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Judgment
BY HON’BLE DR. ANAND S KHATI, MEMBER (A):
The applicant, appearing in person, has filed the present Original Application seeking the following reliefs:-
“(i)Direct the Respondents to permit/allow the online physical rejoining/joining report of the Applicant and mark attendance for further posting.
(ii)Pass any other relief which Deemed may be fit in the interest of justice.”
The case of the applicant, in brief, is that he was directed to join the Directorate of Gurdwara Elections on diverted capacity as Grade-I (DASS)/Section Officer vide Directorate of Education order dated 04.02.2021. Pursuant thereto, he joined the Directorate on 06.02.2021 (F/N).
Subsequently, vide order dated 11.02.2021, the applicant was posted in Ward-23 (Vishnu Garden) with immediate effect. The Respondent-Department, however, found that the applicant did not attend his duties thereafter.
Consequently, the Respondent-Department issued Show Cause Notice No. F.1/368/DGE/2020/1009-1011 dated 24.02.2021. The relevant portion of the notice reads as under:
“THAT, since your joining in this Directorate you have failed to make your presence felt, for a single day even, in other words, you have not turned up for duties in this Dte., since the date of your joining. Also, numerous attempts to contact you telephonically as well as in written, have gone in vain as it has been noticed that you have been ignoring to attend the calls made to you and are also ignoring the written correspondence, even. THUS, in view of the above, you are hereby show caused as to why disciplinary action, under CCS Conduct Rules, 1965, for disobedience of orders of your seniors, may not be initiated against you as this being a clear sign of unbecoming of a government servant as well as a public servant who is deliberately shirking from his duties. Your reply must reach the undersigned within 03 days of the receipt of this show cause, failing which would be presumed that you have nothing to say in your defence and action as deemed fit would be initiated against you without any further notice.”
It is not in dispute that the applicant did not submit any reply to the aforesaid Show Cause Notice within the time stipulated therein. The applicant has stated that he did not receive the original copy of the Show Cause Notice and that the present proceedings have been initiated on the basis of a duplicate copy thereof.
The aforesaid submission has been considered. Even assuming that the original copy of the Show Cause Notice was not received by the applicant, the applicant admittedly had knowledge of the contents of the notice and has himself relied upon the same in the present proceedings. No material has been placed before us to show that, upon obtaining knowledge of the notice, the applicant made any effort to submit his explanation before the Respondent-Department, seek a further copy thereof, or otherwise place his defence on record.
The applicant was specifically asked during the course of hearing as to what steps had been taken by him from the year 2021 onwards and why he had not approached the appropriate forum earlier. In response, the applicant reiterated that the original copy of the Show Cause Notice had not been received by him. He further submitted that he may first be permitted to join/rejoin duty and that, thereafter, he would answer the allegations contained in the Show Cause Notice.
We are unable to accept the aforesaid contention. The Show Cause Notice called upon the applicant to explain his alleged absence from duty and specifically afforded him an opportunity to submit his reply. The applicant cannot seek a direction for unconditional joining as a means of postponing consideration of the circumstances relating to his absence and the allegations contained in the Show Cause Notice.
The relief sought by the applicant is, in substance, for a direction to the Respondent-Department to permit him to resume duties and mark his attendance, notwithstanding the fact that the applicant remained away from duty for a prolonged period and did not submit his response to the Show Cause Notice issued in February, 2021.
The applicant has not placed on record any order passed by the Respondent-Department permitting him to resume duty, nor has he demonstrated any legal or enforceable right to unconditional rejoining in the circumstances presently obtaining. The mere assertion that no order of dismissal, removal, termination or suspension has been served upon him does not, by itself, establish an entitlement to resume duty after such prolonged absence.
We have also taken note of the fact that the applicant has approached this Tribunal in the year 2026 in relation to events commencing in February, 2021. The applicant has not furnished any satisfactory explanation for the prolonged period during which he neither submitted his response to the Show Cause Notice nor pursued an effective remedy in relation to his alleged grievance.
The explanation that the original copy of the Show Cause Notice was not received by the applicant does not satisfactorily account for his continued inaction, particularly when the applicant admittedly relies upon a duplicate copy of the same notice and is fully aware of the allegations made therein. The applicant's further stand that his explanation would be furnished only after he is permitted to join also does not furnish any justification for the failure to respond to the notice or otherwise explain his absence for the intervening period.
In these circumstances, we find that the applicant has failed to make out a case for issuance of a direction to the Respondent-Department to permit his physical joining/rejoining and mark his attendance.
In view of the foregoing discussion, we find no merit in the present Original Application. The Original Application is accordingly dismissed at the admission stage.
It is clarified that this order is confined to the reliefs sought in the present Original Application and shall not be construed as expressing any opinion on the merits of any disciplinary or other proceedings, if otherwise permissible in law, which may be dealt with by the competent authority in accordance with the applicable rules.
There shall be no order as to costs.