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Thursday, January 2, 2025

Gujarat High Court Quashes Chargesheet Against Govt Official For Renewing Passport Without NOC, Deems It "Administrative Lapse"

31 Oct 2024 12:20 PM

In the significant case, the Gujarat High Court bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Gita Gopi has quashed a charge sheet issued against Charu Bhatt, who was serving as a Director of Accounts and Treasury, who was accused of renewing her passport in 2013 without obtaining a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the State Government.

While two other charges related to passport procurement and unauthorized foreign travel were dropped, the Court held that the renewal without NOC did not constitute “misconduct” under the Gujarat Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1971, as it was merely an administrative “lapse”.

Brief Facts:

Charu Narendrabhai Bhatt (Appellant) filed a Letters Patent Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent, directed against the order dated 2.05.2024, in which her writ petition was dismissed by the single judge. The petition sought to challenge a charge sheet issued on 24.05.2021, alleging misconduct. While two charges were later dropped by the State, Charge No. 2 remained, alleging that the appellant renewed her passport without obtaining an NOC in 2013. The appellant contended that this did not constitute misconduct under Rule 3(1) of the Gujarat Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1971 and that the delay in issuing the charge sheet justified its quashing.

Observations:

The Court observed that the 8-year delay in issuing the charge sheet at the fag end of service od the appellant was indicative of mala fide intention, most likely due to personal grudges held by the officer in charge of issuing the charge sheet. The court placed reliance upon the case of UCO Bank and others vs. Rajendra Shankar Shukla, where the Supreme Court quashed and set aside the charge sheet on the ground of inordinate and unexplained delay.

The court noted that Rule 3(1) of the Gujarat Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1971, refers to three aspects, which the Government servant has to maintain, (i) absolute integrity, (ii) devotion to duty, and (iii) conduct that does not become unbecoming of a government servant. The court held that the act of the appellant—who failed to obtain an NOC at the time of passport renewal—did not constitute a “lack of integrity” or “lack of devotion towards duty”, nor could it be deemed “unbecoming of a Government servant” under clause (iii). This omission, at most, could be viewed as a "lapse" rather than an egregious conduct.

Further, the court observed that Rule 24 of the Gujarat Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2002 empowers the Government to withhold or withdraw pension only when the pensioner is found guilty of “grave misconduct or negligence” during the period of service. It noted that Charge No.2 of the chargesheet does not in any manner satisfy the expression “grave misconduct or negligence”. Thus, the intention of issuing the charge sheet by the Officer by exhuming stale lapse appeared to jeopardize the retirement benefits of the appellant by continuing the departmental proceedings beyond her retirement benefits.

The court observed that the judgment in Union of India and another Vs. Kunisetty Satyanarayana does not completely bar the High Court from quashing the charge-sheet or show-cause notice and it can be done in rare and exceptional cases. It held that the appellant had carved out such exception and her case would fall under 'rare and exceptional case'. Thus, on the ground of unexplained delay of 8 years, and the nature of alleged misconduct, the charge-sheet was quashed and set aside.

The court awarded Rs. 10,000 as costs to the appellant and granted the State the option to recover the amount from the erring officer.

Case Title: Charu Narendrabhai Bhatt vs. State of Gujarat

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Guj) 164

Case Number: LPA 540/2024

Appearance: Mr. Vaibhav A Vyas (2896) for the Appellant; Mr. Sahil B. Trivedi, AGP for the Respondent.

Date of Judgment: 28.10.2024

In a 1st, special trains included in rail timetable

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 02.01.2025

New Delhi : Indian Railways has notified a new timetable for trains with effect from Wednesday. This is for the first time the transporter included 4,056 special trains in the normal timetable for the convenience of passengers. Under the new arrangement, the number of 2,875 trains has been changed, including express and passenger trains. Additionally, the departure and arrival times of several trains at various stations have been changed. Officials said 74 new trains have been included in the timetabl. “Trains cancelled during fog have place in the timetable. Now, passengers will not face issues of last-minute cancellations. The speed of 16 trains have been increased and converted into superfast,” an official said.

