Holding

The conduct of the member amounted to misbehaviour under Article 317(1); the reference is not infructuous despite the expiry of his term and he is liable to be removed from office.

Summary

The President of India referred a complaint under Article 317(1) to the Supreme Court alleging that a member of the Punjab Public Service Commission, G.K. Saini, slapped the Chairman, Santosh Chowdhary, without provocation. After extensive evidence, including affidavits of the Chairman, three other members, and the respondent, the Court held that the incident constituted misbehaviour. It ruled that the reference remains live even though the member's six‑year term had expired, because removal of a Commission member is governed by Article 317, not ordinary service rules. Consequently, the Court found Saini liable to be removed from office. The decision underscores that members of constitutional bodies must maintain a higher standard of conduct and that the Supreme Court must answer such references irrespective of the tenure of the officer concerned.

Issues considered

Whether a reference under Article 317(1) becomes infructuous after the expiry of the member's term.
Whether the alleged slap constitutes misbehaviour within the meaning of Article 317(1).
Whether the member can be removed from office on the basis of the alleged conduct.
Whether the evidence adduced is sufficient to sustain a finding of misbehaviour.

Legislation cited

Code of Civil Procedure
Code of Criminal Procedure
Constitution of Indias. Article 316, s. Article 317, s. Article 318
Punjab State Public Service Commission (Conditions of Service) Regulations, 1958
Supreme Court Rules

Subjects

Article 317Public Service CommissionRemoval of memberMisbehaviourConstitutional lawSupreme Court referenceTenure of officeDisciplinary proceedingsPhysical assault

Judgment

REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) OF THE CONSTITU-
A
TION OF INDIA

AUGUST 3, 1990

[LALIT MOHAN SHARMA AND P.B. SAWANT, JJ.)
B
Constitution of India, 1950/Punjab State Public Service Commis-
sion (Conditions of Service) Regulations, 1958: Articles 317 and 318-
Member, Public Service Commission Removal of-Inquiry into con-
duct-Presidential Reference to Supreme Court-Whether becomes
infructuous on expiry of term meanwhile-General law of master and
servant applicable to government servants-Applicability of-Conduct
of Member in slapping Chairman-Whether, amounts to misbehaviour
c
rendering him liable to removal from office.

The President of India made a reference under Article 317(1) of
the Constitution to this Court for inquiry and report on the conduct of
the respondent, a Member of the Punjab State Public Service D
Commission.

In a letter addressed to the Governor of the State, with a copy to
the Chief Minister, the Chairman of the Punjab State Public Service
Commission complained that on 24.Jl.1982, while she was proceeding
to her office from the Committee Room, along with the respondent and E
_,..( three other members. after interviewing candidates for certain appoint-
'. ments, the respondent, without any provocation, gave a full blooded
hard slap across her face, "'hen she was discussing with him regarding

... his absence on previous days. The other three memebrs, who were jnst
behind her, also addressed a joint letter to the Governor about the
incident. Since the Governor was not available in the State, the F
Chairman and the three members reported the matter to the Chief
Minister, and handed over the letters to him. Tbe Chief Minister
forwarded the complaint to the Government of India and directed the
Chief Secretary to take necessary action in the matter. The Chief
Secretary recorded the statements of the members. Thereafter, the
respondent received a charge-sheet from the Chief Secretary asking for G
his reply. Besides taking several objections, the respondent denied the
version of the Chairman and claimed that during the course of the
discussions, when the Chairman lost her temper and was going to attack
her with a raised hand, he caught her hand to avoid attack and insult.
The other three members generally supported the Chairman's allega-
tions. After considering the reply of the respondent and the statements H
,.
577
578 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 3 S.C.R.

of the three other members, the President of India made the Reference.
A
--!-
This Court directed notice to be served on ali the five members of
the Commission and they tiled their sworn statements. Affidavits were
also tiled by several other persons who claimed to have knowledge of the
· incident or of its background.
B
Overruling the objections of the respondent that since the inci-
dent, if assumed to be true, may lead to his indictment of having com-
mitted a criminal act or in any event an act which may expose him to ~-

civil action, the Reference should not have been made by the President
without fully satisfying himself (by getting the matter investigated) that
a prima facie case was made out and that this Court should not make an
c enquiry into allegatiions involving disputed facts as that may prejudice
a future action in the ordinary civil ·or criminal court, this Court
directed the District and Session Judge, Delhi to nominate an Addi-
tional District and Session Judge for the purpose of recording evidence
and transmitting the same to this Court. Accordingly, the evidence
D which was led before the Additional District and Sessions Judge was
forwarded to this Court.

It was contended on behalf of the respondent that the Reference
must be treated to have become infructuous and need not lie answered
because the respondent's tenure had already expired and he could not ~-
E be removed from his office and it was futile to examine the evidence
recorded in the case in pursuance of the order of this Court and to
record a finding on the correctness or otherwise of the allegations made
against him, that the period of six years had been rigidly fixed making it
clear that the period should not be extended and the member, on the
expiration of his term wool_!! be ineligible for reappointment and that
F the principle as applicable to lhe Government servants in the discipli-
4
.,J...,
nary proceedings should be made applicable to the members of the
Public Service Commission also. It was also contended that the evidence
of complainant and other witnesses relied upon by her were not fully
consistent and that their case had been developing from stage to stage
which indicated its unreliable nature, and that several important docu-
G ments were not tiled in the proceeding by the State and Public Service
Commission in spite of repeated requests, which had prejudiced the
respondent.
.,,..-- -
Answering the Reference, this Court,

H HELD: I. I The conduct of a Member of the Public Service
REFERENCE UNDER ARTK'LE 317(1) 579

Commission has been considered important enough to be directly dealt A
with by the Constitution itself. The efficiency and purity of administra-
tion are greatly dependent on the right choice of the candidates to be
entrusted with official duty; and to ensure that suitable persons, in
whom the public may have full faith are selected, it was considered
necessary to have a body with members of integrity, sincerity and
B
practical wisdom capable of commanding the confidence of the people
for examining the merits of the candidates and make available to the
appointing authorities their conclusion. Taking into account the possi-
bility of their being subject to pressure, they were given special protec-
tion by the Constitution under Article 317 prJviding that they-xcept
in cases covered by Clause (3)-can be removed from their office only
by an order of the President on the ground of misbehaviour after an c
inquiry by the Supreme Court in this regard. The fact that the apex
Court of the country was entrusted with such a duty indicates the great
importance which has been attached to the office of the Member of the
Commission. Under clause (2) of Article 317, authority to suspend the
Chairman or Member of the State Commission pending an inquiry by
D
the Supreme Court has been vested with the Governor. Hence, the
conducl of a Member of the Commission under scrutiny of this Court in
a reference made by the President cannot be ignored on account of the
tenure being over. [58SB-E]

1.2 The Regulations framed under Article 318 by the Governor
do not and cannot deal with removal and suspension of a Member of the E
Commission since they are exclusively covered by Article 317. The Con-
stitution, while dealing with the removal of a Member of the Commis-
sion does not provide for extending the term of a Member pending
. enquiry into his conduct. The issue, therefore, niust be treated as a live
one even after the expiry of a Member's tenure. The President of India
has requested the Court to investigate into the conduct of a Member and F
this Court ought to convey its conclusions rather than refuse to answer
the question. [583F-G; 586A-B] ·

1.3 The case of a government servant is, oubject to the special
provisions, governed by the law of master and servant, but the position
of Member of the Commission is different. The latter holds a constitu- G
tional post and is governed by the special provisions dealing with diffe-
rent aspects of his office as envisaged by Articles 315 to 323 of Chapter
II of part XIV of the Constitution. The reference will have to be
answered on the merits of the case with reference to the complaint and
the respondent's defence. [586D-E)
H
580 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 3 S.C.R.

