Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) can appoint retired judges, including retired civil or retired district judges or former public prosecutors, as inquiry officers in disciplinary proceedings, said the High Court of Karnataka.
“Merely because the word ‘authority’ is used in Regulation 23(2) of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation Servants (Conduct & Discipline) Regulations, 1971, that would not mean that an ‘authority’ is none other than an officer in the RTC,” the court said.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order dismissing a batch of petitions filed by the employees of North East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC). The petitioners had questioned the appointment of retired civil and district judges and former public prosecutors as inquiry officers for the disciplinary enquires conducted against them and decision taken based on the outcome of such inquiry proceedings.
Though the term ‘disciplinary authority’ has been defined in the regulation, the ‘inquiry authority’ has not been so defined; and the reason for it cannot be far but to leave it to the discretionary of disciplinary authority to appoint such person as an inquiry authority as the disciplinary authority deems fit, the court said.
The court also pointed out that there cannot be cannot be any disagreement with the argument of NEKRTC that an inquiry proceeding, which requires application of rules, and procedures, there can be no better person than retired judges or legal practitioners who could interpret and apply the law.
