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THE ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE INQUIRY COMMITTEE/
· 2001-02-20
Circularstaff-establishment
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| Date | 2001-02-20 |
|---|---|
| Type | VCRC archived Railway commercial circular / manual |
| Topic | staff-establishment |
| Archive source | vcrc.in |
Summary
The Inquiry Committee/Inquiry Officer should before commencing the inquiry
Text of the circular
116 CHAPTER IX
THE ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE INQUIRY COMMITTEE/ INQUIRY OFFICER IN DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS
901.
Introduction:
Rule 9 (2) of the Railway Servants (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1968 refers to the appointment of Inquiry Officer (IO). It provides that “whenever the Disciplinary Authority (DA) is of the opinion that there are grounds for inquiring into the truth of any imputation or misconduct or misbehaviour of a railway servant, it may itself inquire into the truth thereof or appoint an authority to inquire into the truth thereof.” However, unless it is unavoidable, the disciplinary authority should refrain from being the Inquiry Officer and should instead appoint another officer for the purpose of conducting inquiry.
902.
Who should be appointed as Inquiry Officer:
The principles of natural justice imply “fair hearing”, “unbiased judgement” and “clear speaking order”. It, therefore, follows that the person to be appointed as Inquiry Officer :-
(i) should not be interested in the subject matter of the inquiry in any manner;
(ii) should not be biased;
(iii) should not be a witness in the proceedings;
(iv) should not have expressed an opinion about the merits of the case;
(v) should be sufficiently senior to the charged official to evoke confidence of all concerned;
(vi) should be higher in status to that of the officer who conducted the fact finding inquiry. This will eliminate the possibility of the Inquiry Officer being influenced by the findings of the superior officer.
Note:- (1) To facilitate expeditious disposal of disciplinary cases against Group “C” and “D” officials, full time enquiry officers have been provided on the Railways. The enquiry organization, which was earlier under the control of the Personnel Department, has also been brought under the control of the Senior Deputy General Manager.
{Board’s letters No. 77-E(GC)-1/41 dated 25-2-78 and D.V’s D.O. No. 19/1/72 DG (V)/C. Br., dated 16-11-78 and E(D&A) 2000 RG 6-24 dated 20.2.2001}.
117 903.
Application alleging bias against the Inquiry Officer:
Whenever an application alleging bias against the Inquiry Officer is moved by the Charged Official, the proceedings should be stayed and the application with relevant material should be forwarded to the Revisionary Authority for consideration and passing appropriate orders thereon. Such application should be moved as soon as the charged official becomes aware of the bias. Though no hard and fast rule can be laid down regarding the time when an application of bias against the Inquiry Officer should be moved, yet it is advisable that such an application is moved at the earliest after the appointment of the Inquiry Officer, the reason being that the charged official cannot be allowed to sit on the fence till the proceedings have progressed sufficiently or have been completed to move such an application simply because he finds that the decision is going or likely to go against him.
904.
Role and Functions of Inquiry Officer:
904.1 Though the Inquiry Officer is a creation of the disciplinary authority, he is not subject to the directions or influence of the latter in regard to the conduct of inquiry, evaluation of evidence, or his findings. He is expected to function independently without any interference in the discharge of his functions.
904.2 To enable the Inquiry Officer to hold the inquiry, the Disciplinary Authority (DA) is required to furnish copies of the following documents to the Inquiry Officer (IO) alongwith his letter of appointment or immediately thereafter :-
(i) a copy of the articles of charge and the statement of imputations of misconduct or misbehaviour alongwith the list of documents and list of witnesses required to prove the articles of charge;
(ii) copies of the statements of witnesses, if any, recorded during the preliminary inquiry/investigation by which the articles of charge are proposed to be sustained.
(iii) evidence proving the delivery of the relevant docume
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