
assistant to make every effort to cut all delays and contribute to the speedy final
disposal of the inquiry. There may be delays – (i) which can be avoided by the
inquiry officer, and (ii) delays due to dilatory tactics adopted by the charged
employee.

Delays to be avoided by the Inquiry Officer

1. The Preliminary Hearing. On receipt of the order of his appointment as

inquiry officer, and the connected papers, the inquiry officer should lose no time
to fix up the date of preliminary hearing. This does not present any difficulty as
the object of the hearing is just to sort out certain preliminaries, and even though

46
the incident giving rise to the misconduct might have happened at some other
place, the inquiry officer, if he so desires, can hold the preliminary hearing in his
own office conveniently. Further, the preliminary hearing should not be delayed
for the only reason that the charged employee has not been able to arrange for
defence assistance.

2. Inspection of documents. Every effort should be made to stick to the

time limits prescribed in the rules, as explained in the previous chapter. Any
delay in deciding the relevance of additional documents and requisitioning them
should also be avoided. The matter has to pursued vigorously to avoid any
possibly delay

A major cause of delay in procuring additional documents is the irregular

action of the inquiry officer to put the burden of collecting these documents on
the presenting officer.

3. Defence assistance - As soon as the particulars of the proposed defence

assistant are received from the charged employee, no time should be wasted in
getting in touch with his controlling authority so that he is relieved to attend the
hearings, on schedule. The controlling authority may be contacted through an
official letter following by persona contact, where necessary.

4. Regular hearings - The regular hearings should be held on day-to-day

basis, and completed expeditiously. Unnecessary adjournments must be
avoided at all costs. To avoid delays, the witnesses should be informed about
the date and time when their presence is required, much in advance: an
intimation also being sent to their controlling authorities to ensure their presence.

Sometimes, especially when common proceedings are being held at some

place not easy of access, delays occur in sending intimations to the charged
employee and/or their defence assistants who may be working in different
projects or offices. To avoid delay in such cases, it is suggested that the inquiry
may be held by an officer at the headquarters where courier service is generally
available to all the projects.

5. Absence of inquiry officer himself - After a date of hearing is fixed by

the inquiry officer and intimations are sent out, the inquiry officer should make it a
point to attend it. If, for some personal reasons, it is not possible for him to be
present, necessary information should be sent without delay. There is no
procedure for the inquiry officer to delegate his functions of holding the inquiry to
somebody else. In one case where the inquiry officer was absent on the first

47
date of hearing but on third hearing refused to adjourn though a medical
certificate was submitted, the CAT observed that another chance should have
been given to the petitioner.

6. Written briefs - A prescribing a time schedule within which written briefs

must be held. The inquiry officer should make it a point to make an order for
submission of the written briefs by both the parties.

7. The report of inquiry - The report of inquiry must be written and

submitted expeditiously. An inordinate delay in submission of the report will not
only neutralize all the good steps taken by him during the course of inquiry to
expedite the proceedings but may also vitiate the proceedings in certain
situations, for instance, where the delay is too long. In one case where the
inquiry officer had rejected the request for adjournment to examine some
witnesses because sufficient adjournment for the purpose had already been
granted, but himself took two months to submit his report, it was held that the
refusal to adjourn was not justified.

Since delays are very harmful to the charged employee, he should be watchful
and represent against any unreasonable delay, to the inquiry officer/disciplinary
authority.

Dilatory Tactics by the Charged Officer

1. Representation against bias in the inquiry officer - Though the inquiry

proceedings have to be stayed during the process of such a representation, no
time should be wasted to resume the proceedings, if it gets rejected.

2. Preliminary hearing - The preliminary hearing should not be postponed

for the only reason that the charged employee has not been able to arrange for
his defence assistance. He had sufficient notice of the preliminary hearing, so if
he comes up with a defence assistant, well and good; otherwise the nature of
work to be transacted in the preliminary hearing is such that the defence of the
employee will not be prejudiced in the absence of the defence assistant.

3. Inspection of documents - The delay may be caused at this stage, by

the delinquent employee, by not giving full particulars of the documents he
wishes to inspect for his defence or not indicating their relevance to his case, in
sufficient detail. To avoid such delays, we would suggest that in the preliminary
hearing itself the position should be made clear to the charged employee that he

48
must come up with full particulars and adequate mention of relevance in his list of
defence documents, in the absence of which the documents will not be
requisitioned and no further time will be granted.

4. Defence assistance - The usual dilatory tactic is that the charged

employee furnishes particulars of the defence assistant without actually
consulting him or without making sure that he will be relieved for the purpose. To
avoid this tactic, at the time accepting particulars of the proposed defence
assistant, the inquiry officer should insist upon a certificate from the person
concerned to the effect that he is willing to render defence assistance and he
does not anticipate any difficulty in his being relieved for the purpose. This
position should also be made clear to him in the preliminary hearing itself. It is
no doubt true that the charged employee is entitled to defence assistance of his
choice but the facility cannot be allowed to be converted by him in an
interminable process of delay or adjournments.

5. The regular hearings - The golden advice to avoid all dilatory tactics
during the course of regular hearings is ‘Be reasonable but firm’. A cantankerous
employee may try to hamper proceedings by asking for adjournments on flimsy
grounds. The inquiry officer should deal with each such objection on its merits
and take quick decisions. Once a decision is taken, he should be firm in
enforcing it. It may be mentioned there that no appeal against an order of the
inquiry officer made during the course of inquiry.

6. Written Briefs - The inquiry officer should stick to the prescribed dates
firmly. But, it shall be possible only if he himself does not cause undue delay in
writing and submission of his report.

7. Resort to court proceedings - The inquiry proceedings need not be

stayed for the only reason that the charged employee has approached a court or
filed an application before the CAT. The proceedings should be stayed only if a
stay order has been granted.

PROCEDURE FOR INITIATION OF DEPARTMENTAL INQUIRY IN RESPECT

OF CRPF OFFICERS.

49
1. On receipt of a report or a preliminary inquiry from the Sector IGP in
respect of a particular misconduct, the same is examined in the
Directorate and put up to DG for deciding whether minor penalty
proceedings is required or a major penalty proceedings is called for.
2. Once DG takes a decision for major/minor proceedings, the necessary
charges/imputation of charge is prepared under Rule-14/16 for
major/minor penalty proceedings.

3. The proposal is sent to MHA for approval of the competent

authority/Minister Incharge on the question whether minor penalty
proceedings is called for or major penalty proceedings is to be initiated.
4. This procedure is followed in a normal misconduct where
administrative/technical lapses are involved.

5. Where the misconduct is on the count of corruption, lack of integrity or

an element of vigilance, in those cases the procedure followed is as
under: -

a) The proposal from Directorate is sent to MHA for initiation of major

penalty proceedings.

b) MHA after examination of the proposal send it to CVC for their

advice/opinion whether to go in for major penalty proceedings or
minor penalty proceedings. This is known as first stage advice of
CVC.

c) On the basis of advice of CVC, the necessary enquiry is conducted.

d) Once the enquiry is completed, normally the report of the Inquiry

Officer in case agreed to by the Directorate is sent to MHA for
forwarding it to UPSC for their advice and as per the advice of the
UPSC, necessary action is taken. In case the advice tendered by
UPSC is not agreed to, MHA again sends back the case to UPSC
for re-consideration. In case, UPSC still maintains its decision,
then the matter is sent to DOPT for final decision.

e) In the cases involving vigilance the report of the Inquiry Officer is

sent to MHA who in turn forward it to CVC with their
recommendations. This is known as second stage advice of CVC.

50
 The advice of the CVC along with Inquiry Officer’s report is sent to
the Charged Officer for his representation, if any, and on receipt of
the representation, the case is moved to MHA for advice of UPSC
and further action is taken as per advice of UPSC.

f) In case the advice tendered by CVC and UPSC are contrary, the
file is sent to DOPT for final decision.

MAJOR SHORTCOMINGS NOTICED IN DEPARTMENTAL ENQUIRIES

CONDUCTED AGAINST GOs

1. The proceedings are not arranged as per instructions communicated vide

para 9(xxiii) of the Handbook of Disciplinary proceedings against
GOs, CRPF.

2. Instead of placing original/authenticated copy of documents, photocopy of

the documents are placed in the proceedings.

3. In many cases IO has held the enquiry without giving notice to the
charged officer. Documentary evidence is not available on records
to show that the CO was informed/directed to attend the hearing.

4. The letter to the CO does not indicate whether the enquiry is to be held on
a day-to-day basis.

5. In many cases the IO after completion of the prosecution evidence,

instead of giving the opportunity to the CO to submit his defence
statement and the list of defence witnesses, has closed the inquiry
and accepted the prosecution brief of the Presenting Officer.

6. The Charged Officer is not informed of the proceedings at every stage of

the inquiry as per the rules.

7. The order sheet is usually found to be incomplete. It is also not placed in

chronological order of the date of hearing and mingled with the
proceedings instead of placing the complete order sheet in one
separate folder.

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8. In many cases the order sheet is silent as to why the defence evidence
has not been recorded by the IO as also details of the opportunity
given to the CO for recording of the defence evidence.

9. Proceedings are not arranged in a separate folder/ in order as required

vide Part 9 of Chapter 10 of CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 of Swamy’s
compilation.

10. The listed documents are not taken on record after marking them but only
unauthenticated photocopy of the documents are available.

11. The statement of the officer/person recorded in the PE, which is accepted
as his/her statement in the DE is usually not placed with the DE
proceedings with his/her statement.

12. Transaction of business regarding receipt of the Presenting Officer’s brief

is not reflected in the order sheet.

13. In some cases it is not explicitly forthcoming whether copy of the

Prosecution brief has been made available to the CO and he has in
turn been directed to submit his Defence brief as required vide GOI
Instructions No. 37 below Rule 14 of CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965. Such
inaction vitiates the proceedings.

14. In cases where the CO has sought clarification about rejection of his
representation for the change of the IO, IO has closed the
proceedings before the issue of the clarification to the CO. This can
be termed as denial of affording opportunity and may not stand
judicial scrutiny.

15. In some cases confirmation to the effect that summon of the IO was
received by the CO is not available on record.

16. In some cases it was found that the IO had not mentioned in the
communication to the CO that on the day of the Preliminary hearing
he will also examine the listed PWs and Prosecution Exhibits and
he proceeded as such which amounts to denial of opportunity.

17. In many cases the statements of the PWs and POs brief, which were
provided to the CO by Regd Post, were received back undelivered.
No further attempt was made to serve the same

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IMPORTANT DO’S AND DON’TS FOR INQUIRY OFFICERS

IMPORTANT DO’S

1. Check up your order of appointment as Inquiry Officer

Disciplinary proceedings are quasi-judicial in nature. You can hold an inquiry

only if you are duly authorised to do so by the competent disciplinary authority,
through a formal written order. You should commence inquiry only after you have
been so appointed. Any subsequent order of appointment shall not cure the
initial lack of jurisdiction and the proceedings held upto that stage shall stand
vitiated.

2. Get acquainted with the nature of accusations and the procedure to

hold inquiry

Get hold of the papers required initially. By going through these papers you will
get acquainted with the nature of charge and the evidence on which it is based.
Be also fully conversant with the procedure to be followed to hold the inquiry.

3. Plan the holding of Preliminary Hearing

Decide the date, time and venue for holding preliminary hearing. Normally, the
preliminary hearing should be held within ten days, at the most twenty, of your
appointment as inquiry officer. Send notices for the hearing well in time. It is
mandatory to send such notices through the registered post, or these may be
served in person.

4. Open Daily Order Sheet

5. Find out if the charged employee wishes to admit any of the charges
in the Preliminary Hearing

If he does, it will cut short your work of holding an inquiry into the charges, which
are so admitted. However, you are bound to return a report of guilt in respect of
the charges, which are admitted.

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6. Sort out the disputed issues, the number of documents, and
witnesses etc. to be examined

A free and frank discussion with the charged officer and the presenting officer
shall go a long way to eliminate unnecessary rigmarole and bring out clearly the
issues in dispute requiring formal proof and the number of documents and
witnesses to be examined during the inquiry. A well-planned discussion will,
thus, place a proper focus before the Inquiry Officer.

7. Find out documents requiring proof

Normally, since the documents mostly produced in the departmental inquiries are
official documents, their authenticity and genuineness is not in doubt. However,
if the charged employee has a genuine doubt about some document, ask the
presenting officer to arrange for its proof.
8. Ask the accused employee to inspect listed documents

9. Decide relevance of additional documents quickly

Though the right of the charged employee to inspect and take extracts etc from
the listed documents is complete, it is not so in the case of additional documents
cited by him, for his defence. Broadly speaking, the inspection of such
documents is subject to the two conditions of relevance and public interest. To
decide the relevance is your business. The Supreme Court enjoins upon you to
have a positive approach in the matter, rather than having the attitude ‘why
should I allow’, your approach should be “what is the harm in allowing it”.

10. Record reasons for disallowing the documents

It is mandatory requirement and must be complied with. The reasons so

recorded should be communicated to the charged employee.

11. Send requisition for the additional documents to the authority to

whom the documents belong

The requisition should be addressed to the Head of the Department having

custody of the documents, and need not be routed through the disciplinary
authority. The reminders, if any, should also be sent to such authority, direct.

12. Decide relevance of defence witnesses expeditiously

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On receipt of the list of defence witnesses, their relevance should be decided
expeditiously. Reasons should be recorded where evidence of any proposed
witness is not considered to be relevant.

13. Hold regular hearings without avoidable loss of time

If you wish to defeat any dilatory tactics of the charged employee, you have to
cut delays on your part also. The date of regular hearing should be fixed as early
as practical and notices for the same sent out well in time.

14. Take all steps to secure attendance of witnesses

It is the responsibility of the inquiry officer to take all necessary steps to secure
attendance of the witnesses, including defence witnesses. It will be wrong,
rather perverse, to shift the responsibility to secure the presence of the defence
witnesses in the inquiry, to the charged employee.

15. Obtain certificate from the defence assistant that he is not having
more than two cases on hand in which he is rendering defence assistance

If the defence assistant is a retired employee, he is not subject to any

restrictions.

16. Before regular hearings commence obtain certificate of inspection of

documents from the charged employee.

17. Conduct the hearings fairly and firmly

Provide all necessary opportunity to the charged employee to put up his defence
adequately, but at the same time reject all unreasonable demands or dilatory
tactics.

18. Record the questions disallowed by you during the cross-

examination

The Central Administrative Tribunal has held it to be an essential requirement.

Your reason for disallowing the question should also be indicated briefly.

19. Protect the witnesses from undue harassment

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The witnesses should be treated respectfully and examined courteously. It is
your duty to ensure that a witness is so treated and that no questions are put to
him with the purpose to annoy or insult him.

20. Depositions of the witnesses should be recorded and their signatures

obtained thereon.

These depositions should also be authenticated by the inquiry officer, and copies
thereof should be supplied to the charged employee and the presenting officer.

21. Keep record of your observations regarding demeanor of the

witnesses as they depose before you

This may be done in the deposition sheet of the witness at the time of
authenticating it. These observations are not a secret record and should be
known to both the parties. In fact, in departmental inquiries the inquiry officer
cannot maintain any secret record at all.

22. Remember, the criteria to allow ‘New evidence’ is ‘inherent lacuna’

and not merely relevance.

Such evidence can be admitted at a particular stage only. ‘New evidence’ cannot
be allowed to fill up gaps.

23. In ex-parte proceedings, allow the charged employee to participate in

any stage, he desires

But it is not necessary to recall a witness.

24. In common proceedings, continue even if any co-accused retires from

service

However, the proceedings have to be suspended if a co-accused dies or is

dismissed from service.

25. In part heard inquiries, better take up threads where they were left by
your predecessor

No doubt, you are free to take up proceedings, de novo, but this should be done
in exceptional case only. However, you may recall a witness if considered
necessary.

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26. In case of ‘Court Witness’ allow cross-examination by both the parties

A ‘Court Witness’ is a witness not cited by either party but called by the inquiry
officer. The calling of such a witness shall be governed by the provisions relating
to ‘New evidence’.

27. Do ask mandatory questions at the close of inquiry

However, it is not mandatory where the charged employee opts to be his own
witness.

28. Allow copy of the written brief of the Presenting Officer to the
charged employee

But the copy of the written brief of the charged employee need not and should
not be supplied to the presenting officer.

29. Evaluate the evidentiary value of each piece of evidence recorded

during inquiry correctly and properly

The inquiry officer is not free to assess the value of the evidence he has
recorded, according to his own notions. There are well-set and time- honoured
norms for such evaluation.

30. Submit a full-blooded report of inquiry without any avoidable delay

31. Submit your report of inquiry to the disciplinary authority alongwith

all original records.

You need not keep anything with you.

IMPORTANT DON’TS

1. Do not delegate function of holding of inquiry to anyone else.

2. Do not hold inquiry according to your own methods. There is a

prescribed procedure to follow.

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3. Do not continue with the proceedings (it has to be stayed) if a
representation of the charged employee, alleging bias against the inquiry
officer is pending with the Revisional authority.

4. Do not postpone preliminary hearing simply because the charged

employee could not arrange for defence assistance.

5. Do not call for the documents or examine a witness to decide the

question of their relevance.

