Chairman Vs M. J. James (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court allowed the appeal filed by the State Bank of India and set aside the Kerala High Court’s judgment, which had quashed disciplinary proceedings against a former Bank of Cochin branch manager on the ground that he had been denied representation by an office-bearer of an outside bank employees’ association during the departmental inquiry.
The disciplinary proceedings arose from charges issued in 1984 alleging that, while serving as Manager of the Quilon Branch of the Bank of Cochin between 1978 and 1982, the respondent had sanctioned advances beyond his discretionary powers and in violation of Head Office instructions, causing financial loss to the bank. The respondent denied the charges, contending that the advances were made pursuant to oral instructions from the then Chairman and Director and that the branch’s operations had been regularly inspected without objection. An inquiry was conducted, during which the respondent sought permission to be represented by the Organising Secretary of the All India Confederation of Bank Officers Organisation, Kerala State Unit. The request was rejected on the ground that the Service Code permitted representation only through an office-bearer of a registered union or association of employees of the Bank of Cochin or, with the bank’s permission, by a lawyer. The respondent thereafter participated in the inquiry but did not lead evidence or examine witnesses, and the Inquiry Officer found all charges proved. He was dismissed from service on 18 April 1985.
