“3. It is obvious that the enquiry into the accident which was held by the statutory committee was not directed against the appellant as such. It was an enquiry held as is always done in cases of accident to find out who was responsible for the accident. In this enquiry the appellant gave evidence and so did other witnesses. It does appear that the committee held that the statements made by the appellant in support of the Pointsman were not true and that along with the Pointsman the appellant was also negligent in the discharge of his duties. Incidentally it may be pointed out that the first part of the finding which is signed by Mr Basu, the President of the Enquiry Committee, seems to hold only the Pointsman responsible for the accident, though in the latter part the appellant and the Pointsman both are held responsible. There is some substance in the grievance made by the appellant that it is not clear from the record when the latter part of the finding was added to the report. But, apart from this aspect of the matter there can be no doubt that it is as a result of this departmental enquiry into the accident that occasion arose to take action against the appellant; and it was obviously necessary that he should have been given a chance to show his innocence by holding an enquiry in respect of the charge that he was responsible for the accident. The findings reached by the Enquiry Committee as a result of the statutory enquiry cannot be said to be findings made against the appellant in a departmental enquiry made against him for alleged neglect of duty or violation of the statutory rules. This position is fairly conceded before us by Mr Ganapathi Iyer, and indeed it is patent on the record that, before issuing notice calling upon the appellant to show cause why the proposed penalty should not be imposed on him, no enquiry into the alleged misconduct had really been held. It may be that the authorities concerned took the view that the departmental enquiry into the accident was enough but that clearly is not right. At the departmental enquiry nobody is accused of negligence or dereliction of duty. It is a kind of investigation made by the department under statutory rules. Therefore, we are satisfied that the appellant is justified in challenging the validity of the impugned order on the ground that a proper enquiry has not been made and he has not been given a reasonable opportunity to meet the charge against him. The said order must, therefore, be set aside.
