Gujarat High Court Quashes Chargesheet Against Govt Official For Renewing Passport Without NOC, Deems It "Administrative Lapse"

In the significant case, the Gujarat High Court bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Gita Gopi has quashed a charge sheet issued against Charu Bhatt, who was serving as a Director of Accounts and Treasury, who was accused of renewing her passport in 2013 without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the State Government.

While two other charges related to passport procurement and unauthorized foreign travel were dropped, the Court held that the renewal without NOC did not constitute “misconduct” under the Gujarat Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1971, as it was merely an administrative “lapse”.

Brief Facts:

Charu Narendrabhai Bhatt (Appellant) filed a Letters Patent Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent, directed against the order dated 2.05.2024, in which her writ petition was dismissed by the single judge. The petition sought to challenge a charge sheet issued on 24.05.2021, alleging misconduct. While two charges were later dropped by the State, Charge No. 2 remained, alleging that the appellant renewed her passport without obtaining an NOC in 2013. The appellant contended that this did not constitute misconduct under Rule 3(1) of the Gujarat Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1971 and that the delay in issuing the charge sheet justified its quashing.

Observations:

The Court observed that the 8-year delay in issuing the charge sheet at the fag end of service od the appellant was indicative of mala fide intention, most likely due to personal grudges held by the officer in charge of issuing the charge sheet. The court placed reliance upon the case of UCO Bank and others vs. Rajendra Shankar Shukla, where the Supreme Court quashed and set aside the charge sheet on the ground of inordinate and unexplained delay.

The court noted that Rule 3(1) of the Gujarat Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1971, refers to three aspects, which the Government servant has to maintain, (i) absolute integrity, (ii) devotion to duty, and (iii) conduct that does not become unbecoming of a government servant. The court held that the act of the appellant—who failed to obtain an NOC at the time of passport renewal—did not constitute a “lack of integrity” or “lack of devotion towards duty”, nor could it be deemed “unbecoming of a Government servant” under clause (iii). This omission, at most, could be viewed as a "lapse" rather than an egregious conduct.

Further, the court observed that Rule 24 of the Gujarat Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2002 empowers the Government to withhold or withdraw pension only when the pensioner is found guilty of “grave misconduct or negligence” during the period of service. It noted that Charge No.2 of the chargesheet does not in any manner satisfy the expression “grave misconduct or negligence”. Thus, the intention of issuing the charge sheet by the Officer by exhuming stale lapse appeared to jeopardize the retirement benefits of the appellant by continuing the departmental proceedings beyond her retirement benefits.

The court observed that the judgment in Union of India and another Vs. Kunisetty Satyanarayana does not completely bar the High Court from quashing the charge-sheet or show-cause notice and it can be done in rare and exceptional cases. It held that the appellant had carved out such exception and her case would fall under 'rare and exceptional case'. Thus, on the ground of unexplained delay of 8 years, and the nature of alleged misconduct, the charge-sheet was quashed and set aside.

The court awarded Rs. 10,000 as costs to the appellant and granted the State the option to recover the amount from the erring officer.

Case Title: Charu Narendrabhai Bhatt vs. State of Gujarat

Case Number: LPA 540/2024

Appearance: Mr. Vaibhav A Vyas (2896) for the Appellant; Mr. Sahil B. Trivedi, AGP for the Respondent.

Date of Judgment: 28.10.2024

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