Arcaprava Banerjee Vs Union of India & Ors. (Calcutta High Court)
The petitioner, a Superintendent of CGST & CE posted at Bolpur, challenged a charge sheet dated 3 January 2023 issued under Rule 14 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965. The charge sheet had earlier been unsuccessfully assailed before the Central Administrative Tribunal, which dismissed the application on 11 April 2023. Aggrieved, the petitioner approached the Calcutta High Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution.
Two principal grounds were urged. First, the petitioner contended that statements of three individuals were recorded during proceedings under Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962 by departmental authorities without the petitioner’s presence, and that these statements formed the primary basis of the charge sheet. According to the petitioner, recording such statements behind his back vitiated the charge sheet. Second, reliance was placed on a departmental circular dated 8 January 2020, particularly Clause IV, to argue that statements recorded during investigation could not be used against a delinquent employee unless the makers of those statements were cited as witnesses in Annexure IV of the charge sheet and examined before the Inquiry Authority. Since the persons whose statements were relied upon were not listed as witnesses in Annexure IV, the charge sheet was argued to be invalid.
