Can departmental inquiry be dropped upon being acquitted in a criminal case? The department had lodged an FIR against me for the offence of forgery and misappropriation. On the same basis a department inquiry was initiated against me for the misconduct in the discharge of official duty. Can departmental inquiry be dropped upon being acquitted in a criminal case? Both proceedings are running concurrently but I have been acquitted in criminal proceedings. When I approached the department to please drop the departmental inquiry on the basis of acquittal tha department has refused. I don’t know what is the actual reason but there is some malafide intention to stall the departmental inquiry because they want to deprive me from the promotion and also from the ACP.
Asked from: Uttar Pradesh
Departmental inquiry be dropped upon being acquitted in a criminal case: The principle has been firmly established in law that simply quashing an FIR or an employee’s acquittal in a criminal case will not have any bearing on a disciplinary inquiry. It is important to recognise that these two processes serve entirely distinct purposes.
In Karnataka Power Transmission Corpn. Ltd. v. C. Nagaraju, (2019) 10 SCC 367, the Supreme Court has held
Acquittal by a criminal court would not debar an employer from exercising the power to conduct departmental proceedings in accordance with the rules and regulations. The two proceedings, criminal and departmental, are entirely different. They operate in different fields and have different objectives.
The same is reiterated by the supreme court in Ajit Kumar Nag v. Indian Oil Corpn. Ltd., (2005) 7 SCC 764 & State of Karnataka v. Umesh, (2022) 6 SCC 563
The legal precedent has established that an officer’s acquittal in a criminal court does not prevent a departmental inquiry from being conducted against them.
The disciplinary authority is not obligated to adhere to the verdict of the criminal court if the evidence presented in the departmental inquiry differs from that presented in the criminal trial.
Read also: Departmental enquiry initiated after six years: its legality and right of employee
Generally the department takes a plea that evidence produced in both inquiries (departmental and criminal) are different, therefore, the departmental inquiry must be carried on.
The basic reason for taking such a plea is that unlike a criminal prosecution, where the charge must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, a disciplinary proceeding requires the establishment of a charge of misconduct based on a preponderance of probabilities.
The rules of evidence that apply to a criminal trial are separate from those that govern a disciplinary inquiry. Hence, the court does not drop the departmental inquiry merely on the basis of acquittal of a delinquent employee in criminal trial or quashing of criminal proceedings.
However, it is not feasible that the court may direct to drop the departmental inquiry but it may direct to conclude the inquiry within a stipulated time. For getting a time bound accomplishment of departmental inquiry you can approach the high court under Article 226 of the constitution. Otherwise, departmental inquiry cannot be dropped upon being acquitted in a criminal case.
