Law: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973

Section: 10-A , 199

Constitution of Pakistan, 1973-- ----Arts. 10-A & 199--Bank Officer--Departmental Inquiry--Charge Sheet--Unauthorized Debit--Alleged Misconduct--Dismissal from Service--Departmental Appeal--Rejected--Constitutional Petition--Challenge to dismissal order--Violation of Due Process--No Proper Opportunity of Hearing--New Ground taken in Appeal--Penalty Disproportionate--Principle of Proportionality--Long Service Record--Petitioner Reinstated--Fresh Inquiry Permitted in Accordance with Law--Inquiry report relied upon by respondents did not show that petitioner was allowed to cross-examine any witness, nor did appellate order indicate that he was granted opportunity of personal hearing--Petitioner was never confronted with this specific allegation at any stage of departmental proceedings--Omission to put particular charge to him before drawing adverse conclusion amounted to clear denial of fair trial under Article 10-A of Constitution, which required that no adverse action affecting a person’s reputation, employment, or civil rights was taken without transparency, impartiality, and meaningful opportunity of defence--These constitutional protections fully extended to departmental inquiries and required proper notice of allegations, access to material, opportunity to rebut evidence, and reasoned determination by unbiased authority--Even assuming some procedural irregularity or lapse, imposition of extreme penalty of dismissal appeared wholly disproportionate to nature of charge and inconsistent with settled principles of fairness and proportionality--Record did not show that alleged acts resulted in any loss to Bank or personal gain to petitioner--There was no suggestion of previous misconduct during his lengthy service--In such circumstances, extreme penalty of dismissal was inconsistent with principles of fairness and proportionality--Impugned orders were set aside and petitioner was reinstated into service--While preserving authority of Bank to proceed departmentally against its officials, it was directed that if Bank intended to hold fresh inquiry against petitioner, same should be regular inquiry conducted strictly in accordance with law--Petitioner was…