R. T. Rangachari v. Secretary of State, AIR 1937 P.C. 27; State of +
A
Assam and Others v. Padma Ram Sarah, AIR 1965 SC 473; Dinesh
Chandra Sangma v. State of Assam and Others, [1978] l SCR 607; B.J.
She/at v. State of Gujarat and Others, [1978] 3 SCR 553 and C.L.
Verma v. State of Madhya Pradesh and another, J.T. 1989 4 SC 182,
distinguished.
B
2.1 There is no dispute that. some Incident did take place on
24 .11.1982 in the Public Service Commission building. The respondent
was absent earlier which led to some discussion between the complain-
ant Chairman and the respondent. According to the Chairman's
evidence, she received a hard slap across her face, altough she was
talking to the respondent politely. Her statement that the respondent
c had slapped her without any provocation and that she was talking to
him politely cannot be accepted. The version of the respondent with
respect of the manner in which she was asking for his explanation may be
correct. She was used to her_ arrogant ways and authoritarian manner
while talking even with her colleagues, and hence the statement of the
D respondent that she was assuming a bossy posture and was insisting on an on
the spot oral explanation from him may be correct. [583F; 582D; 60 ID-El

The evidence on record does indicate that the Chairman was
attempting to exercise her power in an authoritarian manner and lost
her patience even with her colleagues if she was not readily obeyed and
E on more thau one occasion in the past she got annoyed with the other
Members and attempted to get them removed from the Commision.
However, the other three Members of the Commission have pleadged
their oath in support of the allegation that the respondent bad slapped
the Chairman. The circumstances in which the things proceeded also
corroborated their version. Over and above all this, the statements
F made by the respondent himself go to support to a great extent the
complainant's case of physical assault. [598F-G; 599F-G]

All the three Members of the Commission are nnanimous and
emphatic in stating that the respondent did slap the Chairman hard on
her face. They also say that this was without provocation, which means
G that there was no physical provocation on the part of the Chairman.
The three witnesses were cross-examined at great length and were sub-
jected to a very large number of searching questions. There is no mate- _,.- ·
rial coming out of the same on the basis of which they can be discredited.
Though it was not a completely unprovoked situation in which respon-
dent bad hit the Chairman, bis statement that the provocation was not
H limited to a verbal duel and extended to the Chairman raising her hand
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) [SHARMA, J.] 581

as if to assault him, justifying him to slap her cannot be accepted as
A
correct. The Chairman ·did not attack or intimidate respondent with physi-
cal violence and the respondent losing his self-control at the arrogance of
the Chairman in her talk with him, slapped her. [601F-G; 603A-B; DJ

2. 2 Persons occupying high public offices should maintain irre-
proachable behaviour. A certain minimum standard of code of i:onduct B
js ~xpected of tilem. Whai may be ncusable for an uneducated young
r ·· man cannot be tolerated if a Member of a Public Service Commission is
involved. Besides, the respondent and the Chairman were not thrashing
out a personal matter or a private dispute. They were discussing a
·question involving their office and this in. broad-day-light in the open
corrider of the Commission's building. Whatever the· provocation
offered by the Chairman, the respondent was not justified in losing his c
. coot to the extent of indulging in physical violence. That the violence
-...,._ should have been directed against a lady makes his conduct all the more
reprehensible. The respondent miserably failed in maintaining the
standard of conduct expected of a Member of the Commission and
thereby brought great disrepute to his office. Hence the respondent's D
conduct amounted to misbehavour within the meaning of Article 317(1)
of the Constitution and it rendered him liable to be removed from his office
of the Member of the Punjab Public Service Commission. [604G-H; 605A-BI

3. The refusal to produce the documents prayed for by the
respondent has not prejudiced him since he was not entitled to those E
documents.

- ADVISORY JURISDICTION: Special Reference No. l·of 1983.

(Under Article 317(1) of the Constitution of India).
F
R.N. Mittal, Pradeep Gupta, Prakash Chandra, Mrs. Rekha
Dayal, Mrs. Sarla Chandra and Girish Chandra for the Petitioners.

Ashok Desai, Additional Solicitor General, G.L. Sanghi,
A. Sobba Rao, Ms. A subhashini, S.K. Mehta, Aman Vachher, Atul
Nanda and C.M. Nayyar for the Respondents. G

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

SHARMA, J. This is a reference under Article 317(1) of the
Constitution made by the President of India to this Court for inquiry
and report on the complaint of Smt. Santosh Chowdhary, Chairman of H
582 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1990] 3 S.C.R.

the Punjab Public Service Commission alleging misbehaviour on the -{-
A part of Sri Gopal Krishna Saini, a Member of the Commission.

2. According to the case of Smt. Chowdhary, a number of candi-
dates for certain appointments were interviewed at Patiala on
24.11.1982 till about 1.15 p.m. Thereafter Smt. Chowdhary along with
B. Sri Saini and the other three Members of the Commission left the
Committee room and proceeded towards the complainant's office
when a very unpleasant incident took place. Sri Saini had been absenC ~
on the previous two days and Snit. Chowdhary, the Chairman,
enquired from him the reason. She also asked him to inform her in
advance whenever in the future he had to remain absent. According to
her further case, Sri Saini did not take the advice in the right spirit and
c suggested that the Chairman may put the same in writing on which she
wanted a clarification as to the matter she was being asked to put in_
writing. She alleges that thereupon Sri Sain, without any provocation
or any further conversation gave a full blooded hard slap across her
face which not only stunned her but left her in great physical shock and
D pain. Other Members of the Commission who were just behind her
were also shocked by this conduct. One of the Members led her to her
office and the other two Members also later followed but Sri Saini
disappeared from the scene. It is said that she sent her complaint in the
form of a confidential letter addressed to Dr. M. Chenna Reddy, the
then Governor of Punjab, with a copy.to Sri Darbara Singh, the then
E Chief Minister of Punjab.

3. Before proceeding further with the other details leading to
the present Reference it may be stated that Smt. Chowdhary was
appointed a Member of the Punjab Public Service Commission in
February 1975 and as the Chairman on 28.4.1980. Sri Saini was
F appointed a Member on 311.5.1980. After the General Elections in
Pun;ab Sri Darbara Singh became the Chief Minist!r of the State in
early June, 1980.

4. The Governor was not available in Punjab and, therefore, it is
said that the complaint was forwarded to the Government of India by
G the Chief Minister on 25 .11.1982. The alleged incident did not get any
publicity for sometime and a news item appeared in one of the Jaily
papers for the first time on 11.12.1982. Sir Saini thereafter recei'cd a
charge-sheet dated 15 .12.1982 from the Chief Secretary asking for his
reply. Besides taking several technical objections, Sri Saini denied the
story of Smt. Chowdhary. The other three Members of the Commis-
H sion, namely, Sri H.S. Deol, Sri M.S. Brar and Sri W.G. Lall, gener-
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) [SHARMA, J.I 583

ally supported the complainant's allegation. The present Reference was
A
made by the President of India after considering the reply of Sri Saini
and the statements of Sri Deol, Sri Brar and Sri Lall.

5. After the receipt of the Reference, this Court directed notice
to be served on all the five Members of the Commission and they filed
their sworn statements. Affidavits were also fiJed by several other B
per~ons who claimed to have knowledge of the incident or of its
alleged background. The Attorney General for India and the Advo-
cate General of Punjab also appeared to assist the Court. It was con-
tended on behalf of Sri Saini that since the alleged incident, if assumed
tci be true, may lead to his indictment of having committed a criminal
act or in any event an act which may expose him to civil action, the
reference should not have been made by the President without fully
c
satisfying himself (by getting the matter investigated) that a prima
facie case was made out. It was argued that this Court should not make
:m inquiry into allegations involving disputed facts as that may pre-
judice a future action in the ordinary civil or criminal court. After
considering the questions raised by Sri Saini at some length, this Court D
by its judgment dated 17.8.1983 overruled the objections and directed
the District and Sessions Judge, Delhi to nominate an Additional Dis-
trict and Sessions Judge for the purpose of recording evidence and
transmitting the same to this Court. Accordingly, evidence which was
led before the Additional District and Sessions Judge has been
forwarded to this Court. The case, however, was not promptly listed E
for final disposal under the wrong impression that it could be disposed
of only by a Constitution Bench which was not available on account of
more urgent cases.

6. Before the Additional District Judge a large number of
witnesses were exaiµined at considerable length. A number of docu- F
ments and affidavit~ also form part of the records. There does not
appear to be any dispute that some incident did take place on
24.11.1982 soon after 1,00 p.m. in the Public Service Commission
building at Patiala. Sri Saini was absent earlier which led to some
discussion between the complainant Chairman and the respondent Sri
Saini. The parties however differ as to what actually happened at that G
stage. According to the case of the complainant, she has reiterated her
earlier version as disclosed in the complaint. Mr. R.N. Mittal, the
learned counsel appearing for Shri Saini, has however attempted to
suggest that her evidence and the evidence of other witnesses relied
upon by her are not fully ·consistent and that their case has been
developing from stage to stage indicating its unreliable nature. A simi- H
584 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1990] 3 S.C.R.

Jar comment is made on behalf of the complainant on the evidence led by
A Sri Saini. We will have to deal with the evidence at some length.

7. Sri. R.N. Mittal also contended that several important docu-
ments were not filed in the proceeding by State of Pun jab and the
Public Service Commission inspite of repeated requests which has
B prejudiced Sri Saini. An application was moved before this Court for
a direction to produce a number of documents which was registered as
C.MP. No. 37191 of 1983 and was disposed of by the order dated
9 .12.1983 at pages 1023-1024 of Vol. VI of the paper book). While
dealing with some of the documents it was observed that the petitioner
(Sri Saini would be at liberty to contend during the hearing of the
Reference case that he has been prejudiced in his defence by reason of
c the fact that he was not allowed to inspect them and if this Court
accepts that contention it may become necessary to allpw the peti-
tioner to inspect those documents and to recall certain Witnesses for
futher examination. When the case was taken up before us, Sri Mittal
reiterated the stand of Sri Saini and explained the nature of the docu-
D ments sought to be produced for inspection. We examined the matter
closely at considerable length and we do no agree with Sri R.N. Mittal
that the petitioner (Sri Saini) was entitled to inspect the documents
referred to above and the refusal in this regard has prejudiced him.

8. Sri R.N. Mittal next contended that the reference must be
E treated to have become infructuous and need not be answered. As
provided in Article 316(2), the tenure of office of a Member of a
Public Service ·commission is six years (subject to reduction of the
period in case of the Member reaching the age of superannuation
earlier, which is not the case here). The term of office of Sri Saini was
to expire in May, 1986. The contention of Sri Mittal is that since his
p tenure expired in 1986, Sri Saini cannot now be removed from his
office and it is, therefore, futile to examine the evidence recorded in
the case in pursuance of the earlier order of this Court, and to record a
finding on the correctness or otherwise of the allegations made against
him. Referring to the provisions of Article 316, dealing with the
appointment and term of office of Members, the learned counsel
G emphasised the fact that the period of six years has been rigidly fixed
making it clear that the period cannot be extended and the Member on
the expiration of his term would be ineligible for re-appointment.
Reliance was placed on several decisions dealing with disciplinary pro-
ceedings against the govemn:ient servants, and it was argued that the
same principle should be applicable to Members of the Public Service
H Commissions. Reference was made to the decisions in R. T. Rangachari
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) (SHARMA, J.] 585

v. Secretary of State, AIR-1937 P.C. 27; State of Assam and Others v. A
:::~Padma Ram Borah, AIE 1965 SC 473; Dinesh Chandra Sangma v..
State of Assam and Others, [1978] 1 SCR 607; B.J. She/at v. State of
Gujarat and Others, [1978] 3 SCR 553 and C.L. Verma v. State of
Madhya Pradesh and Another, J.T. 1989 4 SC 182. An examination cf
these decisions would show that the cases depended on the interpreta-
tion and effect of the relevant service rules dealing with the conditions B
of service including provisions in regard to retirement and compulsory
__retirement. So far the present case is concerned, the conduct of a
-;[ Member of the Public Service Commission' is in question which has
been considered important enough to be directly dealt with by the
Constitution itself. The efficiency and purity of administration are
greatly dependent on the right choice of the candidates to be entrusted
with official duty; and to ensure that suitable persons, in whom the
c
public may have full faith are selected, it was considered necessary to
---,~ have a body with members of integrity, sinceriety, and practical
wisdom capable of commanding the confidence of the people for
examining the merits of the candidates and make available to the
appointing authorities their conclusion. Taking into account the possi- D
bility of their being subject to pressure, they were given special protec-
tion by the Constitution under Article 317 providing that they-except
in cases covered by Clause (3)-can be removed from their office only
by an order of the President on the ground of misbehaviour after an
_,..J._ inquiry by the Supreme Court in this regard. The fact that the apex
Court of the country was entrusted with such a duty indicates the great E
importance which has been attached to the office of the Member of the
Commission. Under clause (2) of Article 317, authority to suspend the
Chairman or Member of the Commission pending an inquiry by the
Supreme Court has been vested with the Governor in the case of a
State Commission. If the position is examined in this background it is
difficult to suggest that the conduct of a member of the Commission F
..).. under scrutiny of this Court in a reference made by the President can
be ignored on account of the tenure being over. The Regulations
framed under Article 318 by the Governor do not and cannot deal with
removal and suspension of a Member of the Commission since they are
exclusively covered by Arlicle 317. Part V of the Punjab State Public
Service Commission (Conditions of Service) Regulations, 1958, pro- G
vides for the payment of pension with the proviso that a Member who
has been removed from office shall not be entitled .to the same. So far
- ---... as the government servants are concerned, there are specific set of.
rules in regard to pension, inter alia dealing with cases in which
government servants are found guilty of serious charges oommitted on
the eve of their retirement. The rules governing many services also H
586 SUPREME COURT REPORTS I1990) 3 S.C.R.
provide for extending the period of service of the government servant
A with a view to complete a pending disciplinary proceeding. In the case-~-
. of a Member of the Commission, the Constitution, while dealing with
the removal of a Member, does not provide for such contingencies.
The issue, therefore, must be treated as a live one even after the expiry
of a Member's tenure. The President of India has requested this Court
B to investigate into the conduct of a Member and this Court ought to
convey its conclusions rather than refuse to answer the question. Dur-
ing the hearing of the case, we enquired from Sri Mittal, the learned
counsel for Sri Saini, whether, in the event of this proceeding being· T
dropped as suggested on his behalf, he is ready to give up his claim for
salary for the period he was under suspension and for pension, and Sri
Mittal after taking instructions froin Sri Saini, who was present in
C Court throughout the arguments, stated that the respondent would not
give up his claim and would demand arrears of his salary and pension.

9. The case of a government servant is, subject to the special
provisions, governed by the law of master and servant, but the position
D in the case of a Member of the Commission is different. The latter
holds a constitutional post and is governed by the special provisions
dealing with differettt aspects of his office as envisaged by Articles 315
to 323 of Chapter II of Part XIV of the Constitution. In our view the
decisions dealing with service cases relied upon on behalf of the

11
respon~ e nht have bno applicatdion toh the presenfthmatter andh thef refer- ~-
E ence wt ave to e answere on t e merits o t e case wit re erence
to the complaint and the respondent's defence.

10. The evidence which has been led in this case is voluminous.
The details dealing with the admission of evidence had been consi-
dered by this Court earlier and after considering the relevant Constitu- ~
F tional provisions, the Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure and the
Supreme Court Rules, an order in this regard was passed on 17.8.1983. J..
There is no grievance by the parties before us on this aspect, excepting.
the contention on behalf of Sri Saini that he has been prejudiced in his
defence on account of non-availability of a number of documents, with
which we do not agree.
G
11. We have gone through the entire evidence in the case and
have heard elaborate arguments by the learned counsel representing
the parties. The questions which have now to be answered are: .r
(i) Whether Sri Saini had slapped Smt. Chowdhary and, if so, in
H what circumstances?
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) [SHARMA, J.l 587

(ii) Whether Sri Saini acted in a manner which rendered him A
liable to be removed from his office of Member of the Punjab
Public Service Commission?

12. The allegation of Smt. Chowdhary which she made in her
letter dated 24.11.1982 has been mentioned earlier. The letter was
drafted by her in her office room immediately after the incident. B
Immediately thereafter the other three Members, Sri Deol, Sri Brar
T and Sri Lall drafted a joint letter addressed to the Governor, which
reads as follows:

"With great regret we saw a dastardly happening
today in the Commission premises. When we were walking
down the corridor from the Committee Room after the C
days interviews with the candidates, Mr. G .K. Saini was
walking ahead with Mrs. Santosh Chowdhary, the Chair-
man. She was apparently enquiring from him about his
absence from the interviews on the previous two days. Just
outside the Chairman's office, Mr. Saini asked the Chair- D
man to give him in writing. Mr. Saini without any provoca-
tion slapped her right across the face.

This dastardly incident has left us all completely stun-
ned and shocked. Apart from anything else, this transcends
all civilised behaviour not only to the Chairman of the E
Commission but also to a lady who deserves the highest
courtesy.

We would like to place on record our great sense of
shock at this uncivilised and criminal behaviour. We
humbly submit that we would not like to sit on the Com- F
mission with Mr. G.K. Saini. We strongly urge that action
may kindly be taken to have him removed from such a high
office forthwith."

It was decided :iy all four of them, that is, the Chairman and the three
Members, to report the matter personally to the Governor and with G
that view they all proceeded to Chandigarh. The Governor was, how-
- --..,.._.ever, not available before the 1st of December, 1982, and the matter
was reported to the Chief Minister Sri Darbara Singh and the letters
were handed over to him. The Chief Minister called Sri K.D.
Vasudeva, Chief Secretary, and directed him to take necessary action.
Sri Deol, Sri Brar and Sri Lall ·also made statements before the Chief H
588 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 3 S.C.R.

Secretary on solemn affirmation on 20.12.1982 which were recorded_ {-
A
by the Chief Secretary and signed by the Members respectively.
According to the statements before the Chief Secretary, Sri Deol, and
Sri Lall suggested to Sri Saini that he should immediately apologise to
Smt. Chowdhary but he refused to do so. In the meantime Sri Brar
accompanied Smt. Chowdhary into her room where the other two
B Members also joined them, after leaving behind Sri Saini in his room.
Sir Deol further stated that when he asked Sri Saini as to why did he
behave in the rude and uncultured manner, he replied in Punjabi that- --....,..
"this is the way we do it". They all insisted that without any provoca-
tion from Smt. Chowdhary Sri Saini had slapped her. In respect to the
letter dated 15.12.1982 of the Chief Secretary, Sri Saini, vide letter
dated 24.12.1982, besides taking preliminary objection to the said
c letter which was in substance a show cause notice, placed his version of
the incident in the following words:

"On 24. 11.1982, when we came out of the Committee
Room, she took me ahead of all other Members since she
D said that-she wanted to talk to me alone, so that other
members could P.ot hear. I followed her. She demanded
explanation as to why I had not attended the meetings on
the preceding two days. I told her that I had informed her
in advance. But she insisted that the application should
have .been submitted and got sanctioned from her in
E. advance. I told her that she was proct. ding against the
decision of the Public Service Commission taken around
July 1981 by all the members. I told her to give in writing,
so that I could seek a fresh mandate. I told her that the
Chairman alone could not overrule the decision of all the
members. She felt I was challenging her seniority. She lost
F temper and was going to attack me with a raised hand,
when I caught her hand to avoid attack and insult. It is
absolutely incorrect that I gave any slap or in any other
manner attacked her.

The other members, who were at some distance,
G reached later. Some candidates, who had come for inter-
view that day and some office staff had reached earlier and
separated us.

Sarvshri H.S. Deol and W.G. Lall took me aside and
asked me to go to the Chairman, who, they said was a lady.
H I told them that I have been wronged but they should not
.REFERENCE UNDER AR11CLE 317(1) [SHARMA. J.J 589

add insult to injury by making me to go to the Chairman."
-'r--- A
1
He told the Chief Secretary that he came from a renowned family of
lawyers and that his elder brother had held a judicial post for three
decades and had retired from the post of District and Sessions Judge.
He was himself a lawyer of 18 years standing and was of a cool tem-
perament never losing his temper which would be supported by the B
members of the public. He further said that his relations with Smt.
Chowdhary, who was his neighbour, were most cordial, and the two
families were on visiting terms. When his son was involved in a road
accident Smt. Chowdhary was very sympathetic and helpful to him and
the two had been going to the office on many occasions in the same
car. However, the unfortunate incident happened mainly due to the
temperament of the Chairman. She suffers from a complex that she is c
the 'boss' and nobody could express an honest difference of opinion
even on trifling matters. In the past she had been behaving in a wholly
unreasonable manner with the Members of the Commission including
one Sri Mitha, retired earlier, and Sri Deol, the sitting Member. All
this can be proved from the records available at the Governor's Sec- D
retariat. Explaining as to why the other Members were supporting
Smt. Chowdhary, the respondent stated that they became hostile to
him as he had refused to apologise to the lady. He also pointed out that
although they had indicated in their earlier letters that they did not like
sitting with him, as a matter of fact, they continued holding the
. interviews of the candidates along with the respondent. E

13. After service of notice issued by this Court all these five
persons as also Sri Darbara Singh, Chief Minister, and the Chief Sec-
retary and a number of other persons who claimed to have information
of the incident filed their affidavits before this Court. Sri Saini filed a
long affidavit along with annexures which is included at pages 19 to 90 F
in Vol. I of the paper book. He also filed separate counter affidavits
explaining his stand with reference to the statements made by the
other persons so far they went against him. The counter affidavit of
Smt. Chowdhary in reply to Sri Saini's affidavit is also a detailed one
and is included at pages 1-34 of Vol. II of tbe paper book. Other
further affidavits filed by many persons described as counter affidavits G
or rejoinder affidavits or affidavits in reply were filed before this Court
in 1983.
-.,. ---.,. __
14. Apart from denying the version of the incident as presented
in the complaint petition and the affidavits of the Chairman, Sri Saini
has attempted to give the background in which the present accusation H
590 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990) 3 S.C.R.

has been made ag&inst him. According to his case, there were two
A
groups in the ruling Congress Party in Punjab, one led by Giani Zail - --(-
Singh, who later became the President of India, and the other of Sri
Darbara Singh. Sri Saini was appointed a Member of the Public
Service Commission on 30.5.1980, that is, just a day before the
General Elections for the State, in which Sri Darbara Singh emerged
8 as the leader. He took charge of the office of Chief Minister on
6.6.1980 and was disappointed to find that the constitution of the
Commission was complete with the Chairman and five Members. In
August, 1982 Sri D.S. Sodhi one of the Members retired and Sri "T
Darbara Singh wanted to have his nominee in his place. The Gover-
nor, Sri Chenna Reddy, however, declined to fill up the 6th post and
Sri Darbara Singh was, therefore, pigued at the situation. He became
c determined to get his nominee appointed even if it required some
manoeuvre for creating the vacancy. In the meantime some misunder-
standing developed between Sri Darbara Singh and the wife of Sri .,...
~

Saini, Smt. Krishna Chaudhary, who is a social worker. Smt. Kirshna
I had led a deputation of the villagers of certain locality to the then
D Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, and the Chief Minister felt that
this was a move against him and he threatened her publicly. Both the
Chief Minister and Smt. Krishna have been examined as witnesses in
this case and have been cross-examined at considerable length. Mr.
Mittal, the learned counsel for the respondent, developed the theory
of a conspiracy in his argument on the basis of the evidence led in the ).__
E case and argued that Sri Darbara Singh hatched out the conspiracy to
get the respondent removed from his office, to which Smt. Chowdhary
became a colluding party. When a minor incident took place on
24.11.1982 she exploited the situation to her advantage with a view to
please the Chief Minister, and the Members being impressed by the

F
drama enacted by her, fell for her story. It was argued by the learned·
counsel that the original complaint petition of Smt. Chowdhary which
was drawn up like an F.I.R. was not traceable on the records of the
'
,J__

Governor's Secretariat and could not be filed as evidence. Referring to
its zerox copy it was pointed that the same did not bear any official
number of the office of the Public Service Commission; and, the
endorsements made thereon were also characterised as suspicious.
G The Governor was to return to Punjab by the end of the month, but
without waiting for a single day the Chief Minister decided to take
immediate hasty step on the complaint and directed the Chief Sec-
retary accordingly. Relying on the evidence which indicates that Smt. -/
Chowdhary along with the other three Members and a stenographer,
travelling with his typewriter in another car, all proceeded from
H Patiala to Chandigarh, it was urged that if the complaint petition and
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) [SHARMA, J.] 591

the joint petition of the three Members had already been dratted at
A
.~~.. _ Patiala, where was the necessity of two car loads of people along with a
typewriter to proceed to Chandigarh. The argument is that Smt.
Chowdhary took care of taking the three Members to meet the Chief
Minister and get commited to their story thus closing their way to
return to the truth. The evidence of several other witnesses examined
in support of the defence of Sri Saini's version of the incident was also B
relied upon.

15. The learned counsel for the respondent placed the subse-
quent statements of the th,-ee Members df the Commission and con-
tended that they show .a clear departure from their original stand.
Similar criticism has been made against the evidence of Smt.
Chowdhary also. In our view, there is no vital difference in their
statements made from time to time which may render their evidence
doubtful. But before we proceed to examine the evidence in detail on
this aspect, we would briefly indicate the nature of the other evidence
led in the case.
D
16. A number of affidavits were attached to main affidavit of Sri
Saini filed in this case on 1.3.1983. In these affidavits sworn on
28.2.1983 and 1.3.1983, some of the deponents claimed to be eye-
witnesses of the incident, and they denied the story of slapping of the
Chairman by the respondent. They are Ujagar Singh, Avtar Singh,
Labh Singh and Hakam Singh. According to their version it was the E
Chairman who was shouting at the respondent and had raised her hand
in air. Hakam Singh subsequently did not support his earlier statement
and according to the case of the respondent supported by a second
affidavit of Ujagar Singh, he had been won over through the police.
The respondent had also attached an affidavit of his wife stating that
she being a social worker had met the Prime Minister to press the F
grievance of certain villagers which enraged the Chief Minister. The
Chief Minister subsequently threatened her with a warning that she
would be set right. This story has been again supported by the
affidavits of Labh Singh, Bakshish Singh, Niranjan Singh, Mahendra
Singh and Swaran Singh. Two advocates Santokh Singh Gil and Hari
Mohan Singh Pal stated on affidavits that Sri Saini came from a G
respectable family and was known for his cool temper and good
menners. Some of the deponents later disowned the statements in the
affidavits; and another affidavit was filed on behalf of the respondent
stating that this was the result of an attempt by the other side to win
over the witnesses through the police. This allegation has been denied
by the police witnesses M.S. Bhul!er and Narender Pal Singh. H
592 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 3 S.C.R.

17. So far the case of the respondent about the actual incident is
A concerned, he has narrated his version in several affidavits filed in this
proceeding. With respect to what actually happened soon after 1.00
p.m. on 24.11.1982, he admits that there was some unpleasant inci-
dent, but the story given out by Chairman and the other Members is
incorrect. It is claimed that it was a minor affair which was later blown
B out of proportion with a view to harm him and get the post occupied by
him vacated. Mr. Mittal has contended that if it were not so, the
newspapers would have reported the story immediately after 24.11.1982,
but the incident was not reported in any paper before 11.12.1982 when
the daily newspaper "Indian Express" for the first time stated that it
was a case of heated exchange between the Chairman and the respon-
dent outside the Committee Room. The report has been fully quoted
c in the respodent's reply which further stated that some Members and
employees of the Commission were witness to the angry exchange and
although the Chairman refused to talk on the issue, her husband when
contacted, described the incident as a minor one. The statements of
the respondent as to what exactly happened may be at this stage con-
D sidered. According to his reply sent to the Chief Secretary, the
Chairman was expressing her displeasure on his absence on the pre-
vious two days and was insisting that an application should have been
submitted and sanction obtained from her in advance. This part of the
respondent's statement has been quoted in paragraph 12 above. The
respondent reminded her of the decision taken by the Commission in
E July 1981 to the contrary and told her that if she wanted to overrule the
decision she should say so in writing. This reply agitated her and she
lost temper and was going to attack him with a raised hand which he
caught to avoid the attack. Besides this, he did not do anything else.
The other Members who were a little behind, reached the place where
this incident happened, later. Some candidates who had come for
F interview and some members of the office staff intervened and
separated them. In his subsequent affidavit filed before this Court the
respondent however said in paragraph 1 that the reference had been
made "on an allegation against the deponent which as a fact never
occurred and what was only a heated exchange of words between the
deponent and the Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Punjab
G on Z4.1 l.1982 at about 1.15 p.m. has been blown out of proportion by
the interested parties for securing their personal ends." The respon-
dent then quoted the report which appeared in the "Indian Express"
mentioning only the heated exchange. Towards the end of paragraph 3 ·.. ..,,,-
of his affidavit he further argued that, "if it was actually a case of
physical assault like "slapping" a dignitary like a Chairman of an
H august body i.e. the Commission, the reporter could not have ignored
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) (SHARMA, J.] 593

that fact just to report it as a "minor" incident and only as "heated
:er exchange". This is not consistent with either his earlier statement or
A
with the detailed account mentioned in the affidavit where he once
more stated that he "noticed one hand of the Chairman going high up
in the air and the deponent, with the state of mind that he was in at
that time after a humiliating interrogation by the Chairman, 'thought
that the raised hand of the Chairman might not come upon the depo- B
nent as a blow and as such the deponent just intercepted that raised
- f . hand of the Chairman by raising his own hand and bringing her raised
I hand down by that effort." The respondent, however, is not emphatic
in claiming that the Chairman had really intended any physical harm or
insult to him by her raised hand. The following statement in his
affidavit is relevant in this connection:
c
"If the Chairman really intended to give a blow to the
deponent by her raised hand then the deponent was fully
justified to make an attempt at warding off that intended
blow to save himself from further humilation publicly and if
the raised hand of the Chairman was not intended for a D
blow at me but was only an involuntary mannerism on her
part in that moment of her great excitement induced by her
own self by a mistaken belief in her own importance being
deflated by a supposed subordinate in authority then also
the deponent's action was justified by the attending cir-
cumstances when nothing but an 111 motive on the part of E
the Chairman could be conjectured and concluded in that
moment of confusion, on the part of the deponent",

· 18. The main witnesses of the unfortunate incident· are the
Chairman, the respondent and the remaining three Members of the
Commission, and they are consistent about a physical impact between F
· the .Chairman and the respondent. The other witnesses relied upon by
the respondent who denied any physical contact between them cannot
be believed, and we do not propose to discuss their evidence at length.
Dr. Vinod Gupta and Dr. Satyadev Saini asserted in their affidavits
that the Chairman was shouting at the respondent and thereafter went
to her room. Dr. Saini described the tone of the Chairman as insulting. G
He said that after the intervention of some persons, she went to her
room. Even the respondent does not simplify the entire happening as
- --... 'the two doctors have attempted to do. They appear to have been
biased against the Chairman and were making false statement to pro-
tect the respondent. Dr. Gupta in his cross-examination insisted that
although he was getting only a stipend for the honse-job and. was H
594 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 3 S.C.R.

