Back
2018 Supreme(Cal) 954
IN THE HIGH COURT OF CALCUTTA
SHEKHAR B. SARAF, J.
Bhriguram De – Appellant
Versus
State of West Bengal – Respondent
W.P. No. 16748 (W) of 2018
Decided On : 08-09-2018
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : Saktipada Jana and Sankha Subhra Roy
For the Respondents: Sirsanya Bandopadhyay, Arka Kumar Nag, Biswajit De, D. Chakraborti and Soma Chakraborty
One who approaches the court must come with clean hands and disclose all relevant materials, and failure to do so may lead to the dismissal of the petition.
Headnote:
Salary Stoppage - Article 226 of the Constitution of India - Fraud, fraudulent concealment, and clean hands - Black's Law Dictionary, Law Lexicon, and judicial precedents - The court dismissed the writ petition due to the petitioner's suppression of material facts and failure to approach the court with clean hands.
Fact of the Case:
The writ petitioner challenged the stoppage of his salary by the school authorities. The respondent alleged that the petitioner suppressed documents related to his leave record and special leave application, leading to an abuse of the court process.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the petitioner suppressed material facts relevant to the salary stoppage, which amounted to an abuse of the court process. The court also emphasized the importance of approaching the court with clean hands and disclosing all relevant materials.
Issues: The main issue was whether the petitioner's suppression of material facts warranted the dismissal of the writ petition.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the petitioner's suppression of material facts and failure to approach the court with clean hands disqualified him from obtaining any relief.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the writ petition in limine and awarded exemplary costs to the respondent.
JUDGMENT :
Shekhar B. Saraf, J.
1. This is an application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India wherein the writ petitioner is aggrieved by the stoppage of his salary by way of letters dated July 9, 2018 and July 19, 2018 issued by the Administrator of the Chittaranjan Colony Hindu Vidyapit (H.S.), a government sponsored higher secondary school.
2. It is the case of the writ petitioner that his salary has been stopped from the month of August, 2018 and he is greatly prejudiced by the same. The petitioner submits that on April 12, 2018 the Administrator had written to him regarding the leave record in his Service Book and had requested him to submit the leave record and clarification with proper supporting documents so as to enable the Administrator to process the e-pension payable to the writ petitioner upon his retirement on January 31, 2019.
3. The petitioner thereafter wrote to the school authorities on May 8, 2018 requesting the authorities to submit his pension papers to the concerned authorities. The petitioner thereafter replied to the letter dated April] 2, 2018 vide his letter dated June 5, 2018 posted on June 6, 2018 seeking the details of his service book in relation to the leave availed by him from May 1, 2009 till date.
4. The petitioner has not annexed any supporting documents wherein he has submitted the leave records to the school authorities.
5. Mr. Biswajit De, counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent No. 5 submits that there is gross suppression of material facts before this Court amounting to an abuse of process of Court, as the writ petitioner has suppressed the documents in relation to leave that has been enjoyed by him from 1991 to 2018. He submits that the leave records were reconstructed as per the discussion with the petitioner on May 28, 2018 and the same was also handed over to the petitioner on July 6, 2018. Documents evidencing receipt by the petitioner were handed over to the Court.
6. Counsel appearing for respondent No. 5 further submits that the petitioner has been absent in school in the most part of August and September, 2018 except for a mere 6 days.
7. It has also been brought to my notice by the respondents (neither any statement with regard to the same in the pleadings nor any documents have been annexed to the writ petition) that the petitioner himself had made an application dated April 19, 2018 for sanctioning special leave in exceptional circumstances for a period of 356 days from 2011 to 2017. This application has been forwarded to the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (Board) by the concerned school authorities on April 27, 2018. However, no reply has yet been received from the Board with regard to the special leave sought by the writ petitioner.
8. Accordingly, he prays that the matter be either dismissed in limine or he may be allowed to file an affidavit to bring on record the material documents suppressed by the writ petitioner.
9. I have heard the counsel appearing for the parties and perused the materials on record.
10. On a perusal of the documents handed over by the counsel appearing for respondent No. 5, I am unable to comprehend as to why the petitioner has suppressed the documents in relation to application for leave for 356 days made on April 19, 2018 while filing this writ petition. For him to get justice, it is required that he comes before this Court with clean hands. Suppression of all the 'leaves' that he has taken and admitted to is a material fact that is relevant in the present case as he is challenging the salary overdrawn by him, as a result of the unsanctioned leave taken by him in the school. Without producing these documents in Court, he has tried to create an impression that great injustice has been done to him by the school authorities for stopping the salary overdrawn on account of leave. These documents have not been disclosed in the writ petition and since these documents are the basis of the salary overdrawn calculated by the Administrator a
