LexIN R/O DR. RAM ASHRAY YADAV CHAIRMAN, BIHAR PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION versus -
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
A B c D E F G H IN RIO DR. RAM ASHRAY YADAV CHAIRMAN, BIHAR PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION MARCH 29, 2000 [DR. A.S. ANAND, CJ, S. RAJENDRA BABU AND DORAISWAMY RAJU, .JJ.] Constitution of India, 1950-Article 317(1)-Reference under-against Chainnan of Bihar Public Service Commission-Allegation of misbehaviour- Held, the allegations, at best, amount to lapses and cannot be said to be such which amount to 'misbehaviour'. A leader of opposition of Bihar Legislative Assembly addressed a communication to the President of India for taking action under Article 317 of the Constitution of India, against the Chairman of Bihar Public Commission, alleging 32 charges against him. The Governor of Bihar submitted detailed comments after obtaining reply of the Chairman on all the 32 charges to the PresideQt of India. The President, after receipt of the comments of the Governor and the reply of the Chairrrian, made reference under Article 317 of the Constitution to this Court to enquire into the charges other than those mentioned in paras 5, 6, 8, 10, 21 & 22. The Attorney General of India, after examining the whole material of the case, and after going through the comments and response filed by the chairman and Bihar Public Service Commission, submitted that only four charges i.e. 3, 9, 12 & 28 required further consideration and enquiry. The Chairman as also the Bihar Public Service Commission submitted that even these charges did not require any enquiry because none of the charges could be held to be forming basis for holding the chairman to be guilty of misbehaviour which may warrant action against him under Article 317. Charge No. 3 was to the effect that the chairman had shown special favour to the wife of Personal Assistant to the Chief Minister in her appointment. The appointment was challenged before High Court in Smt. U rmila Kumari v. State of Bi/tar and Others, (1993) 1 PLJR 226. In that case, the appointment was set aside, the Commission as a whole was indicted, but no adverse remark of personal nature was made and no specific indictment was against the Chairman nor any finding was given that he had influenced the selection. The Chairman and the BPSC submitted that the selection was 688 .. - IN RIO DR. R.A. YADAV CHAIRMAN, B.P.S.C. 689 done by the interview board comprising of four members, and the chair- ~an had not even participated in the selection process, only signed the final selection list being the Chairman of the Commission. Charge No. 9 was based on the allegations that the chairman had instigated the State Government to file a false affidavit in this court in J ai Shankar Prasad v. State of Bihar & Ors., [1993] 2 SCR 517. It was evident from the record of the case that the draft affidavit was approved by the Chief Minister. Charge No. 12 was to the effect that the Chairman had reduced the Commission to the status of private company by throwing constitutional mandates, laws, statutory rules and procedure to the winds. This allegation is in respect of the decision of the Chairman to introduce a system of centralised evaluation of answer books. This was assailed by High Court in Sanjay Kumar v. Bihar Public Service Commission, (1994) 92 PLJR 414, on the ground that the Chairman was not competent to take such decision since the decision had been taken by the Chairman alone, but no fault was found in the system itself. The Chairman contended that the charge essen- tially pertains to the manner of functioning of the Commission and delega- tion of too much authority to the Chairman by the Commission as per 'past practice' and does not amount to any misbehaviour on the part of the Chairman. BPSC asserted that on effort to malign the Chairman and the Commission has the tendancy to shake the confidence of the public in a Public Service Commission and such practice should be deprecated by this Court. Charge No. 28 was based on the allegations that the Chairman had misused the Commission's telephone for making personal calls overseas. It was submitted by BPSC that during 1991-92, Rs. 1,05,000 were allocated and against the sanctioned amount an expenditure of only Rs. 1,04,948 was incurred by the Chairman. Answering the Reference, this Court HELD: 1. No charge of misbehaviour has been established against the Chairman, Bihar Public Service Commission, no action is called for against him. All does not appear to be well with the manner of functioning A B c
Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.