166. Knowledge Spectrum – Discipline – Written Brief of the Presenting Officer 83.
249. Case of the Disciplinary Authority: This paragraph will predominantly rely on the statement of imputations of the misconduct. Here the Presenting Officer may indicate the facts on the basis of which the charge is required to be proved.
250. Evidence on behalf of the Disciplinary Authority: After narrating the case of the actually led on behalf of the Disciplinary Authority vis-a-vis the evidence mentioned in the Charge Sheet (Annexures ill and IV). Any deviation, such as not presenting any witness mentioned in the charge sheet or presenting additional witnesses with the permission of the Inquiring Authority may also be indicated.
251. Evidence on behalf of the Charged Officer: The details of the oral and documentary evidence presented by the Charged Officer may be listed here.
252. Evaluation of evidence: This is the most crucial portion of the written brief. In this portion, the Presenting Officer should highlight the facts established by each piece of evidence. There are two ways of achieving this, viz.
(a) The Presenting Officer may take up the facts to be established for proving the charge one by one, and indicate the evidence which establishes the fact.
(b) Alternatively, the Presenting Officer may take up each item of evidence presented on behalf of the Disciplinary Authority and indicate what points have been established by each piece of evidence.
253. Analysis of the case of the Charged Officer: Although the case of the Disciplinary Authority is to stand on its own legs, it is advisable for the Presenting Officer to anticipate and counter the submissions of the Charged Officer. This will help the Inquiring Authority to evaluate the complete case and draw final conclusions. However, this is an area where the Presenting Officer will have to do considerable brain teasing. The case of the Charged Officer can be inferred only from his submissions. But some Charged Officers do not present any written submissions till the conclusion of the hearing. Even the written Statement of Defence in response to the Charge Sheet will contain a one line denial such as "I deny the charges". As a result, the Presenting Officer may not have any document indicating the stand of the Charged Officer. Under such circumstances, the Presenting Officer will have to construct the case of the Charged Officer from the evidence produced by him. The Presenting Officer should try to undermine the value of the defence witnesses citing acceptable reasons. In this paragraph, the Presenting Officer's argument should run on the following lines:
(a) That the case of the Charged Officer is not logically possible.
(b) That the Charged Officer has failed to establish what he tried to do.
(c) That the witnesses led by the charged officer are not reliable because of contradictions with the established facts.
(d) That the defence witnesses were interested parties and hence their evidence cannot be relied upon.
(e) Inconsistency and absence of corroboration in the statements of the Defence Witnesses.
254. Conclusion: Finally, the brief of the Presenting Officer should contain a specific assertion to the effect that on the basis of the evidence presented during the Inquiry, Charges should be held as proved. At this stage, the Presenting Officer should not bother about adequacy of evidence. If there is some evidence pointing towards the guilt of the Charged Officer, the charges should be held proved on the basis of preponderance of probability. If the evidence produced in the inquiry leads to proof beyond doubt, the Presenting Officer should specifically mention the same in his brief.
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