A anxious to get a service, he and his colleague Dr. Saini decided to
travel to Delhi, engage a lawyer and pay for the affidavits that were
filed. The claim is that they were doing it as members of the public in
response to call for justice, but their statements in cross-examination
expose their hostile attitude towards the Chairman. Wenave no hesi-
tation in rejecting their evidence as unreliable. The affidavits of the
B other persons and their evidence do not do any credit to them and we
will close this chapter by rejecting their statements as undependable.
The main issue with respect to the actual incident must, therefore, be
decided on a consideration of the affidavits of the respondent, and the
affidavits and evidence of the Chairman and the other three Members
of the Commission in their cross-examination. So far the respondent is
concerned, he first decided to examine himself as a witness but later
c declined to do so. After the case was closed by the Additional District
and Sessions Judge an application was made on his behalf stating that
be had changed his mind and that he was on his way to the Court for
being examined as a witness, but somehow his arrival was delayed.
The Additional District and Sessions Judge did not reopen the matter
o and we think rightly. We do not believe that the respondent had really
intended to appear as a witness to be cross-examined and the belated
application was filed merely by way of an excuse. The respondent was
within his rights not to appear in the proceeding as a witness, specially
because on the allegation made against him he was entitled to consider
himself in the position of an accused in a criminal case. But he should
E have boldly taken this stand in the proceeding and should not have
vacillated from one stand to another and from one excuse to another
from time to time. As a respectable member of the Bar and as a
Member of the Public Service Commission one would expect from him
a straight forward approach and we do not appreciate his attempt to ~
invent an alibi.
F
19. It has been argued on behalf of the respondent that the issue - ~
must be examined in the background of the circumstances indicating a
deep conspiracy to oust the respondent from the Commission hatched
out at the instance of the Chief Minister by the Chairman and others.
Reliance was placed on the affidavit of his wife Smt. Krishna
G Chaudhary (who has been referred to during the hearing as Smt.
Krishna so as to avoid the confusion between her name and the name
of the Chairman) which was filed along with the main affidavit of the
respondent. She is a social worker and has been rendering public
service in various capacities detailed in her affidavit. She has stated
about her visit to the residence of the Chief Minister, Sri Darbara
H Singh, in the company of her husband and the Chairman. She says that
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) [SHARMA, J.] 595

on seeing her and her husband the Chief Minister lost his cool and
~r-cteclared that the Public Service Conunission would be dissolved. From A
the manner in which the attack proceeded, it was clear to her that the
"outburst was directed against her husband", the present respondent.
At the end of the meeting the Chief Minister asked the respondent to
align with the Chairman and follow her instructions. She has described
another incident when she had to face the wrath of the Chief Minister B
earlier. She was espousing the cause of certain villagers and in that
connection led a delegation to the Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi.
' ( The Prime Minister after giving a patient hearing to her, sent a telex
massege to the Chief Minister instructing him to do the needful, and
accordingly Sri Darbara Singh paid a visit to the village in question in
March 1981. There he made a pointed inquiry from the villagers as to
who had led and prompted them to go to the Prime Minister instead of c
approaching him. When he learnt that it was Smt. Krishna who had
' r ·gone to the Prime Minister with their case, the Chief Minister shouted
at her expressing his deep displeasure. She appeared before the Addi-
tional District and Sessions Judge for cross-examination. Her deposi-
tion in the case attempted to evade many questions which she thought D
would show her in bad light. Asked about her unsuccessful attempt to
get a party ticket for the election to the State Assembly, she first stated
that she had never made an application, but later she had to correct it
by accepting that she had asked for the party ticket from Anandpur
_f Saheb Constituency which was refused. From the evidence on the
record it is clear that meinbers of both the families of the respondent E
and his wife's f~ther have been -respectable Congressmen of Punjab,
and their presence in the public life of the State cannot be ignored. But
when Smt. Krishna was asked about various details of her association
. in the political field she did not come out with straight forward
answers. She had been arrested and put in custody for about 2 months
during the Janata Party regime in the country in 1977-1979 along with F
Sri Darbara Singh and several other Congress workers. With a view to
evade the questions which were being put to her about her company
and the manner in which she conducted herself during that period, she
first said that she did not recollect when she underwent the imprison-
ment and that .:the other persons mentioned by the corss-examining
lawyer "might have been" also there. Another line which was pursued G
in her cross-examaination was about her and her husband's financial
position. About receiving donations for social work, she claimed that
-- ··she stopped collecting donations after her husband became a Member
of the Public Service Commission. Several questions were asked about
the income of her husband from his law practice as well as that derived
from his ancestral properties but she evaded to give the necessary H
596 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 3 S.C.R.

information. She said that she did not have any idea as to the extent of
A the family properties and the income available therefrom. Nor could
she say whether her husband was paying income-tax or not before he
became a Member of the Commission. However, pursued further she
had to admit that the income from the properties could not be substan-
tial. We are not here concerned with the actual properties belonging to
the respondent or his income, but the manner in which Smt. Krishna
answered the questions put to her in her cross-examination becomes
relevant as it shows that she did not have unflinching respect for truth
and that she is capable of making a statement which may suit her.
Reliance has also been placed on the affidatits of several other persons
in support of her story about the threat publicly given to her by the
Chief Minister. For the reasons briefly indicated below they also
c cannot be believed.

20. One of the affidavits supporting the version of Smt. Krishna
was by Labh Singh filed in this Court along with the counter affidavit
of the respondent. The affidavit runs in five paragraphs and the depo-
0 nent mentioned several dates in relation to the incident on five occa-
sions, but in his cross-examination he conceded that he was totally
illiterate except for putting his signature in Urdu, and that he had no
idea about the English calendar month either, which has been used in
his affidavit. In his affidavit he has described the present case correctly
as a reference under Article 317( 1) of the Constitution. But in his
E cross-examination he admitted his complete "ignorance about the Con-
stitution as also about the nature of the present proceeding. When a
pointed question was asked in this regard, he said th~t what he meant
to say in the counter affidavit was that Sri Darbara Singh was a liar. He
had also to say that he did not know what was typed in the affidavit.
His statements clearly indicate that he was under the influence of the
F respondent and his wife and was lending his name to the affidavit
without having any idea of its contents. He does not have any respect
for truth as indicated by his contradictory statements made in regard to
his alleged relationship with the respondent and about the alleged
incidents in which Sri Darbara Singh is said tci have given an open
public threat to Smt. Krishna. Identical affidavits sworn by Bakshish
G Singh, Mahinder Singh and Sarwan Singh were also filed. Sarwan
Singh was also cross-examined at considerable length and his state-
ments are equally undependable. He was Sarpanch for sometime and
was attached to the family of the respondent for decades. He admitted
his association with Smt. Krishna for 25-30 years. Another person by
the name of Niranjan Singh claimed to have been a witness of the
H threat by Sri Darbara Singh. The witness was cross-examined at
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) [SHARMA, J.] 597

length. He has not faired better than the others. We are not impressed
-\.- A
by the affidavits of the others, and we do not consider it necessary to
deal with their evidence individually except mentioning that there has
been some controversy as to whether there was an attempt on the part
of the Chairman through the State Police authorities to influence the
witnesses. Affidavits and counter affidavits have been filed by the
parties in support of their respective stands. None of these affidavits B
inspires confidence. Sri Darbara Singh has filed his affidavit denying
~y~ all the allegations made against him about his annoyance with Smt.
Krishna and the allegged threat to her; or his prejudice to the respon-
dent and complicity in any conspiracy. He stated that Smt. Krishna
never saw him nor did he receive any direction or message from the
Prime Minister in regard to any grievance of the villagers and there
was no question of hii; having threatened Smt. Krishna. He appeared c
as a witness and was cross-examined at length. His deposition is at
' - pages 813-879 of Vol. V of the paper book, portion of which was read
by the learned counsel for the parties during the hearing. A large
number of questions in regard to the internal politics of the Congress
Party in Punjab were put to him. It wanuggested that he and Giani D
Zia! Singh were heading two rival factions of the Congress Party. The
Chief Minister evaded such questions by saying that there is a single
Congress Party known as Congress(!). We do not consider his reluct-
ance to discuss the ·internal matter of the Party as unnatural and we
~ cannot draw any inference against him on that account. There is
nothing in his deposition indicating that his denial of the allegations E
made against him by the respondent and his wife is not worthy of
acceptance. The story of his outburst against the respondent in pre-
sence of other persons and against Smt. Krishna in the presence of a

~
large number of villagers is neither natural nor supported by the
circumstances; and the evidence led is wholly undependable. For this
~ conclusion we are not depending on the evidence of the Chairman with
respect to the alleged interview when Sri Darbara Singh is said to have
F

expressed his displeasure to Sri Saini.

21. It has been argued on behalf of the respondent that the
complaint petition of the Chairman and the joint letter of the other
three members of the Commission were not drafted at Patiala and G
came into existence later at Chandigarh after a deliberation by all the
collaborators of the conspiracy. As has been mentioned earlier, the
~-· argument is that while the Governor was away on leave, the matter
should have awaited his return and should not have been rushed
through by sending the complaint to the President of India for
immediate action. It has also been said that the issue was not placed H
598 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 3 S.C.R.

even before the Cabinet before taking these steps and it was only
A
belatedly that a post facto resolution in this regard was got passed by -<-
the Cabinet. We have given our anxious consideration to all these
aspects and we do not find any merit in the argument of the learned
counsel for the respondent that the theory of conspiracy is fit to be
accepted. We, therefore, reject the case of Sri G.K. Saini of a conspi-
B racy to get him removed from the office of a Member of the
Commission.

