Holding

The Tribunal has no power to re‑appreciate evidence or substitute its own finding in disciplinary matters; its order setting aside the removal was illegal.

Summary

The respondent, S. Subramaniam, a Deputy Tehsildar, was charged with demanding and accepting illegal gratification for effecting land‑record mutations. A disciplinary inquiry found the charge proved and ordered his removal from service. The Tamil Nadu Administrative Tribunal, on review, re‑appreciated the evidence, concluded that the charge was not proved, and set aside the removal order. The Supreme Court held that the Tribunal, being a body of judicial review, has no power to re‑appreciate evidence or substitute its own finding in disciplinary matters; it can only examine whether the authority’s conclusion is supported by the record. Consequently, the Tribunal’s order was declared ultra vires and set aside, and the appeal was allowed, reinstating the removal.

Issues considered

Whether the Administrative Tribunal can re‑appreciate evidence and reach its own conclusion on the proof of a charge in disciplinary proceedings.
Whether the Tribunal’s order setting aside the removal from service is ultra vires of its jurisdiction under Article 323A and the Central Administrative Tribunal Act.
Whether the disciplinary authority’s order complied with Rule 23(i) of the Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Control & Appeal) Rules.

Subjects

Administrative lawDisciplinary proceedingsJudicial reviewEvidence appreciationService lawCorruptionRemoval from serviceTribunal jurisdiction

Judgment

A STATE OF TAMIL NADU AND ANR.
v.
S. SUBRAMANIAM

JANUARY 24, 1996

B [K. RAMASWAMY, S. SAGHIR AHMAD AND
G.B. PATTANAIK, JJ.]
,.
S e1vice Law : ,
c Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Control & Appeal) Rules :

Rule 23(i)-D~puty Tehsilda1-Illegal gratification-Trap cas~En-
qui1y--Charges proved-Removal from servic~Appeal dismissed-In appeal
T1ibunal reappreciated evidence and held that the demand and acceptance
of illegal gratification not satisfactmily proved-It set aside the order of
D removal from service-On appeal held, when conclusion reached by the
autho1ity is based on evidence T1ibunal devoid of power to reappreciate. '-
evidence and to conic to its own conclusion on the proof of the
charge-Hence its order set aside.

Chatwvedi v. Union of India, JT (1995) 8 SC 65; State of Tamil
c Nadu B.C.
v. T. V. Venugopalan, [1994) 6 SCC 302; Union of India v. Upendra
Singh, [1994) 3 SCC 357; Govenunel!t of Tamil Nadu & Anr. v.A. Rajapan-
dian, [1995) 1 SCC 216 and Union of India v. B.S. Chatwvedi, [1995] 6 SCC
749, relied on. ,

F CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 2864 of

I 1996.

From the Judgment and Order dated 13.11.91 of the Tamil Nadu
Administrative Tribunal, Madras in T.A. No. 1315 of 1989.

G A. M ariarputham and Mrs. Aruna Mathur for the Appellants.

A.V. Rangam and A. R~nganadhan for the Respondent.

The following Order of the Court was delivered :

