24 - Business Services (Class 2) - Com. T.Ganesan

 1000 TIT BITS ON DISCIPLINE -197
831. Report of Inquiry Officer cannot be basis for proving Bias
The fact that the report of the inquiring authority is against the delinquent official or contains some remarks unpalatable to him cannot lead to the conclusion of bias in the inquiry officer (Kapur Singh v. Union of India, AIR 1956 Punjab 58; Bholanath v. D.T.U., SLR 1971 Delhi 240).

REPRESENTATION AGAINST BIAS IN INQUIRY OFFICER
832. 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 of the objection by it [R. v. Richmond JJ., (1860)24 J.P. 422; Manak Lal v. Dr. Singhvi, AIR 1957 SC 425). 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 [Manak Lal v. Dr. Singhvi, supra; Devkaran v. Inspector of Police, LLJ (1963)1 342]. If he remains silent during the inquiry but makes the objection afterwards, the objection may be dismissed as an afterthought (Sreenivasayya v. State of Mysore, LLJ (1967)2 p. 156).

833. Procedure for making Representation
Representation against the appointment of the inquiry officer on grounds of bias should be made in writing addressed to the authority competent in this behalf and submitted to him. A copy thereof be given to the inquiry officer.
In the case of Government employees, the procedure is that such representation is submitted to Revisionary Authority. The reason is that the appointment of inquiry officer is an order of interlocutory nature and no appeal lies against such an order. Therefore, the representation has to be made to the Revisionary Authority.
The representation should be self-contained, 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.

834. Stay of Inquiry 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 inquiry 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 [DOP O.M. No. 39/40/70-Ests. (A), dated 9.11.1972 re-iterated in DP&AR O, M. No. 3014/1/76-Estt. (A), dated 29.7.1976).