22. The main question is as to whether the allegation of the - ~
Chairman about Sri Saini giving her a slap is correct or not. Smt.
Chowdhary was cross-examined for several weeks and her statement is
at pages 1-181 in Vol. III of the paper book. Her family and the family
c of her husband are quite respectable and have been taking keen
interest in the State politics. Her father became a Member of the
Rajya Sabha in 1975. Earlier he was a Deputy Minister in the erstwhile · ,-'
State of Papsu and later of Punjab. Her father-in-law was also a
Member of the Lok Sabha since 1980. Earlier he was a Member of the
D State Assembly for several decades. The Chairman was married in
1968, passed her B .Ed. examination in 1971 and soon thereafter
became a Member of the Public Service Commission. Mr. Mittal con-
tended that she was an inexperienced young person not well-equipped
for work of the Commission, muchless for the office of the Chairman
and was pushed forward because of her connections with the Congress
E Party. It has been suggested by the learned counsel that her father or
some other member of her family must have been instrumental in
getting the present Reference made, but we do not find any reason to
assume so and we will have to judge her statement independent of this
consideration. We also accept her case that she was not a tool in the
hands of Sri Dabara Singh and did not take any step at his behest or
F with a view to please him.

23. The evidence in the case, however, does indicate that the
Chai1man was attempting to exercise her power in an authoritarian
manner and lost her patience even with her colleagues if she was not
readily obeyed. She claims that it is the prerogative of the Chairman of
G the Commission to announce the results of interviews with candidates
but as a melter of grace she consulted her colleagues before so doing.
On more than one occasion in the past she got annoyed with the other
Members and attempted to get them removed from the Commission.
In their letter to the Governor of Pun jab Sri Mith a, the then Member
of the Commission, and Sri Deol detailed the misbehaviour on her part
H and alleged that she was in the habit of threatening the Members to
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) [SHARMA, J.J 599

accept her commands whether right or wrong, while boasting of being A
-'r · capable to get any Member, who did not obey her, removed and
otherwise harrassed. In paragraph 24 of his affidavit Sri Saini has
stated that Smt. Chowdhary had made a complaint against Sri Mitha
and Sri Deol to the Governor raising untenable charges, but the
Governor in his wisdom admonished her for the frivolous nature of the
B
charges. In her reply to the said statement Smt. Chowdhary argued
that the incident was not relevant for the purpose of the present
inquiry, but in dealing with the factual aspect she did not deny its
conrrectness. In his cross-examination Sri Deol stated how two years
earlier, when he was also absent for a couple of days, the Chairman
sent him a note telling him that he had absented without prior informa-
tion, and to which he had reacted by a query about the rule in this c
regard. Ultimately the matter had to be discussed in a "meeting or tne
Members". Sri Saini has also asserted in his affidavits that a decision
was taken on this issue in a meeting of the Members of the Commis-
sion, but tbe Chairman still continued to deal with the question of
absence of the Members in her own way. So far as the complaint of Sri
Mitha and Sri Deol to the Governor against Smt. Chowdhary is con- D
cerned, the prevaricative answers given by her during this part of her
cross-examination leave an indelible impression that she does not
associate any merit with being frank and straight forward. She
however admitted that sometime in November, 1980 she had made a
complaint against Sri Mitha and Sri Deol to the Governor (page 74,
Vol. III of the paper book). She further stated that she was not given a E
copy of the complaint made against her, but she had to accept that
around February 1982 when she and the other Members of the Com-
mission met the Governor on an invitation by the latter for a cup of
tea, Sri Mitha complained that whenever she was personally on an
Interview Board and an expert had to be appointed, she would never
consult the other Members. According to her version the Governor F
-> upheld her stand by declaring that it was her prerogative as the
Chairman of the Commission. The manner in which she contradicted
herself on matters of details about the said complaint reinforces the
conclusion that not all her testimony can be taken at its face value.
However, that does not conclude the case. The other three Members
of the Commission have pledged their oath in support of the allegation G
that the respondent had slapped the Chairman. The circumstances in
which the things proceeded also corroborated their version. Over and
above all this, the statements made by the respondent himself go to
support to a great extent Smt. Chowdhary's case of physical assult. Let
us now consider the evidence of Sri Brar, Sri Deol and Sri Lall.
H
600 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1990] 3 S.C.R.

24. Mr. Brar had served the Indian Army for 38 years before he
A
retired as a Major General. He was the General Officer Commanding,
Punjab, Himachal and Haryana, and there is no ground for doubting
his verasity as a witness. Mr. Deol was the Head of the Department of
Political Science at G.H.G. Khalsa College, Ludhiana before his
appointment as a Member of the Commission, and appears to be a
B reliable person. According to the case of the respondent, Mr. Deol
had himself earlier protested against the manner of functioning of the
Chairman which in his opinion amounted to misbehaviour. The
Chairman also had made a complaint against him to the Governor on
the basis of some frivolous charges. It cannot, therefore, be legiti-
mately suggested that he was either such a close friend of the
Chairman or under her thumb so as to concoct a story and send a letter
c to the Governor immediately after the unfortunate incident. Although
many suggestions were thrown to him and to Mr.Brar in their cross-
examination for the purpose of an argument that they should be disbe-
' Iieved, we do not find any substance therein. We are satisfied that
what prompted them to act in the present case was not their
D interestedness in the Chairman or any prejudice against the respon-
dent, but their disapproval and shock at the physical violence in which
the respondent indulged in the open corridor of the Commission build-
ing. So far as Mr. Lal is concerned, in the opinion of Sri Saini, he did
not have requisite qualification for being appointed as a Member.
According to the case of the respondent, Mr. Lall may have been
E prejudiced against him on account of his (respondent's) view on Sri
Lall's eligibility to hold the office, but that does not explain his con-
duct in joining the other two Members in their complaint against Sri
Saini.

25. Mr. Mittal elaborately dealt with the direct evidence of the
F incident and urged that there were discrepancies in the statements of
these three witnesses sufficient to discredite their testimony. We are
not in a position to agree with him and we proceed to briefly indicate
our reasons.

26. Let us now consider the evidence with respect to the details
G of the incident. Admittedly the Chairman, the respondent and the
other three Members of the Commission were, in the Committee room
on 24.11.1982, interviewing candidates for appointment to certain
posts. The sitting continued till about 1.15 p.m. when all the aforesaid
five persons along with Dr. P.R. Sondhi (Retired Director, Haryana
Health Service), who was assisting the Commission as an expert, came
H out of the Committee Room through the doors opening into the·cor-
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) [SHARMA, J.] 601

ridor. A plan of the building has been placed on the records of this
A
case. Admittedly the entire party of six started moving in the same
direction towards the office of the Chairman. The Chairman indicated
her intention to talk to Sri Saini about his absence, in privacy; and the
two proceeded further, forming a separate group, and the other
Members discretely slowed down their pace. Dr. P.R. Sondhi has not
appeared as a witness in the case. When the respondent and the B
Chairman were near the doors of the office of the Chairman, the
physical act of the incident took place. Earlier the Chairman had
expressed her displeasure on the absence of Sri Saini. Sri Saini insisted
that he had informed the office in advance, and that she must put in
writing whatever she had to say. According to the evidence of the
Chairman, she asked Sri Saini as to what was there to put in writing
and she was going to complete the sentence by adding that she would c
put in writing whatever Sri Saini would suggest, but before she could
do so, she received from Sri Saini a hard slap across her face. She says
that this happened when she was politely talking to Sri Saini. We are
not inclined to accept her statement that the respondent had slapped
her "without any provocation" as stated in her complaint petitioin and D
in her first affidavit filed before this Court, and that she was talking to
him "politely" as mentioned in her cross-examination. The version of
the respondent with respect to the manner in which she was asking for
his explanation may be correct. She was used to her arrogant ways and
authoritarian manner while talking even with her colleagues, and

, hence the statement of Sri Saini may be correct that she was assuming
a "bossy posture" and "was insisting on a spot oral explanation" from
him. The respondent was a lawyer of 17 years standing when he was
appointed a Member of the Commission. The evidence does not indi-
cate that he was schizophrenic, prone to be ,excited without a cause and
E

~ it would therefore be very unnatural to assume· that although the
\ Chairman was talking to him politely and did nm give any reason for F
~.
provocation whatsoever the respondent hit her.

