104. Whether LSG seniority fixed based on the date of joining??

 1000 TIT BITS ON DISCIPLINE -73
GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR HOLDING INQUIRY

256. The Rule of Law
In the words of the Supreme Court :
“It is one of the fundamental Rules of our Constitutional set up that every citizen is protected against exercise of arbitrary authority by the State or its officers. Duty to act judicially would, therefore, arise from the very nature of the function intended to be performed; it need not be shown to be superadded. If there is a power to decide and determine to the prejudice of a person, duty to act judicially is implicit in the exercise of such power. If the essentials of justice be ignored and an order to the prejudice of a person be made, the order is a nullity. That is a basic concept of the rule of law and importance thereof transcend the significance of a decision in a particular case” [State of Orissa v. Binapani Dei, AIR 1967 SC 1269).

The reason is that in a system governed by the rule of law, we as are having in India, the executive authorities have no absolute discretion in deciding the rights of the citizens. Their decision must be based on the rule of law, which in this context, according to the Supreme Court is :

"that decisions should be made by the application of known principles and rules and, in general, such decisions should be predictable and the citizen should know where he is. If a decision is taken without any principle or without any rule, it is unpredictable and such a decision is the anti-thesis of a decision taken in accordance with rule of law." [S.G. Jaisinghani v. Union of India, AIR 1967 SC 1427].

The net result is that a departmental proceeding should be held in accordance with the rule of law and the decision should be predictable so that the public servant knows where he is; and the principles of natural justice are followed. If, in a case, this is done, the decision shall not be open to challenge on the ground that the procedure followed was not which obtains in a court of law [T. R. Varma case, supra] or strictly in accordance with the prescribed rules [J.M. Ajwani v. Union of India, SLR 1967 SC 471].

257. Inquiry should be held in accordance with the prescribed procedure supplemented with the Rules of Natural Justice
Where a procedure has been prescribed in a statute or any rule or regulation, it is obligatory upon the inquiry officer to follow that procedure. He may observe the principles of natural justice to supply any omission in the prescribed procedure or to meet a particular development not covered specifically by the rules, but he cannot discard the prescribed procedure altogether,

In one case, a very sharp and upright officer was appointed to look into allegations of misconduct in a specialised field. The officer, after having done quite a good deal of home work to understand the points in issue, right in the first hearing questioned the charged officer extensively to clear his doubts, and then closed the inquiry without examining a single witness, because he thought it was not necessary to do so as he had understood the whole matter fully well. His report of inquiry was of no use to the disciplinary authority because, despite the brilliance and uprightness of the officer which were never in doubt, he had failed to follow the set procedure which as an inquiry officer he was dutybound to do.