MUHAMMAD ABID vs GOVERNMENT OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA THROUGH SECRETARY EXCISE, TAXATION AND NARCOTICS CONTROL DEP

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MUHAMMAD ABID VS GOVERNMENT OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA THROUGH SECRETARY EXCISE, TAXATION AND NARCOTICS CONTROL DEPARTMENT, PESHAWAR. Art. 10A---Due process and fair trial---Civil service---Misconduct, allegation of---Departmental inquiry, conducting of---Scope---Right of cross-examination, denial of---Effect---Termination / removal from service---Scope and effect---Petitioner (Naib Qasid in the Excise and Taxation Department) was terminated following proceedings initiated on an anonymous complaint received against him---In the present case, three witnesses were examined, but concededly, no opportunity was afforded to the petitioner/servant to cross-examine such witnesses during the inquiry proceedings to defend the charges or to prove his innocence---Under all Civil Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, either federal or provincial, an infallible and watertight procedure is already provided for conducting departmental inquiries, and sanguine to the philosophy / principle of natural justice and due process of law, a right of cross-examination is recognized as an inalienable and undeniable right---Furthermore, if said valuable right is repudiated, it will amount to the strangulation and deprivation of the well-entrenched right of defense, despite this right being provided for in all Civil Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules unequivocally and distinctively---Au fait, prior to appointing an inquiry officer, the competent authority should have ensured, with due diligence, that the person so appointed is familiar with and sentient to the rudimentary rules of inquiry---Primary objective of conducting departmental inquiry is to grasp whether a clear-cut case of misconduct is made out against the accused or not---The guilt or innocence is founded on the end result of the inquiry---In a regular inquiry, it is a precondition that an even-handed and fair opportunity should be provided to the accused and if any witness is examined against him then a fair opportunity should also be afforded to cross-examine the witnesses---In a departmental inquiry on the charges of misconduct, the standard of proof is that of balance of probabilities or preponderance of evidence---Where any authority regulates and performs its affairs which requires the compliance of the principles of natural justice then it should have been adhered to inflexibly---Supreme Court set aside the removal from service order of the petitioner, remanding the matter to the competent authority to conduct a de novo inquiry into the allegations of misconduct after providing ample opportunity of defence to the petitioner---Civil petition was converted into an appeal and was allowed accordingly.

MUHAMMAD ABID vs GOVERNMENT OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA THROUGH SECRETARY EXCISE, TAXATION AND NARCOTICS CONTROL DEPARTMENT, PESHAWAR — 2026 PLC(CS) 640 SUPREME-COURT

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