6. Do no requisition additional documents from the disciplinary

authority. Do not ask the Presenting Officer to collect them. You have to writ
direct to the authority in whose custody or possession these documents lie.

7. Do not question the decision of a Head of Department to with-hold

documents on grounds of public interest.

8. Do now throw responsibility of calling defence witnesses on the

charged employee.
9. Do not enter into argument with a controlling authority if it is unable
to relieve a particular employee, in the interest of public service, to render
defence assistance in the case pending before you.

10. Do not insist that witnesses may be produced in any particular

sequence before you. The order in which the witnesses may be examined has
been left to the respective parties.

11. Do not administer oath to the witness.

12. Do not question the witness extensively right at the outset. The
witnesses should be examined in accordance with the prescribed procedure.

13. Do not interfere frequently when a witness is being examined, cross-

examined or re-examined. The salutary principle in this regard is patience and
graceful hearing. You may clear your doubts and get clarifications from the
witness at the end.

14. Do not allow leading questions, except in cross-examination. Do not

put leading questions to the witnesses, yourself.

15. Do not allow adjournments on flimsy grounds.

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16. Do not allow ‘New evidence’ to fill up gaps. It should be allowed if
there is an inherent lacuna in the evidence already recorded.

17. Do not proceed ex-parte, if the charge sheet has not been delivered
to the charged employee.

18. Do not allow defence assistance when the charged employee is

appearing as his own witness or when he is answering the mandatory
questions, towards the close of inquiry.

19. Unless he opts to examine himself, do not examine a co-accused in a

common proceedings as a witness against the other co-accused.

20. In a joint trial do not allow cross-examination of a defence witness by

the other charged employee. Only presenting officer can cross-examine a
defence witness.

21. Do not go for local inspection of the site of the incident except when
accompanied by the charged employee and the presenting officer. Better,
make a local inspection after the prosecution evidence has been recorded. Do
not collect information there from persons who have not been cited as witnesses.

22. Do not supply copy of the written brief of the charged employee to
the presenting officer.

23. Do not take into consideration the written brief of the presenting
officer if filed after the expiry of the due date and receipt of the brief of the
charged employee. If you do not wish to exclude it from consideration, you
have to send a copy thereof to the charged employee with an opportunity to file a
rejoinder.

24, Do not take into consideration any matter or evidence which was not
adduced during the course of inquiry. No importance should be given to
surmises, conjectures, whims or your personal knowledge of the matter not on
record.
25. Do not delay submission of your report of inquiry.

PROCEDURE OF DEPARTMENTAL ENQUIRY UNDER RULE 27 OF

CRPF RULES 1955: -

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 This procedure is applicable to all combatised members of
the forces from followers, CTs to Subedar Major of CRPF.
(a) On written intimation, report or PE/ COI report on any act of
commission or omission or serious misconduct or
misbehavior, --like disobedience of order, neglect of duty,
remissness in discharge of duty, moral turpitude, violation of
any departmental rule, instruction etc, or any act which
degrades the honor of post-an employee is holding or brings
bad name to organization, acts unbecoming of a Govt.
Servant; --by a Govt. Servant which is of so serious nature
that in the eyes of competent disciplinary authority the official
complained against is required to be proceeded against
departmentally, the D.E is ordered. Here it is worth
mentioning that PE is not a pre-requisite of DE. PE may only
bring out the prima facie truth or facts about seriousness of
offence/misconduct, if any.
(b) On the basic of this report charges are framed against the
delinquent. There may be one or more than one charges in
enquiry. But it is advisable that charges must be precise,
specific, definite and distinct for which sufficient evidences
are available. They should not be ambiguous and many in
number. It should not be vague. Multiplicity of charges
should be avoided.
(c) Memorandum of Charges alongwith the Statement of Articles
of Charge framed against Govt. Servant (Annexure-1),
Statement of Imputation of Charges (Annexure-2), List of
Documents by which the Article of Charges framed
(Annexure-3) and List of Witnesses by whom the Article of
Charges framed (Annexure-4) are to be sustained are
delivered to the Delinquent in person by disciplinary authority
or through any other Govt. Servant and signature of
delinquent obtained duly attested in token of
acknowledgement of Memo of Charges with date. (If not
present may be sent by registered post AD at his last known
address or/ and permanent address).
(d) The Disciplinary Authority shall require the Govt. Servant
(Charged Official) to submit within such time as may be
specified but not less than ten days, a written statement of
his defence and state whether he desires to be heard in
person.

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(e) On receipt of the Written Statement of Defence or after the
expiry of specified period the Disciplinary Authority may drop
one or some of the charges where he is satisfied with written
statements of defence.
(f) Disciplinary authority may himself enquire the remaining
charges or appoint an Enquiry Officer to conduct DE.
Enquiry Officer should be supplied with office order for his
appointment as EO alongwith a copy of Memo of Charge
with its Annexures duly acknowledged by the delinquent.
(g) E.O will start enquiry with Preliminary Hearing only after 48
hours of delivery of Memorandum of Charges to the
Delinquent.
(h) No warning is required to be given by EO to witnesses and
delinquent before recording their statements.
(i) During preliminary hearing, the Delinquent will be asked by
EO about the receipt of the Memo of Charges, if he has
understood it, the language Hindi or English, which he
understands for recording statement. Then he will be asked
to plead "guilty" or "not guilty" in respect of all charges
separately. If he has not understood the charges that will be
explained to him and only after 48 hours he will be asked to
plead guilty or otherwise.
(j) Delinquent pleads "guilty" or "not guilty." Prosecution
Witnesses relied upon necessary to establish charges will be
let in. The statement of Prosecution Witnesses will be
recorded in presence of Delinquent in duplicate. All
statements made by Prosecution Witness are to be read
over, explained in the language he understands and
admitted correct by him and signed by PWs, Delinquent and
E.O.
(k) Delinquent will be given an opportunity to cross-examine the
witness. Whenever EO asks some clarification from PWs,
Delinquent will again be given an opportunity to cross-
examine PWs.
(l) After the statements , examination in chief, cross
examination and re examination . the matter is to be read
over explained and admitted correct .The EO, Delinquent
and concerned witnesses, must sign each page. Documents
produced by PWs will be taken on record in form of exhibit –
S1, S2-----.

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(m) A copy of the statement is to be handed over to delinquent
and signature obtained on original copy in token of receipt of
the same then and there.
(n) If documents are relied upon and produced by PWs,
Delinquent will be allowed to go through it and if possible
copy of it may also be supplied to Delinquent and sign
obtained in token of inspected the same or receipt of copy of
it. It has to be recorded in proceeding that Delinquent has
inspected/received copy of mentioned exhibits/ documents
before the Delinquent is examined.
(o) Delinquent will be examined and statement recorded by E.O
on given date. He will be asked to plead "guilty" or "not
guilty" at this stage when the statements of all PWs are
already recorded and document relied upon are produced.
Delinquent is examined in question answer form only.
(p) If Delinquent pleads "guilty", E.O. will record his findings and
opinion in respect of those charges and the proceedings
shall be closed for orders of competent Disciplinary Authority.
(q) If Delinquent pleads "not guilty", he shall be asked to file a
Written Statement of Defence and List of Witnesses/
Documents as he may wish to cite in his defence within a
period not less than a fortnight (15 days). If he declines to
file written statement as aforesaid, E.O. shall again examine
him on expiry of the period. If he refuses to cite any witness
etc in his defence the fact will be recorded and proceedings
will be closed for orders of Disciplinary Authority.
(r) Otherwise DWs will be summoned by EO and the
Statements of D.Ws. will be recorded and defence
documents produced will be taken on record as exhibit-
D1,D2----, as in case of statements of PWs.
(s) Enquiry Officer may refuse to call such witnesses and to
allow such documents, which are not material to the issue,
involved but for this he must record in brief the reason for
considering evidence inadmissible.
(t) EO may “re-call” any material witness after advance
information given to delinquent. Delinquent will be given an
opportunity to cross-examine him.
(u) EO should not call any new witness unless it is felt very
necessary in the interest of justice. If new witnesses are
called the delinquent should be given this information in