27. All the three Members of the Commission are unanimous
and emphatic in stating that the respondent did slap the Chairman
hard on her face. They also say that this was without provocation. By
this part of their statement we ,understand that there was no physical G
provocation on the part of the Chairman. Mr. Mittal, the learned
counsel for the respondent, strenuously contended that their evidence
also suggest that the Chairman was not talking rudely or in a bossy
manner with the respondent when the latter hit her, and this is very
unnatural. We have gone through their affidavits as well as their state-
ments in th cross-examination. The affidavit and evidence of each of H
602 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1990] 3 S.C.R.

these witnesses have to be considered in their totality and a part of a
A sentence in their deposition cannot be allowed to be picked up in
isolation and analysed and scanned as a statutory provision. In their
joint letter written to the Governor soon after the incident they stated
thus: ·

B "Mr. G.K. Saini was walking ahead with Mrs. Santosh
Chowdhary, the Chairman. She was apparently enquiring
from him about his absence from the interviews on the
previous two days". (emphasis supplied)

Sri Brar was asked in his cross-examination about the use of the word
"apparently" and he explained that while discussing the general details
c of the conversation Sri Lal and Sri Deol were not sure of having heard
the first portion of conversation. Sri Deol stated that the Chairman
asked Sri Saini to come ahead and therefore they, that is, the other
Members, slowed down in their pace. In the statement recorded by the
Chief Secretary, Sri Lall also said that the Chairman and the respon-
D dent were walking ahead and they "over-heard" the Chairman. The
picture which emerges is that the talk between the Chairman and the
respondent was not meant for others and they were not talking very
loudly. It is, therefore, not expected that the Members could hear
every single word which passed between the two. If their voice was not
raised and they were not shouting at each other, one would not assume
E that there was a quarrel going on. In this background the Members in
their joint letter used the word "apparently". Their statement that the
attack on the Chiarman was without any provocation was based on the
physical side of the entire incident and was an expression of opinion
with regard to it. Although, however, they could not hear their talk
properly, which was going on not in high-pitched or raised voice, it
F cannot be suggested that they were not in a position to watch as to
what the two were actually doing. It was day time and from the plan
which is on the records of the case it is clear that the place where all
this was happening was not poorly lighted. The total distance between
the Committee Room and the office of the Chairman was 66 feet and
the distance between the two groups could not be so long so as to place
G the Members of the Commission as not to be sure about the physical
activities of the two ahead. Their impression as to what they actually
saw cannot be confused with what they could make out of the discussion
going on between the two. The consistent evidence also indicates that
the Chairman and Sri Saini were walking ahead while approaching the
office room and before the assault took place they had reached the
H door and were standing there. The witnesses, however, did not stop
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) [SHARMA, J.] 603

and continued walking towards the Chairman and the resondent. The
A
suggestion of Mr. Mittal, appearing on behalf of the respondent, that
if they could not hear the talk going on between the parties properly,
they could also not see the physical side of the incident cannot be
.accepted. The three witnesses were cross-examined at great length and
were subjected to a very large number of searching questions, and we
do not find any material coming out of tbe same on the basis of which B
they can be discredited. We accordingly rely upon their evidence
which indicates that although they were not able to properly hear the
talk going on between the Chairman and Sri Saini and picked up only
fragments of discussion, they clearly watched their physical activities
without any chance of mistake. Their version of the physical part of
the incident must, therefore, be accepted which is to a great extent
corroborated by the respondent's statements and the affidavits them- c
selves. Accordingly, we hold that the Chairman did not attack or
intimidate Sri Saini with physical violence, and Sri Saini losing his
self-control at the arrogance of the Chairman in her talk with him
slapped her as alleged.
D
28. It has been contended by Mr. Mittal that from the evidence
of Sri Brar and Sri Lall it appears that their group almost reached the
point where the Chairman and Sri Saini were standing and except for a
very short distance between the two groups they ultimately formed one
single group in which the relative position of the Chairman and Sri
Saini was such, as stated by Mr. Lall in his cross-examination, that it E
was not possible for the respondent to hit the Chairman hard on her.
face. For the basis on which any such inference can be drawn, one has
to indulge in a lot of imagination. The statments relied upon do not
lead to this conclusion. Besides, the description given by the three
witnesses in this regard cannot be scanned with a micro-scope nor the
available evidence is sufficient to determine with geometrical precision F
the exact points where everybody stood at the crucial moment. So far
the version of Sri Saini is concenred, we agree with him that it was not
a completely unprovoked situation in which he had hit the Chairman.
But we do not accept his statement as correct that the provocation was
not limited tQ a verbal duel and extended to the Chairman raising her
hand as if to assault him, justifying him to slap her. G

29. Mr. Mittal has also relied upon certain circumstances which
according to him disproved the case of tlie complainant. Great emphasis
has been led on the statement of Smt. Chowdhary's husband to the
Press describing the incident as a minor one. This is a natural conduct.
If a lady occupying the high position of a Chairman of a Public Service H
604 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 3 S.C.R.

Commission is physically assaulted, it is expected that people closely J
A related to her and interested in maintaining her high dignity would like
to hush-up the matter rather than give it a wide publicity. It is, there-
fore, not possible to discredit the story ,of assault on the basis of the
4
"Ill

newspaper report. It has been next argued that having regard to the
incident taking place in the open corridor of the building and the
B position of the room or the rooms where the memebrs of the staff sit, it
was to be expected that at least some members of the staff must have
witnessed what had happened but none has come as a witness to sup-
port the allegation. This also is not an unexpected conduct on their
part. There is nothing unnatural if they decided not to involve
themselves in their individual capacities in a dispute of this nature.
Besides, there is a resolution on the record of this proceeding passed
C by the members of the staff collectively condemning the incident in
general terms. It has been suggested on behalf of the respondent that
this has been obtained by the Chairman by exercising her influence. If
some of the employees of the Commission had come to the witness
box, the same "criticism would have been made by the respondent
o against their evidence. We are also conscious of the fact that Sri
Sondhi who was assisting the Commission as an expert has not been
examined in the case. This merely indicates that he was not willing or
available to support either party.

30. The consistent evidence of the three Members of the
E Commission further indicates that an attempt to bring about a recon-
ciliation by pursuading the respondent to tender an apology was made
but failed. The Chairman was under great stress both physical and
mental and she had to be consoled by her colleagues. We would at this
stage again emphasise that no special reason can be suggested for the
Members to cook up a false story, specially when they had also earlier
F tasted the arrogance of the Chairman, and complaints and counter-
complaints between her and at least one of them had reached even the
ears of the Governor.

31. Now the question is whether Sri Saini deserved to be
removed on account of his conduct. Persons occupying high "public
G offices should maintain irreproachable behaviour. A certain minimum
standard of code of conduct is expected of them. What may be excus-
able for an uneducated young man cannot be tolerated if a Member of
Public Service Commission is involved. Besides, it has to be remem- l
bered tha'. ''le respondent and the Chairman were not thrashing out a
persoo3l matter or a private dispute. They were discussing a question
H involving their office and this in broad-day-light in the open corridor of
REFERENCE UNDER ARTICLE 317(1) !SHARMA, J.] 605

the Commission's building. Whatever the provocation offered by the A
Chairman, the respondent was not justified in losing his cool to the
extent of indulging in physical violence. That the violence should have
been directed against a lady makes his conduct all the more rep-
rehensible. In our view, Sri Saini miserably failed in maintaining the
standard of conduct expected of a Member of the Commission and
thereby brought great disrepute to his office. Hence our anwser to the B
question referred by the President is that Sri Saini's conduct amounted
to misbehaviour within the meaning of Article 317(1) of the Constitu-
tion and it rendered him liable to be removed from his office of the
Member of the Punjab Public Service Commission.

N.P.V. c

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