Suspended DRT Chandigarh Presiding Officer moves CAT

Man Mohan Dhonchak, the Presiding Officer of Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT-II), Chandigarh, has moved the Principal Bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against the Central government's decision to place him under suspension during the pendency of an ongoing inquiry..The Ministry of Finance had, on February 13, suspended Dhonchak, a former judicial officer, after the DRT Bar Association in Chandigarh accused him of misbehaviour and a preliminary inquiry found “reasonable grounds” for a regular inquiry against him.Dhonchak, who has been in controversy since 2022 due to his conflicts with the bar association, has alleged in his petition before the CAT that he has been made a scapegoat to please the “might of the Bar”.“The respondent [Union of India] has illegally and arbitrarily issued order of suspension without giving any notice of suspension which was the requirement of the principles of natural justice, fair play and the law of the land,” he has contended..Dhonchak has also argued that there is no provision in the Tribunal Reforms Act of 2021 or the Rules framed under it for suspension of a Presiding Officer. The suspension order has been “hatched” as a result of a “brazen scheme” to get rid of Dhonchak and “to please” the advocates of DRT Bar Association at Chandigarh, the petition adds.The petition was filed before the Principal Bench in Delhi on Thursday and has not yet come up for hearing..While suspending Dhonchak, the Centre had noted that the Search-Cum-Selection Committee before which the matter was placed had opined that there was “evidently no change” in his conduct even after the fact that an inquiry had been approved against him. On February 26, the Ministry of Finance had given Dhonchak ten days for submission of his defence in the form of a written statement. Besides the charge of misbehaviour with the members of the Bar, he has also been accused of adjourning certain cases to 2026, which is beyond his tenure..In October 2022, the DRT Bar Association in Chandigarh Dhonchak had passed a resolution to boycott him and also approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court against his alleged “intemperate, erratic behaviour and working patterns”.The High Court in an order passed on November 3 last year had remarked that litigants were suffering due to the “mindless tussle” and impressed upon the bar to end the boycott of Dhonchak.Dhonchak twice had approached the Supreme Court against the “adverse remarks” made by the High Court against him during the proceedings. While one of the petitions was withdrawn in May 2023, a bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud had dismissed the other plea in January this year..Pertinently, the High Court last month initiated suo motu contempt of court proceedings against Dhonchak for making a false claim that CCTV cameras are not installed at the DRT. The contempt case is listed for hearing on April 3.