Written Brief of the Presenting Officer
Written Brief of the Presenting Officer
1. Introduction: It is desirable that the brief starts with an introduction wherein the
details of the case may be given. The introduction may run something like this:
“Charges were framed by xxxxx (Disciplinary Authority) against Shri. ABC (name and
designation), under Rule 14 of the CCS (CCA) Rules 1965 vide OM No. xxxxx dated
xxxxx. On the denial of the charges by Shri ABC, it was considered necessary by the
Disciplinary Authority to hold an inquiry into the matter and accordingly Shri.
Mmmmmm (name and designation) was appointed as the Inquiring Authority and the
undersigned viz. ssssssss (name and designation) was appointed as the Presenting
Officer. Inquiry was held during xxxxx (date of commencement of the inquiry) and
yyyyyyy (date of conclusion of the inquiry). The Inquiring Authority ordered on yyyyyy
that the written brief of the Presenting Officer be submitted by zzzzzz (date).
Subsequently, on the request of the Presenting Officer time for submission of the
brief was extended to kkkkk under intimation to the charged officer. Accordingly this
written brief is being submitted.”
2. Charge: The second item in the written brief must be the details of the charges.
The para may read
“The articles of charge framed against Shri. ABC are: mmmmmmm,mmm”
3. Proceedings during the Preliminary Hearing: Details such as the denial of the
charges by the Charged Officer during the Preliminary Hearing, the details of the
State documents admitted and disputed by the Charged Officer may be indicated
here.
4. Opportunities given to the Charged Officer: Providing reasonable opportunity to
the Charged Officer is an essential requirement of the disciplinary proceedings.
Besides, the Charged Officer is likely to mention in his written brief that he was not
provided with reasonable opportunity. Hence, the Presenting Officer should
commence his contentions with a submission about the opportunities given to the
Charged Officer. Presenting Officer should highlight the opportunity given to the
Charged Officer for presenting additional documents/witnesses. Besides, permission
granted to the Charged Officer for engagement of Defence Assistant, any lenience
shown to the Charged Officer, any facility availed by him, etc. may be specifically
brought out here. It is desirable that the Presenting Officer anticipates the arguments
likely to be taken by the Charged Officer and provides answers to the same, to the
extent possible. If any document which was totally irrelevant was requested by the
Charged Officer and the same was denied by the Inquiry Officer, one can be more
than sure that the Charged Officer will be mentioning the same in his written brief
and trying to argue that he was denied reasonable opportunity. The Presenting
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Officer should anticipate such argument and highlight in his brief that the Charged
Officer was provided with reasonable opportunity.
5. Case of the Disciplinary Authority: This paragraph will predominantly rely on the
statement of imputations of the misconduct. Here the Presenting Officer may
indicate the facts on the basis of which the charge is required to be proved.
6. Evidence on behalf of the Disciplinary Authority: After narrating the case of the
Disciplinary Authority, the Presenting Officer may give the details of the evidence
actually led on behalf of the Disciplinary Authority vis-a-vis the evidence mentioned
in the Charge Sheet (Annexures III and IV). Any deviation, such as not presenting
any witness mentioned in the charge sheet or presenting additional witnesses with
the permission of the Inquiring Authority may also be indicated.
7. Evidence on behalf of the Charged Officer: The details of the oral and
documentary evidence presented by the Charged Officer may be listed here.
8. Evaluation of evidence: This is the most crucial portion of the written brief. In this
portion, the Presenting Officer should highlight the facts established by each piece of
evidence. There are two ways of achieving this, viz.
(a) The Presenting Officer may take up the facts to be established for
proving the charge one by one, and indicate the evidence which establishes
the fact.
(b) Alternatively, the Presenting Officer may take up each item of evidence
presented on behalf of the Disciplinary Authority and indicate what points
have been established by each piece of evidence.
9. Analysis of the case of the Charged Officer: Although the case of the Disciplinary
Authority is to stand on its own legs, it is advisable for the Presenting Officer to
anticipate and counter the submissions of the Charged Officer. This will help the
Inquiring Authority to evaluate the complete case and draw final conclusions.
However, this is an area where the Presenting Officer will have to do considerable
brain teasing. The case of the Charged Officer can be inferred only from his
submissions. But some Charged Officers do not present any written submissions till
the conclusion of the hearing. Even the written Statement of Defence in response to
the Charge Sheet will contain a one line denial such as “I deny the charges”. As a
result, the Presenting Officer may not have any document indicating the stand of the
Charged Officer. Under such circumstances, the Presenting Officer will have to
construct the case of the Charged Officer from the evidence produced by him. The
Presenting Officer should try to undermine the value of the defence witnesses citing
acceptable reasons. In this paragraph, the Presenting Officer’s argument should run
on the following lines:
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(a) That the case of the Charged Officer is not logically possible.
(b) That the Charged Officer has failed to establish what he tried to do.
(c) That the witnesses led by the charged officer are not reliable because of
contradictions with the established facts.
(d) That the defence witnesses were interested parties and hence their
evidence cannot be relied upon.
(e) Inconsistency and absence of corroboration in the statements of the
Defence Witnesses.
10. Conclusion: Finally, the brief of the Presenting Officer should contain a specific
assertion to the effect that on the basis of the evidence presented during the Inquiry,
Charges should be held as proved. At this stage, the Presenting Officer should not
bother about adequacy of evidence. If there is some evidence pointing towards the
guilt of the Charged Officer, the charges should be held proved on the basis of
preponderance of probability. If the evidence produced in the inquiry leads to proof
beyond doubt, the Presenting Officer should specifically mention the same in his
brief