H Leave granted.
968
STATE v. S. SUBRAMANIAM 969

This appeal by special leave arises from the order of the Administra- A
tive Tribunal dated 12.2.1992 made in T.A. No. 1315/89 (Writ Petition No.
2050/84) transferred ffom the Madras High Court after constitution of the
Administrative Tribunal with jurisdiction over disputes with respect to
recruitment and conditions of the service of the employees of the Tamil
Nadu etc. The Tribunal in its order dated 12.2.1992 set aside the order of
B
removal from service of the respondent on September 30, 1983 on the
finding that merely reproducing the views of the Commission and a cer-
tification that the matter has been examined does not constitute a proper
statutory order complying with requirements of rule 23 (i) of the Tamil
Nadu Civil Services (Control & Appeal) Rules (for short, 'the Rules'). The
facts not in dispute are as under : c
The respondent while working as a Deputy Tehsildar, Palani along
with Revenue Inspector was charged to have acted, by corrupt motive,
demanded and accepted illegal gratification from Thiru Veluchamy, son of
Thim Achara Naicker, Perumalnaichenvalasu Village Palai Taluk. Pur- D
suant thereto, Veluchamy paid a sum of Rs. 50 to the respondent and Rs.20
to the Revenue Inspector for effecting mutation of the name of the com-
plainant in revenue records. The complainant was serving in the army.
During the holidays when he came to his native place, he and his brother
effected partition of their properties. Jn furtherance thereof, he sought
mutation of his name in the entries in the revenue record of the lands that E
fell to his share. For the said purpose, he repeatedly approached the
Revenue Inspector for effecting mutation who had stated that he required
certain payments to be made which he had complied with and amount was
-· paid. He also demanded that Tehsildar required Rs. 50. When the com-
plainant approached the respondent, the latter directed him to do whatever F
the Revenue Inspector directed him to do. In other words, the complaint
is that on demand by the respondent of illegal gratification to discharge
official duty and on his direction he paid the same to the Revenue Inspec-
tor who had received on his behalf. The complaint in that behalf was also
laid with the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the trap was laid on the Revenue G
Inspector and he was caught. On the basis of the above evidence, charges
were framed in a detailed manner, enquiry was conducted and opportunity
abo was given to the respondent to defend himself in the enquiry. After
examination of the evidence, the disciplinary authority came to the con-
clusion that the charge was proved. Accordingly, a show cause notice was
is.,ued to him. On consideration of the reply to show cause notice, the H
970 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996] 1 S.C.R.

A respondent was removed from the service. The appeal was dismissed. After
the Tribunal was constituted, the pending writ petition along with all other
service cases were transferred to the Tribunal.

The Tribunal appreciated the evidence of the complainant and ac-
cording lo it the evidence of the complainant was discrepant and held that
B the appellant had not satisfactorily proved that the respondent had
demanded and accepted illegal gratification. The Tribunal trenched upon .....
appreciation of evidence of the complainant, did not rely on it to prove the
above charges. On that basis, it set aside the order of the removal. Thus
this appeal by special leave.
c
The only question is : whether the Tribunal was right in its conclusion
lo appreciate the evidence and to reach its own finding lhat the charge has
not been proved. The Tribunal is not a court of appeal. The power of
judicial review of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of
D India was taken away by the power under Article 323A and invested the
same on the Tribunal by Central Administrative Tribunal Act. It is settled
law that lhe Tribunal has only power of judicial review of the administrative
action of the appellant on complaints relating to service conditions of
employees. It is . the exclusive domain of the disciplinary authority to
consider the evidence on record and to record findings whether the charge
E has been proved or not. It is equally settled law that technical rules of
evidence has no application for the disciplinary proceedings and the
authority is to consider the material on record. In judicial review, it is
settled law that the Court or the Tribunal has no power to trench on the •
jurisdiction to appreciate the evidence and to arrive at its own conclusion.
F Judicial review is not an appeal from a decision but a review of the manner
in which the decision is made. It is meant to ensure that the delinquent
receives fair treatment and not to ensure that the conclusion which the
authority reaches is necessarily correct in the view of the court or tribunal.
When the conclusion reached by the authority is based on evidence,
Tribunal is devoid of power to re-appreciate the evidence and would come
G to its own conclusion on the proof of the charg_e. The only consideration
the Court/Tribunal has in its judicial review is to consider whether the
conclusion is based on evidence on record and supports the finding or
whether the conclusion is based on no evidence. This is consistent view of
this Court vide B.C. Chaturvedi v. Union of India, JT (1995) 8 SC 65; State
H of Tamil Nadu v. TV. Venugopalan, [1994] 6 SCC 302; Union of India v.
··~

STATE v. S. SUBRAMANIAM 971

Upendra Singh, [1994] 3 SCC 357; Govemment of Tamil Nadu & Anr. v. A. A
Rajapandian, [1995] 1 SCC 216 and Union of India v. B.S. Chatwvedi,
[1995] 6 SCC 749. In view of the settled legal position, the Tribunal has
committed serious error of law in appreciation of the evidence and in
coming to its own conclusion that the charge had not been proved. Thus
we hold that the view of the Tribunal is ex facie illegal. The order is
accordingly set aside. OA!fP/WP stand dismissed .
B
.. The appeal is accordingly allowed. The I.A stands dismissed. No.
costs.

G.N. Appeal allowed.

-