1000 TIT BITS ON DISCIPLINE -215
DEFENCE DOCUMENTS
842. In addition to the documents listed along with the charge sheet, the delinquent employee may desire to inspect additional documents :
(i) which though not relied upon by the prosecution, nevertheless he feels them to be essential for his effective defence;
(ii) he considers it essential to inspect, after going through the documents listed in the charge sheet as they may stand referred to therein.
843. But, the right of access to such documents is not absolute. It has been held that the document must be relevant to the case and the relevance should be specifically stated by the employee (State of Tamil Nadu v. K.V. Perumal, (1996)5 SCC 474]. Thus, it is wrong to say that the inquiry officer/disciplinary authority is bound to supply each and every document that may be asked for by the charged employee. Their duty is only to supply relevant document and not each and every document asked for by the delinquent employee (ibid.). A defence document may, be denied where,
(i) it is not relevant to the case, or
(i) though relevant, it is not in the public interest to produce it during the inquiry.
844. While the question of relevancy is decided by the inquiry officer, refusal of access in public interest can be made only by the Head of the Department to whom the document belongs. The power to refuse access to official records should, however, be very sparingly exercised. It may be remembered that serious difficulties arise when the courts do not accept as correct the failure to discover or produce the additional documents during the inquiry.
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