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 advance and opportunity to cross-examine him will also be
given.
(v) E.O. will then prepare his Enquiry Report, which contains
following points.
(i) It must be based on the statements recorded and
documents relied upon and produced during the
proceeding.
(ii) Each Article of Charge is to be discussed and examined
separately by E.O. in his report.
(iii) First of all he will mention a paragraph on an introductory
part consisting Order for Enquiry and his appointment as Enquiry
Officer with reference of relevant letters. He will also quote all the
article of charges, which are levelled against delinquent.
(iv) Then he will mention about the Participation of C.O./
Delinquent in the Enquiry proceeding and appointment of P.O. and
D.A., if any, in the Enquiry.
(v) Article of Charge 1 will be quoted as such.
(vi) Then he will mention if delinquent has pleaded guilty in
respect of this charge (Article-1) or otherwise.
(vii) Next he will discuss in findings the Summary of Statements
given by P.Ws and documents in respect of Article of Charge-1.
(Supported by witnesses and documents)
(viii) Next he will discuss the Summary of Statements of D.Ws
and Delinquent in respect of Article of Charge-1.
(ix) Then E.O will analyze and assess the evidences produced
before him and record his findings and opinion. If charges are
proved partially proved or not proved. It is worth mentioning here
that in D.E. the charges are not required to be proved "beyond
reasonable doubt” as in the court. The standard of proof in D.E. is
the "preponderance of probability" and not "beyond doubt".
(x) The same sequence is followed in respect of all Articles of
Charge, one by one, separately.
(w) At the last Enquiry Officer will sign the proceeding and submit it
under a covering letter to Competent Disciplinary Authority for final
order.
(x) Before issue of final orders the disciplinary authority provide a copy
of enquiry report to delinquent and give him an opportunity to
submit his representation within reasonable time i.e. 15 days, given
to him. On receipt of reply or non-receipt of any reply within

63
 stipulated time, the disciplinary authority will pass final orders on
DE.
(y) Delinquent may go for one appeal and one revision against this
order of Competent Authority under Rules 28 & 29 of CRPF Rules
1955.
(z) Besides above an Enquiry Officer (EO) prepares Daily Order Sheet
on
day - to -day basis. It contains the brief of the proceeding of
each day. EO requires to mention all mandatory provision of
DE step by step which he follows and also the reasonable
opportunity given to delinquent at all steps on the day of
proceeding. He will also mention where he has used his
discretion with reasoning. It has to be signed by EO,
Delinquent, Presenting Officers and Defence Assistant, as
applicable.

SEQUENCE OF PAPERS IN D.E. PROCEEDINGS--

(i) Index.
(ii) D.E. Proceedings Format (Annexure XII of GC/BN
OFFICERS MANUAL)
(iii) Daily Order Sheet.
(iv) Office Order for appointing E.O.
(v) Memorandum of charge with Annexures.
(vi) Preliminary Hearing, Plea of "Guilty” or "Not Guilty".
(vii) Statement of Prosecution Witnesses.
(viii) Exhibits of P.Ws.
(ix) Statement of the Delinquent. (Final Plea of "Guilty" or "Not
Guilty")/ Written Statement of Defence by Delinquent.
(x) Statement of D.Ws.
(xi) Exhibits of D.Ws.
(xii) Written Statement of Defence by Delinquent if any after
giving him another opportunity if he wants to say something
even at this final stage.
(xiii) Report of EO giving his findings in respect of all charges
separately.
(xiv) If E.O. is other than Disciplinary Authority then Disciplinary
Authority before reaching to any conclusion shall give a copy

64
 of enquiry report there by giving one more opportunity to the
Delinquent to say/represent if anything he wants.
(xv) Final order of the Competent Authority, duly acknowledged
by delinquent.
(xvi) Appeal/ Revision/ Order, if any.

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THE STEPS-

(1) Receipt of intimation, complaint, and PE/COI report

regarding misconduct, misbehavior, indiscipline or
commission/omission of departmental Rules & regulations
by a Govt.. servant.
(2) Preparation of charge sheet.
(3) Delivery of charge sheet to Delinquent and consideration of
his Reply. Dropping of some of the charges by disciplinary
authority if he is either satisfied with the written statement of
delinquent or sufficient evidences not available in respect of
some of the charges
(4) Appointment of Enquiry Officer (E.O). [& Presenting Officer
under CRPF Rules,1955].
(5) Preliminary Hearing and recording of plea of “guilty” or “not
guilty”. [Before this Defence Assistant should be provided
under CRPF Rules,1955]. Inspection of Documents.
(6) Recording of Statement/ Evidences of Prosecution
Witnesses (P.Ws)/ State Witnesses (SWs) in presence of
Delinquent and taking the documents relied upon in support
of the charges and produced by the witnesses. If charged
official does not appear before E.O, on given date & times,
the D.E may be conducted ex parte.
(7) Delinquent will be given an opportunity to cross-examine
PWs.
(8) Examination of Charged Official (C.O). Final Plea of “guilty”
or “not guilty”. (Copy to PO, if any appointed).
(9) Opportunity to produce DWs and Documents in his defence.
(10) Recording of Statement of Defence Witnesses and
producing defence documents through them. The Govt.
Servant may examine himself in his own behalf, if he so
prefers.
(11) Another opportunity to delinquent for being heard in persons
before preparation of Enquiry Reports. [Mandatory
Questions under CCS (CCA) Rules; Written Briefs of PO and
then Govt. Employee through DA after giving copy of PO’s
Brief.][not applicable under CRPF rules]
(12) Preparation of Enquiry Report.
(13) If Disciplinary Authority is not himself Enquiry Officer, copy of
report of EO is to be given to delinquent providing one more
opportunity to charged official to represent within 15 days.

66
 (14) Receipt of representation within specified time for
consideration.
(15) Order of Competent Authority & it’s delivery to Delinquent
with acknowledgement.

D.E. PROCEDURE UNDER RULES 14 & 15 CCS (CCA) RULES 1965

This procedure is applicable to non-combatised civilian

officers serving in force and all Gazzetted Officers of the
Organizations.

a) On written report or PE/COI/fact finding report on

commission of serious misconduct or misbehavior by a
Govt.. Servant which is of so serious nature that in the eyes
of competent disciplinary authority the official complained
against is required to be proceeded against departmentally,
the DE is ordered?
b) On this report charges are framed against the Delinquent.
c) The Charged Official should be served with a charge sheet
together with a statement of imputations of misconduct or
misbehavior. The receipt of the charge by delinquent is to be
acknowledged.
d) The reasonable time and opportunity is given to him to reply
to the charges or to be heard in person, but not more than
10 days.
e) On receipt of the reply to the charges or after the expiry of
specified period, the Disciplinary Authority may drop some
of the charges & may himself enquire the remaining
charges or appoint an Enquiry Officer to conduct DE and a
copy of Memo of Charge with its Annexures is supplied to
such EO. Inquiry is must to consider the charges refuted by
Charged Official.
f) Presenting Officer is also appointed to present the case of
the State and copy of memorandum of charges alongwith its
Annexures and documents relied upon to sustain the case is
also supplied to him. A copy of appointment of PO is given to
EO & Charged Official also.
g) The Delinquent has a right to (i) inspect documents
referred to in the Annexure-III to the charge-sheet; (ii)
engage any other serving or retired Government servant to

67
 assist him (as Defence Assistant) and (iii) engage a legal
practitioner, if the Presenting Officer is a legal practitioner, or,
if not, Disciplinary Authority may permit such an
engagement.
h) If at the Preliminary Hearing the Government servant
pleads guilty to any of the article of charge, the Inquiry
Officer should record a finding of guilt in respect of those
Articles and hold inquiry only in respect of the remaining
Articles of Charge, if any. No warning is to be given to
charged official & witnesses before recording of their
statements.

i) The Inquiring authority shall, if the government servant fails

to appear within the specified time or refuses or omits to
plead, require the Presenting Officer to produce the
evidence by which he proposes to prove the articles of
charge, and shall adjourn the case to a later date not
exceeding thirty days.
j) The EO will ask Charged Official to inspect the documents
relied upon in favour of charges within the five days
which may be extended for another five days; to submit list
of witnesses and to give notice within ten days of the order
or within such further time not exceeding ten days for
discovery or production of any documents in
possession of Govt..
k) Government side has the first priority to present the
case and produce witnesses and evidence. Enquiry
officer will prepare Summon for SWs, which will be handed
over to Presenting Officer to be served to SWs under
information to Defendant and DA to make themselves
available during the proceeding on specified date and time.
l) The statement of State Witnesses (SW) will be recorded
by E.O. in presence of Delinquent, Defence Assistant and
Presenting Officer. All statements made by PWs are to be
read over, explained and admitted correct to witnesses and
delinquent, and must be signed by EO, PO PWs , Delinquent
and Defence Assistant. Delinquent will be given an
opportunity to cross-examine the SWs himself or through
his DA.
m) A copy of the same will be handed over to Delinquent
duly acknowledged then and there.

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n) If documents are relied upon and produced by PWs/PO, the
Delinquent will be allowed to inspect it and if possible copy
of it may also be supplied to Delinquent and sign
obtained in token of inspected the same or receipt of copy of
it duly recorded in the proceedings.
o) If PO wants to produce new evidence or may itself call for
new evidence or recall and re-examine any witness and EO
in his discretion allows so; the Delinquent shall be entitled
to have, if he demands it, a copy of list of further evidences
proposed to be produced and an adjournment of the enquiry
for three clear days before production of such new
evidences. EO will allow Delinquent to produce new
evidence, if it is necessary, in the interest of justice.
p) When the statements of PWs are over, the Delinquent will
be required to state his defence, orally or in writing, as
he may prefer with in 15 days. In either case it will be
reduced in writing and a copy of the statement of defence
shall be given to the Presenting Officer appointed.
q) The delinquent will be asked to produce the list of Defence
Witnesses and documents in his defence. The delinquent
may examine himself in his own behalf if he so prefers. The
witnesses (DW) produced by the delinquent shall then
be examined and shall be liable to be cross-examined by
PO and re-examined by the enquiry officer according to the
provisions applicable to the Prosecution Witnesses.
r) The inquiring authority may, after the delinquent closes his
case, and shall, if the delinquent has not examined himself,
generally question (Mandatory Questions) him on the
circumstances appearing against him in the evidence for the
purpose of enabling the delinquent to explain any
circumstances appearing in the evidence against him.
s) The inquiry officer may, after the completion of the
production of evidence, hear the Presenting Officer first
and then Delinquent. Or require presenting officer to submit
his prosecution written brief, which will be handed over to
delinquent to file his defence written brief thereafter.
t) Entire proceedings should be recorded in writing, every
page to be signed by the respective witness, the defendant
and the Inquiry Officer, and copies furnished to the
Defendant and the Presenting Officer.

69
u) If the Government servant, to whom a copy of the articles of
charge has been delivered, does not submit the written
statement of defence on or before the date specified for the
purpose or does not appear in person before the inquiring
authority or otherwise fails or refuses to comply with the
provisions of this rule, the inquiring authority may hold the
inquiry ex-parte, observing procedure in full.
v) On completion, the EO will submit his report (Enquiry
Report) and his findings on each Article of Charges to the
Competent Disciplinary Authority. DE should be completed
within Three months.
w) Disciplinary authority may accept/agree with the report
or disagrees (by recording reasons of disagreement), and
record his findings & make final order.
x) Before passing final order on the report a copy of the
Inquiry Report should be forwarded to the delinquent giving
him fifteen days time to make any
representation/submission. The representation if any
submitted by the delinquent should be considered before
passing final orders.
y) Along with the final orders, the delinquent should be
supplied with-(i) a copy of the findings on each article of
charge; (ii) Where the Disciplinary Authority is not the
Inquiring Authority, a statement of the findings of the
Inquiring Authority with brief reasons for disagreement, if
any, of the disciplinary authority; (iii) a copy of the advice, if
any, given by the UPSC. (iv) Where the Disciplinary Authority
has not accepted the advice, a brief statement of reasons for
each non-acceptance.
z) Besides above an enquiry officer (EO) prepares Daily Order
Sheet on day to day basis. It contains the brief of the
proceeding of the day. EO requires to mention all mandatory
provision of DE step by step which he follows and also the
reasonable opportunity given to delinquent at all steps on the
day of proceeding, keeping in mind the natural justice. He
will also mention where he has used his discretion with
reasoning. It is signed by EO, Delinquent, Presenting
Officers and Defence Assistant, as applicable.

70
EX-PARTE DEPARTMENTAL ENQUIRY PROCEDURE-

a) If the Government servant, to whom a copy of the articles of

charge has been delivered, does not submit the reply of the
Memo. of Charges on or before the date specified for the
purpose or does not appear in person before the inquiring
authority; or otherwise fails or refuses to comply with the
provision of this rule, the inquiring authority may hold the
inquiry ex-parte, observing complete procedure for giving all
reasonable opportunity to the Delinquent at all stages of
proceedings.
b) Whenever an official continues to remain absent from duty or
overstays leave without permission and his movements are
not known, or he fails to reply to official communication at the
last known address, the disciplinary authority may initiate
action under Rule 14 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965.
c) Ex-parte proceedings do not mean that findings shall be
given without any investigation. Enquiry is still necessary,
although it will be in the absence of charged official. It does
not affect the job of EO. The only difference is that
delinquent has denied himself the opportunity of cross-
examination of PWs and producing and examining his own
defence witnesses.
d) In all such cases, the competent authority should, by a
Registered A.D. letter addressed to the official at his last
known address and permanent address, issue a charge-
sheet in the form prescribed for the purpose and call upon
the official to submit a written statement of defence within a
reasonable period to be specified by that authority.

e) If the letter is received undelivered or if the letter having

been delivered, the official does not submit a written
statement of defence on or before the specified date or at a
subsequent stage does not appear in person before the
inquiry officer so appointed, or otherwise, fails or refuses to
comply with the provisions of CCS (CCA) Rules, the
inquiring authority may hold an inquiry in absence of
Charged Official, keeping such document in Enquiry file as
record.

71
f) The enquiring authority should record the reasons why he is
proceeding ex parte and what steps he had taken to ask the
accused official to take part in the enquiry to avail of all the
opportunities available under the provisions of Rule 14 of the
CCS (CCA) Rules.
g) The EO has to fix a date of hearing and intimate the same to
delinquent. The notice of all hearings should be served on
the CO or communicated to him unless the first notice says
that the inquiry will continue on day -to –day basis.
h) In ex parte proceedings, the entire gamut of the enquiry has
to be gone through. The notices to witnesses should be sent,
the documentary evidences should be produced and
marked, the Presenting Officer should produce the
prosecution witnesses and the inquiring authority may put
such questions to the witnesses as he deems to be fit.
i) In such a case, the details of what has transpired in his
absence, including depositions, should be furnished to the
accused officer.
j) During the course of enquiry, the accused is free to put in
appearance and participate in the enquiry. If he absents him
self from the enquiry at one stage, it does not take away the
right to attend the enquiry at any further subsequent stage.
k) If the accused appears in the enquiry when some business
has already been transacted, it is not necessary to transact
the same business again unless the accused official is able
to give justification to the satisfaction of the Inquiry Officer for
not participating in the enquiry earlier. However, if EO is
satisfied, the delinquent will be given all opportunity to be
heard in person and produce documents in his defence at all
steps by giving him the copy of proceedings already taken
place and to cross-examine witness whom he desires.
l) The absence of the CO (Delinquent) does make it
complicated for the EO to come to a conclusion in the
absence of the explanation of CO. The EO has to examine
the records and witnesses to enable him to reach conclusion
as to the culpability of the CO based on the evidence laid
before him. He will prepare his enquiry report as in regular
DE.
m) The competent authority may, thereafter, proceed to pass the
final orders after following the prescribed procedure.

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COMMON PROCEEDINGS--

It is commonly known as joint proceeding (Joint DE) also.

The disciplinary authority may issue order for common proceeding
when two or more employees working in same office make
complaints against each other or commit same offence together.
Cross complaints arising out of the same or connected incident or
transaction are not uncommon. The general principle as laid down
by the Courts is that the accused in cross cases should be tried
separately and that both the trials should be held simultaneously or
in quick succession so as to avoid conflicting findings and different
appraisal of the same evidence. On the analogy of the criminal law
practice and procedure, a joint proceeding against the accused and
accuser is an irregularity, which should be avoided. [ G.I., M.H.A.,
Letter No./98/63-AVD, dated the 13th June 1963].
A joint proceeding against Government servants working in
the same office who made complaint against each other should be
avoided.
[Para 19, P. & T Manual, Vol. III ]

DAILY ORDER SHEET (DOS)--

(1) Daily Order Sheet is the record, maintained by the IO, of all the
business transacted by him on day-to-day basis of the conduct
of the inquiry proceedings. The gist of requests and
representations made by either party and orders passed
thereon by the IO are to be incorporated in the DOS. The
following points in particular should find a mention in the DOS:--
(a) Additional documents and the witnesses asked for
by the CO in his defence.
(b) Additional documents and the witnesses permitted.
(c) Reasons for disallowing the remaining documents
and witnesses.
(d) Whether the additional documents permitted as
relevant were made available for inspection and
were inspected by the CO.
(e) If the authority having custody of any such
document does not consent to its production, the
fact of such refusal.
(2) Daily Order Sheet is the summary of the whole proceedings.
This is the mirror of the DE proceedings. One may come to

73
 know the correctness of the procedure after just going through
it.
(3) The DOS, which is drawn on day-to-day basis, is to be dated
and signed by the IO, the PO, the CO and the Defence
Assistant. It would be rather desirable to furnish copies of the
DOS both to PO and CO.
(4) If the CO or the PO or the DA (as applicable) refuse to sign the
Daily Order Sheet, the fact of such refusal may be mentioned in
the daily order sheet.

REPORT OF THE INQUIRY OFFICER

The findings of the Inquiry Officer must be based on oral and

documentary evidence adduced during the inquiry. The inquiry
officer who records the oral testimony is in the best position to
observe the demeanour of a witness and to form a judgement as to
his credibility; he should discuss the same in his report. Taking into
consideration all the circumstances and facts, the Inquiry Officer as
a rational and prudent man has to draw inferences and to record
his reasoned conclusion as to whether the charges are proved or
not. After the conclusion of the inquiry, the Inquiry Officer should
draw up a report as provided in Rule 14 (23) (i) and forward the
same, where it is not the disciplinary authority, to the disciplinary
authority, together with the records of inquiry constituting the
documents prescribed in Rule 14 (23) (ii).

The report of the Inquiry Officer should contain –

(i) An introductory para indicating appointment of Inquiry
Officer and the dates of hearing.
(ii) Charges that were framed.
(iii) Charges that were admitted or dropped or not
pressed.
(iv) Charges actually inquired into.
(v) Brief statement of the case of disciplinary authority in
respect of the charges inquired into.
(vi) Brief statement of facts and documents admitted.
(vii) Points for determination or issues to be decided.
(viii) Brief statement of the case of the Government
servant.
(ix) Assessment of evidence in respect of each point.
(x) Finding on each charge.

74
 Along with the report, the Inquiry Officer should send a folder
containing the following: –
(a) List of exhibits produced by the Presenting Officer.
(b) List of exhibits produced by the Government servant.
(c) List o prosecution witnesses.
(d) List of defence witnesses.
(e) A folder containing deposition of witnesses in the
order in which they were examined.
(f) A folder containing daily order-sheets.
(g) A folder containing written statement of defence.
(h) Written briefs of both sides.
(i) Applications, if any, filed during the course of inquiry,
and orders passed thereon, as also orders passed on
oral requests made during the inquiry.

INQUIRY REPORT(IN BRIEF)—

1. After conclusion of the inquiry, IO has to prepare a Report as

laid down in Rule 14(23)(i) of the CCS(CCA) Rules and
forward the same to the Disciplinary Authority together with
the records of enquiry consisting of the documents
prescribed in Rule 14(23)(ii). There is no prescribed format
for writing the Report. The Enquiry Report is to be divided
into the following parts: -
(a) Introductory
(b) DA availed of by the CO and his participation in the
enquiry.
(c) The charges and substance of imputation of
misconduct.
(d) Case of the Disciplinary Authority.
(e) Case of the Charged Officer.
(f) Analysing and Assessment of the evidence on record.
(g) Findings and decisions on each charge.
2. The report is to be based only on the evidence on record.
The evidence has to weighed and evaluated very carefully,
intelligently, dispassionately and impartially. The IO has to
draw his inferences and record his reasoned conclusions.
The assessment of evidence and arguments on each charge
should be done under separate headings.

75
 3. The IO should then forward the inquiry Report to the
Disciplinary Authority.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DE UNDER RULE 27 (c) OF CRPF

RULES 1955 AND UNDER RULE 14 CCs (CCA) RULES 1965-

The procedure to conduct DE under CRPF Rules 1955 and

CCs (CCA) Rules, 1965 is similar except the following differences: -

1) Under CCS (CCA) Rules, if Charged Official pleads

unconditional guilty in respect of one or all charges framed
against him during Preliminary Hearing; the Disciplinary
Authority records his findings in respect of those charges.
The Enquiry Officer is appointed only to enquire into the
charges for which C.O has not pleaded guilty. Whereas
under CRPF Rules 1955 the E.O has to listen the P.Ws and
the documents which are relied upon in favour of charges in
presence of Delinquent even if he pleads guilty during
preliminary hearing. The reasonable opportunity at all steps
will be given to defend him. The report of E.O. will be
submitted only at the end of proceeding, for order of
Disciplinary Authority.
2) Under CRPF Rules 1955, their is a provision that E.O. will
start proceedings only after 48 hours after receipt of
Memorandum of charges by C.O.; Whereas there is no such
provision under CCS (CCA) Rules 1965.
3) Under CCS (CCA) Rules 1965, the Presenting Officer (P.0)
is to be appointed by, Disciplinary Authority to present the
State Witnesses / P.Ws and Documents on behalf of
Disciplinary Authority, whereas this provision is not made
under CRPF Rules 1955.
4) Under CCS (CCA) Rules 1965 there is a provision for
Defence Assistant (D.A), who assists C O and defends the
case on behalf of charged official, whereas this provision is
not available under CRPF Rules 1955.
5) Under CC'S (CCA) Rules 1965, Presenting Officer cross
examines the DWs, where as under CRPF Rules there is
no such provision to cross-examine the DWs. Under CRPF

76
 Rules 1955, prosecution never cross-examines DWs;
however, EO can examine DWs.
6) The C.0 has to appear before Enquiry Officer on such day
and time, within ten working days from the receipt of article
of charges etc., as the E.0 may by notice in writing specify. A
period of further ten days for appearing may be allowed by
E.O. No such time frame is given in CRPF Rules.
7) If the CO fails to appear before EO within specified time or
refuses or omits to plead, the EO will require the PO to
produce evidence and the case shall be adjourned to a latter
date not exceeding 30 days. EO will record an order that
CO may for preparation of his defence inspect listed
documents within 5 days of the order and further period of 5
days may be allowed by EO. The CO is required to submit
list of witnesses, which he wants to produce in his defence
within 10 days and may further allow 10 days. No such time
frame is given in CRPF Rules 1955.
8) The copies of the statements of PWs if required by the CO
are to be furnished to him 3 days before commencement of
examination of witnesses. If E.0. requires any other
document for prosecution, which is in possession of Govt..,
may also be requisitioned by EO if it is relevant to the case.
This provision is also not available under CRPF Rules 1955
but being practically followed in the interest of natural justice
and reasonable opportunity.
9) The Prosecution Witnesses may be examined by or on
behalf of Presenting Officer on a fixed date & time in
presence of the charged official & cross-examined by the
Charged Official or his Defence Assistant on his behalf.
Provision for cross-examination of DWs by PO is not
available in CRPF Rules 1955. Under CRPF Rules 1955,
the provision for cross-examination of DWs & Delinquent by
Prosecution is not available.
(10) When evidence of disciplinary authority or prosecution is
over, EO may allow the Presenting Officer to produce new
witness but this can be done with a notice to Charged
Official & adjournment of three clear days. CRPF Rule is
silent on this but sufficient time is practically given only in the
interest of natural justice.
(11) Under CCS (CCA) Rules, when evidence of Disciplinary
Authority is over, the Charged Official is required to answer

77
 ‘mandatory questions’ in his defence. Then he is to be
examined by EO. If defence is made orally it should be jotted
down, a copy of such deposition will be supplied to
Presenting Officer. Like wise the defence witnesses will be
examined. Under CRPF Rules there is no ‘mandatory
question as such, but almost similar procedure with a little
difference that herein the delinquent is asked to enter a plea
of guilt or otherwise first and then give a list of DWs.
(12) When evidence of both sides is over the Presiding Officer &
Defence Assistant are required to file written brief to their
respective cases before E.O. This provision is not available
in CRPF Rules 1955.
(13) Under CCS(CCA) Rules EO and PO are separate with
distinct role, whereas under CRPF Rules EO has
somewhat a dual role to perform. He is supposed to bring
out prosecution documents as well, besides examining the
fairness and strength of the evidences. Herein he sits in the
chair of prosecution as well as that of judge.
(14) Under CCS(CCA) Rules the Annexures pertaining to List of
Documents & PWs of the Memorandum of Charges are not
final. PO may add further during the prosecution. But under
CRPF Rules EO has to depend mainly on these lists only
unless apparently there is some deficiency in the evidence. It
shows his bias attitude if he adds to the list of documents or
PWs.

CHARGE SHEET ---

Issue of charge sheet is the first step in the disciplinary

proceedings taken against an employee with a view to imposing a
major penalty. When it is proposed to institute a Departmental
Enquiry against the member of the force, the disciplinary authority
has to draw or cause to be drawn up the charge sheet. The
charges are framed on the basis of facts established after PE or
Court of Enquiry or on the basis of the record pertaining to the
case. Charge Sheet consists of letter or memorandum containing
the proposal to take such action and consists of the following
documents, as it’s Annexures-
 Definite and distinct Articles of Charge (Annexure-1).

78
  A Statement of Imputation of misconduct or misbehaviour on
which the charge is based containing all relevant facts with
full particularity including any admission or confession made
by the employee (Annexure-2).
 A list of documents by which charges are to be sustained
(Annexure-3).
 A list of witnesses by whom the charges are to be sustained.
(Annexure-4).
(i) The charge sheet must be clear, concise and contain full
particularity. The charges must be specific, precise and
definite mentioning misconduct or other act or omission of
the charged official clearly.
(ii) Charges should be framed only in respect of those
omissions and commissions in respect of which sufficient
oral and documentary evidences are available.
(iii) Charges should not be vague, so that the delinquent may
put up an effective defence. Vague statement of charges
vitiates entire proceedings. [Tpt. Comm. Versus ARK
Moorthy (1995)1 SCC 332]. A single and compact charge is
better than three / four vague, meaningless and irrelevant
charges. The repetition of charges should be avoided.
(iv) The substance of imputation of misconduct should be drawn
up into definite & distinct article of charge. A statement of all
relevant facts including any admission or confession made
by charged official should be mentioned. The charge should
be properly worded.
(v) The Rule or sub Rule under which the act or omission of the
charged official is a misconduct must be quoted in the
charge.
(vi) To make the charge specific, the following must be
reflected :--
a) Time/period, date and place of misconduct/
disobedience/ negligence.
b) Brief narration of the specific
misconduct/disobedience/negligence of duty etc.
c) Reference to exact abusive words if spoken, should be
made to make it more specific.
(vii) The statement recorded during Preliminary Enquiry should
not be cited as exhibit because the findings of the PE/COI

79
 are likely to bias the mind of the Enquiry Officer. Findings of
such an enquiry must not be mentioned as Exhibits.
(viii) The imputation should elucidate the charges in the form of
the story with a view to clearly understand the charges.
(ix) The charge must be framed in accordance with the
procedure applicable to the employee. The model for
Memorandum of Charges is given in Annexure –XII of GC
BN Manual and Circular Order 21 / 1975 (Appendix-II) for
members of the force governed under CRPF Act 1949 and
CRPF Rules 1955; and in CCS (CCA) Rules for others.
Therefore the charge sheet should be prepared
accordingly.The procedure given in CCS (CCA) Rules, is
slightly different from CRPF Rules.
(x) The Charges should be framed with impartial attitude and it
should not smack even a little vindictive or prejudice attitude
of disciplinary authority.

Following method is suggested for drafting of the charges.

Disciplinary Authority should draw a table containing three columns,
one each for the list of witnesses, the detailed history of the
incident/misconduct etc. and the list of documents respectively as
under—

WITNESSES DETAILED HISTORY OF THE CASE DOCUMENTS

1.--------------{ ------------------------------------------------------ }1………………
------------------------------------------------------ }2………………..
2. -------------{ ------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------- }3………………..
------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------ }4………………..
3……………{ ------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------

First of all Disciplinary Authority should write down the detailed history of
the incident as emerged during PE/COI in the middle column in narrative
form. After that he should earmark the witnesses in the left column and
documents in the right column against the sentence/fact mentioned in the
centre column. By doing this he will be able to enlist all the misconduct by the
employee and also the witnesses and documents relevant and in support of
the specific charges without loosing sight on any of them.

80
MODEL PROCEDURE FOR CONDUCTING D.E. UNDER RULE 27 OF CRPF
RULES 1955.

PROCCEDINGS OF DEPARTMENTAL ENQUIRY CONDUCTED

AGAINST NO. ..................... RANK .............
NAME ..................................................
OF ........... COY ............. BN, CRPF BY
SHRI ............................................ (RANK) OF
UNIT..................PLACE……

PRILIMINARY HEARING IN
PROCEEDING AGAINST
SHRI___________ON_______AT
__(HRS _ AT____(PLACE)
In the presence of
……………………………

Questions asked by E.O. and replies thereto by Delinquent (date & time): -

Q.1. Have you received the copy of Memorandum of Charges framed

against you alongwith it's all Exhibits from I to IV delivered to you by
Commandant vide memo. No.................. dtd. ................. On ...?

Ans. .................................................... .......................................................

................
(If reply is no, then the copy may be handed over to him)

Q.2. Have you understood the charges framed against you?

Ans. ............................................................. ..............................................

...............
(If reply is no, that will be explained to him and made him
understood in the language he understands. This fact be recorded
properly.)

81
Q.3. Do you know that I have been appointed E.O. vide Comdt. ....... Bn.
office order No. ............................... Dtd. .................. ?

Ans. ........................................................ ...................................................

.............
(If reply is no, then give copy of office order.)

READ OVER EXPLAINED AND ADMITTED CORRECT

--Sd-- --Sd--

(Signature of Delinquent with date & time) (Sig. of EO. with

date & time)

NOTE: - Minimum 48 hrs is given from the time of reading over the
charges. He will be asked to present himself on given
date and time for further Preliminary Hearing (Plea of Guilt).

Proceeding against_________

On_______at_________Place______
In the presence of
……………………………

Question asked by EO and reply by Delinquent on ____________ (Date

and Time).

Q. - Charges were read out to you on ________ (Date)

at_______(time). You should now state whether you plead "guilty"
or "Not guilty" to Article of Charge No. 1 levelled against you?
Ans. "I plead guilty" or "I do not plead guilty"
Q- Do you plead "guilty" are "not guilty'' to Article of Charge no-2.
Ans. "I plead guilty" or "I don't plead guilty."
(And so on in r/o other Article of
Charges..........................................)

82
 N.B.- Charged Official has to plead guilty/not guilty in r/o all charges
separately as above

READ OVER EXPLAINED & ADMITTED CORRECT

` -Sd- -Sd-
(Signature of CO with date & time) (Sign. of EO with date
& time)

NOTE~ Whether accused pleads "guilty" or "not guilty" the

Prosecution Witnesses will invariably be let in and there
statements recorded in presence of Delinquent. Delinquent
will be asked to remain present during recording of
statement of witnesses. When the statements of PWs are
over, on next given date Delinquent will be called and again
he will be asked to plead guilty or otherwise. If he wants to
produce his DWs their Statements will also be recorded in
the same manner as in case of PWs.

Proceeding against
Shri____________

On__________at_________place___
In the presence of ……………………………

PROSECUTION WITNESS-1

Statement of No..................Rank ..........

(Name)......................of.....Coy......Bn.CRPF at (place)...............on
(date).........at (hours).........

No............(Rank)......(Name).........states as under:

"That...................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................."

READ OVER EXPLAINED AND ADMITTED CORRECT

83
 -Sd- -sd- -sd-

(Signature of PW-1) (Signature of Delinquent) (Signature of

EO)

Questions (if any) asked by EO & reply by (PW-1) No.........(Rank &

Name).......

Question 1...............................................
Answer 1 ..................................................
Question 2...............................................
Answer 2..........................................

and so on.......
(Now opportunity to delinquent ... to cross examine PW 1 is to be given)

Cross examination of PW-1 NO........... Rank........ Name.............. by the

delinquent.

Question by delinquent...........
Answer by PW-1.........
and so on ..........
( If he declines to cross-examine the PWs, this fact will also be recorded
and signed by them.)

READ OVER EXPLAINED AND ADMITTED CORRECT.

Sd/- Sd/- Sd/-
(Sig. of PW-1) (Sig. of Delinquent) (Sig. of E.O.)

Note:- If documents are also produced and relied upon in support of the
charge, the accused will be allowed to inspect the same serially numbered
as exhibit. A copy of the statement as above should be given to Delinquent
with its Exhibits. Witness, Delinquent and EO must sign all pages.
Following endorsement will also be made in the proceeding "The
delinquent was allowed to inspect the following documents in the
presence of EO---
(a) Letter No............Dated..........from Commandant .....Bn CRPF
addressed to.
(b)..........................................................
(c)..........................................................

84
READ OVER EXPLAINED AND ADMITTED CORRECT

-Sd- -sd-
(Sign. of Delinquent) (Sign. of EO)

NOTE: - In the same manner the statement of all PWs are recorded
and documents taken on record.

Proceeding against
Shri____________

On__________at_________Place____
In the presence of
……………………

EXAMINATION OF THE DELINQUENT

(Statement of Delinquent or Exam. of Delinquent by EO

He will again be asked to plead " guilty" or Not guilty")
Question-1 Since all PWs have given their statements and relevant
documents have been produced by them in support of the
charge in your presence& you have seen all those
documents, now at this stage, do you plead "guilty" or "Not
guilty"in respect of the charges levelled against you vide
article of charge 1, 2..........?
Answer-1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

R.O.E.A.C.

Sd/- Sd/-
(Sign. of Delinquent with date) (Sign. of E.O with date)

Note :-

(i) If he pleads guilty again, the proceeding will be closed and

85
 Enquiry Report will be prepared & submitted to disciplinary
authority and if EO him self is Disciplinary authority then he
will pass his final order.

(ii) If he does not plead guilty then a letter addressed to

delinquent will be written asking him to file written statement
and a list of DWs as he may like to cite in his defence within
sixteen days (Not less than a fortnight) from the date of
receipt of this letter. He will be asked to be present on given
date & time and if he declines to file written statement and
list of witnesses he will again be examined by E.O.. He will
be asked to acknowledge the letter. (Delinquent may ask for
reasonable time extension for preparation of defence, which
should normally be given).
Proceeding against
Shri____________

On__________at_________place____
In the presence of
……………………

STATEMENT OF DW-I
(Same as in case of PWs)

(Statement to be signed by DWs, Delinquent & E O)

R.O.E.A.C.

Sd/- Sd/- Sd/-

(Sign of D.Ws with date) (Sign of Delinquent) (Sign of EOs with
date) with date

Examination of DWs by E.O :-

Q-1 --------------
Ans. --------------

R.O.E.A.C.

Sd/- Sd/- Sd/-

86
 (Sign of DWs with date) (Sign. of Delinquent with date) (Sign of EOs
with date)

Note :- E.O. may refuse to record the statements if not

material to the issues
involved but this fact must be recorded in the proceeding
with reasons
for not allowing the same. The copy of statements recorded
will be
given to delinquent duly acknowledged.

DEPARTMENTAL ENQUITY REPORT: -

1) INTRODUCTION: -
I was appointed Enquiry Officer to conduct departmental enquiry
against (name of Charged Official) vide Commandant.......Bn CRPF Office
Order No.........Dated........to enquire into the charges framed against
(Charged Official).......vide Memorandum No..............dated…. I have since
completed the enquiry, on the basis of the documentary and oral evidence
adduced before me, I prepare enquiry report as under: -
2) ARTICLE OF CHARGES: -

Article -I
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________

Article-II
_______________________
_______________________

Article-III
_______________________
_______________________

3) PARTICIPATION BY C.O. DURING ENQUIRY, APPOINTMENT OF

P.O.
AND DEFENCE ASSISTANT

87
 The CO Participated in the enquiry from beginning to end. He was
assisted by Shri_______________ Defence Assistant, if any appointed by
him throughout the proceeding. Disciplinary Authority also appointed PO
vide his letter No. .......... dated ............. He was also present during the
proceeding.

4) EXAMINATION AND EVALUATION OF THE CHARGES VIS-A-

VIS EVIDENCES.

Now I will examine the charges vis-à-vis the statements of PWs,

DWs, Delinquent and the documents produced by them one by one: -

1) Article of Charge-I
"__________________________
__________________________"

2) Plea of Guilty or Not Guilty by Delinquent :-

_______________________________
_______________________________

3) Brief of Statements and documents by PWs:-

_______________________________
_______________________________

4) Brief of statements and documents by DWs and

delinquent-
_______________________________
_______________________________

5) Analysis & Assessment/Evaluation of evidence

(Discussing pros and cons)
_______________________________
_______________________________

88
 6) Findings, Decision and Opinion of the EO in respect
to this charge
_______________________________
_______________________________

Note :- In the same fashion all charges are examined,

analysed and findings recorded by E.O.. in the opinion The Enquiry
Officer should mention only whether charges proved / not proved/
partially proved. He should not mention the nature of punishment to
or exoneration of delinquent in his opinion. The complete
proceeding will be submitted to competent disciplinary authority
under a covering letter

ORDER OF DISCIPLINARY AUTHORITY

It should be elaborate and speaking. There should not be

any ambiguity or contradiction. Disciplinary authority should come
to conclusion after analysis of the evidences. He may agree with
the findings and report of EO or may not agree. He may order de
novo enquiry if the procedure is not followed and there is
miscarriage of justice in his opinion. His order should contain
following points.
1) a) Introduction
b) Article of charge
2) a) Analysis of evidences oral documentary from
both sides in respect of the charges
b) His conclusion and opinion with reasoning.
3) Order of punishment/exoneration as required.

Supply of the copy of order to delinquent is to be duly

acknowledged by delinquent.
(Closed)

FORMAT OF ORDER SHEET IN DE

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 ( under CCS (CCA)
Rules)
Date Details of Proceeding Sign of Sign of
Sign. Of PO Sign.Of DA
& Time E.O. Delinquent

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6.

--- I received the office order --Sd-- ---- ----

----
No. . . . . . . dtd…. vide which
I have been appointed E.O
to Enquire into the charges
framed against (C.O) vide
memo of charges along
with its exhibits 1 to 4 vide memo
No.------ dated-----.
I went through the memo
and issued a letter No . . .
of date to C.O to appear
before me on (date) . . . . . .
for preliminary hearing.

--- Today at 1000 Hrs (CO) --Sd-- --Sd-- --Sd--

--Sd--
appeared before me for
preliminary hearing. Preliminary
hearing was done and (CO)
was asked to plead guilty or not
guilty. He pleaded guilty in r/o
Article of charge / and not guilty in
R/O article of charge.........The date for
Next hearing was fixed and PO, delinquent
& Prosecution witnesses were informed.
Vide letter No.----------dated---------.
.......................................................

***********

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NB: Above procedure is not exhaustive, but merely a guideline towards
perfection. May use it with care.

COMPARISION OF PE, COI AND DE

COI DE
PE
1 NO SPECIFIC ORDER IS SPECIFIC ORDER IS SPECIFIC ORDER IS REQ
REQUIRED. REQUIRED.
2 TO BE CONDUCTED BY TO BE CONDUCTED BY A TO BE CONDUCTED B
ONE OFFICER. COURT OF MIN. 3 OFFICERS. OFFICER.
3 AIMS TO ASCERTAIN AIMS TO ESTABLISH BEYOND AIMS TO ENQUIRE
PRIMA-FACIE TRUTH IN DOUBT THE SPECIFIC CHARGES
ALLEGATION CIRCUMSTANCES OF PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY
INCIDENCE
4 THERE IS NO THERE IS NO DELINQUENT DELINQUENT IS THERE
DELINQUENT
5 ONLY GENERAL NO ALLEGATION AGAINST SPECIFIC CHARGE IS TH
ALLEGATIONS ANYBODY
6 NO PWs/DWs, ONLY NO PWs/DWs, ONLY PWs/DWs ARE THERE
WITNESSES WITNESSES
7 NO PRESENTING NO PRESENTING PRESENTING OFFICER/D
OFFICER/DA OFFICER/DA THERE IF PERMISSIBLE
8 NO CROSS EXAMINATION NO CROSS EXAMINATION CROSS EXAMINATION IS
9 MERELY FACT-FINDING MERELY FACT-FINDING NOT MERELY FACT-FINDI
10 NOT CONCLUSIVE IN CONCLUSIVE IN NATURE TO CONCLUSIVE IN NATURE
NATURE SOME EXTENT
11 NO FORMAL RECOMMENDATION BY EO NO FORMAL RECOMMEN
RECOMMENDATION BY ONLY WHEN TERMS OF BY EO
EO REFERENCE IS THERE
12 GENERALLY IN GENERALLY IN THE CASES GENERALLY
INDISCIPLINE/MISCONDU OF LOSS/DAMAGE TO INDISCIPLINE/MISCONDU
CT CASES PERSON /PROPERTY CASES
13 NO FORMAL NO FORMAL PUNISHMENT FORMAL PUNISHMENT O
PUNISHMENT ON THIS ON THIS BASIS BASIS MAY BE AWARDED
BASIS
14 NO APPEAL/REVISION NO APPEAL/REVISION APPEAL/REVISION IS
ACCORDING TO RULES
15 NON-JUDICIAL NON-JUDICIAL PROCEEDING QUASI-JUDICIAL PROCEE
PROCEEDING

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16 NOT SUBJECTED TO NOT SUBJECTED TO SUBJECTED TO J
JUDICIAL REVIEW JUDICIAL REVIEW REVIEW
17 NOT SUBJECTED TO NOT SUBJECTED TO SUBJECTED TO PRINCI
PRINCIPLE OF NATURAL PRINCIPLE OF NATURAL NATURAL JUSTICE
JUSTICE STRICTLY JUSTICE STRICTLY STRICTLY
18 NOT SUBJECTED TO NOT SUBJECTED TO SUBJECTED TO PRINCIP
PRINCIPLE OF PRINCIPLE OF REASONABLE REASONABLE OPPORT
REASONABLE OPPORTUNITY STRICTLY VERY STRICTLY
OPPORTUNITY STRICTLY
19 TIME LIMIT IS TIME LIMIT IS 2 Ws FOR 1ST AS EARLY AS POSSIBL
IMMEDIATELY AND MAX- 7 PART AND 30 Ds FOR GIVING REASON
DAYS COMPLETION. FINAL OPPORTUNITY
DISPOSAL 3 Ms DELINQUENT. NO DELIBE
DELAY. MAX- 3 Ms
20 VERY SIMPLE VERY SIMPLE PROCEDURE A LITTLE COMPLIC
PROCEDURE PROCEDURE.

92