Dense fog cloaks Bhopal, min drops to 8 deg; biting cold to grip parts of state

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 0.01.2025

Bhopal : The city woke up to the first dense fog of the season on Wednesday. There was a sharp dip in the day temperature, which made it a colder day in Bhopal. The night temperature in the city also remained below the normal mark. Biting cold is expected in the city and the state for the next few days. A warning of dense fog was issued for many places in the state. The day temperature in Bhopal on Wednesday was recorded at 18.3 degrees Celsius, six degrees below the normal mark, while the night temperature in the city was 8.4 degrees Celsius, two degrees below the normal mark. The visibility in Bhopal was less than 100 metres in the morning hours. The lowest temperature of 6.1 degrees Celsius was recorded in Shahdol.

In the forecast for Bhopal on Thursday, the meteoro logical dept stated there would be a clear sky with shallow to moderate fog during the morning hours. The day and night temperatures would be 19 degrees Celsius and 8 degrees Celsius, respectively, while the average wind speed will be ten kilometres per hour. In the forecast for the state, the meteorological dept issued a warning of dense fog and a cold day at isolated places in Bhopal, Rajgarh, Umaria, Katni, Jabalpur, Damoh, Sagar, Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh, and Niwari districts. A warning of dense fog was issued for Vidisha, Raisen, Sehore, Singrauli, Sidhi, Rewa, Mauganj, Satna, and Maihar districts. A warning of moderate fog and a cold day was issued for Gwalior, Datia, Bhind, and Morena districts. A warning of moderate fog was issued for Shajapur, Agar, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Guna, Ashoknagar, Shivpuri, and Sheopur districts. A warning of shallow to moderate fog existed for Betul, Harda, Indore, Ratlam, Ujjain, and Dewas districts. Dry weather is expected to prevail in the state.

Govt wants airlines, airports to optimise flyer comfort

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 0.01.2025

New Delhi : Airlines should not keep passengers seated inside aircraft for more than 90 minutes in case of fog-related delayed departures and they must cancel flights delayed by over three hours. As peak winter fog season kicks in, the aviation ministry on Wednesday listed out dos and don’ts for airlines and airport operators to minimise passenger inconvenience.

“Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) circular for facilitating smooth re-entry of passengers in case of flight cancellations was operationalised and drills were organised by CISF with stakeholders. This would significantly reduce passenger inconvenience and ensure a smoother re-boarding process once flights resume,” the Ram Mohan Naidu-headed ministry said in a statement. Airlines have been “instructed” to proactively communicate with passengers about potential delays and cancellations due to visibility issues. “For this, airlines and booking agents must ensure that correct passenger contact information is recorded during ticket booking.” The Met department (IMD) along with Airports Authority of India (AAI) is expediting implementation of “advanced weather observation system” (AWOS) at IGIA and other fog-affected airports. This system will ensure accurate and timely weather information for pilots and air traffic controllers to enhance operational safety and efficiency. “IMD (is) committed to ensure all Met equipment function without disruption,” Met office said. The DGCA said it is “in close coordination with airlines, has ensured deployment of adequate number of CAT II/CAT III-compliant crew and aircraft to carry out low visibility operations efficiently during the fog period at affected airports. Three runways at the Delhi airport have activated CAT III ILS systems, including the important runway 10/28 (the one between T1 and T2).”

Airlines have been asked to ensure full staffing at check-in counters during peak hours to reduce passenger inconvenience.

“Delhi Airport has installed LED screens at prominent locations to provide real-time updates on visibility conditions. Delhi airport has also scaled up the number of ‘follow me’ vehicles, which will guide and assist the pilots on the apron/taxiway during low visibility conditions ensuring better coordination on ground,” IGIA said in a statement. Airlines have been told to sensitise their “operations control centres” (OCCs) and war-room representatives for closer coordination during adverse weather conditions, especially fog, to “improve real-time decision-making (and) allowing for more effective and timely responses to flight delays or cancellations”, the DGCA said. “AAl has implemented new standard operating procedures to effectively regulate air traffic at fog-affected airports and at the originating or destination airports,” it added. The aviation ministry said it has conducted a series of consultations over the last two months with airlines, airport operators, DGCA, BCAS, AAI, IMD, and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

VTU revamps MTech curriculum, 3- way career path in final semester

SruthySusan.Ullas@timesofindia.com .01.2025

Bengaluru : Visvesvaraya Technological University has revamped the curriculum for MTech programmes, creating a three-way career path for students in the final semester. It has decided to offer the programmes as MTech in the main branch of study with specialisation in parentheses. The specialisations will be offered from the second semester. The new format will be launched from 2024-25, said vice-chancellor S Vidyashankar. This year, 2,301 students opted for MTech through Karnataka Examinations Authority.

“Usually, MTech programmes come with various specialisations within each stream. For instance, there is MTech in machine design, thermal engineering, etc., within mechanical engineering. However, we noticed that colleges have to keep shifting between these courses depending upon the demand that year. It is a painstaking process to close one branch and open another one. Therefore, we decided to revamp the courses in such a way that we will have a main branch of study with a specialisation indicated in parentheses,” explained dean B Sadashiv Gowda. With this, irrespective of the specialisation, the students will study common subjects in the first semester. › 3 career paths, P 4 Students now have 3 career paths: VTU In the subsequent semesters, the students learn courses related to their specialisation. There are electives provided that allow students to learn the subjects of their interest. “So, it is possible for an engineering institute to offer all these depending on the industry requirements. They need not close down or open a new course based on the specialisation,” he explained.

Similarly, the university has also heralded changes in the final semester. Students will have three options in the final semester. Those interested in research will have the option to pursue it and submit a report. The other options are an internship, where students will go to industry and work, which might also result in placement. A third option is for those who do not want to take up research or internship but want to do courses in the institute itself. They can take more courses in the third semester and do project work in the fourth semester.

“So we have created three career paths depending on the student interests, location of the college, and industry-institute collaborations. The colleges can guide students in the right direction, creating a win win situation for all kinds of institutes in tier one, two, or three cities,” he said. The university wrote to the All-India Council of Technical Education about the changes, which duly approved them. It was later approved by the statutory bodies of the university.

IMA writes to CM for stricter action against quacks

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 0.01.205

Ahmedabad : The Gujarat chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has written to the state chief minister, urging stricter punishment for unauthorised allopathic medical practitioners and quacks due to the “life-threatening consequences” they pose. The letter states that under the existing provisions, there is only a Rs 500 penalty for the first offence, a Rs 500 fine and six month imprisonment for the second offence, and a Rs 2,000 penalty and/or two-year imprisonment or both for subsequent violations. The association said these punishment rules were framed in 1963, and it is high time these sentences were made stricter because unauthorised practitioners have no fear of getting caught. Earlier, the association wrote to the health commissioner, asking the state govt to take stringent action against unauthorised allopathic medical practitioners.

“We urgently bring to your kind attention the critical issue of the unauthorised practice of modern medicine by non-allopathic practitioners and quacks. This alarming trend poses an imminent threat to the health and safety of the people of Gujarat. Numerous reports of individuals without formal training in modern medicine providing allopathic treatments have surfaced, leading to dangerous and sometimes life-threatening consequences for unsuspecting patients,” the letter reads. “If this unlawful practice is not stopped immediately, it will lead to widespread health disasters,” the letter states.

₹2000 notes worth ₹6,691 cr. yet to be returned: RBI data

02.01.2025

The total value of ₹2000 banknotes in circulation, which stood at ₹3.56 lakh crore at the close of business on May 19, 2023, when the withdrawal of ₹2000 banknotes was announced, has declined to ₹6,691 crore at the close of business on December 31, 2024, as per updated data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). “Thus, 98.12% of the ₹2000 banknotes in circulation as on May 19, 2023, have since been returned,” the RBI said on Wednesday.