CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has declined to interfere with an order by the President of India dismissing a railway official from service "in the interest of the State" without any inquiry.

M. Kulam Mohamed was Chief Travelling Ticket Inspector and had written an examination for promotion to the post of Assistant Commercial Manager in September 2000 when the dismissal order was issued.

It said the "President was satisfied, on the basis of information available, that Mr. Mohamed's activities were such as to warrant his dismissal from service ... "

It said that on receiving certain information from the Intelligence Bureau on the activities of Mr. Mohamed, the matter was referred to a Committee of Advisors, including the Union Home Secretary and the Director of the IB.

"Probe not practicable"

The committee was satisfied that he was involved in activities prejudicial to the interest of the security of the State and that it would not be proper and practicable to hold a departmental inquiry in the matter.

He was then dismissed from service.

Mr. Mohamed moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), stating there was neither prosecution nor inquiry. The CAT dismissed his plea.

Court satisfied

Rejecting his petition against the CAT order, a Division Bench of Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Chitra Venkataraman said: "It is not for the court to go into the sufficiency or otherwise of the materials placed before the President. The court is empowered to verify and ascertain the materials placed before the President. We are satisfied that there is no ground to arrive at a conclusion that the satisfaction of the President is vitiated by malafide or based on wholly extraneous or irrelevant grounds."

File submitted

As per the Bench order, senior counsel for the Railways submitted the entire file in a sealed cover and requested the court not to make public or disclose the contents.

After perusing the matter, the judges said, "The file disclosed relevant materials such as information from the IB regarding the activities of Mr. Mohamed and the advice of the Government to the President... We do not find any error, infirmity or valid ground for interference with the order impugned."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail