Procedure to follow while filing a court case by in service government official.

archana (Querist) 07 March 2013 This query is : Resolved
Namaste Sir/ Madam,

One of my colleague has received a legal notice which was submitted to his higher officer alleging him to have demanded bribe. Now , he wishes to file a defamation case against the person who has sent the legal notice.

Please guide what is the correct procedure for filing a case by an in service government official in personal matter, Should higher office be intimated before filing a case , what does CCS rules guide in this regard.

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P. Venu

(Expert) 07 March 2013
Who has received the legal notice, your colleague or the official superior?

Raj Kumar Makkad (Expert) 08 March 2013
Your collegque is required to serve a legal notice to the person making such comments and thereafter is required to file a complaint before the court if he do not withdraw his allegations back within the stipulated period.

archana (Querist) 08 March 2013
Thank you sir for replying . I required clarification on few more points.

The official who has received a legal notice is a Gazetted officer & legal notice is served by a clerical staff working under him.

Our query is that before serving a legal notice to that person , is Gazetted Officer supposed to inform his higher office?

P. Venu

(Expert) 08 March 2013
Prima facie, the basic ingredients for defamation are lacking.

Guest (Expert) 08 March 2013
Dear Archana,

The query is lacking appropriate information to form some definite opinion for guidance. You have also not provided information as sought by Mr. Venu through his query.

However, based on the available information it can be said --

At first, a subordinate official is not entitled to serve a legal notice to his official superior for the conduct of official business. That will be treated as misconduct on the part of the subordinate official.

Secondly, the subordinate official should have approached the vigilance unit of his organisation or the CVC, along with proof, instead of serving notice to his superior.

3rd, If the superior has received a legal notice, he can get initiated a disciplinary action against his subordination for insubordination and false complaint, if he thinks that the complaint is false.

4th, the superior, if files a defamation case against his subordinate without completing the process of investigation & departmental inquiry, if found necessary, would also be guilty for misconduct in his official business.

However, for filing a case in an individual and unofficial capacity a government servant, may he be Gazetted or non-gazetted employee, does not need any permission from his department to file a court case against some one.

Raj Kumar Makkad (Expert) 12 March 2013
In the given case, the higher officer has served legal notice to his subordinate instead of opting the disciplinary method of the department which shows that the matter is personal and not of the office so the subordinate person has been told the way by me.