The Supreme Court has shut the door on a Presidential Reference that sought the removal of Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) member Mepung Tadar Bage, ruling that allegations tied to the 2022 Assistant Engineer (Civil) exam leak did not stand against her personally.
A Bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Aravind Kumar, while examining the reference under Article 317(1) of the Constitution, made it clear that “misbehaviour” cannot be read into vague claims or institutional failures. Removal, the judges said, has to rest on proven individual misconduct, not on collective lapses of the Commission.
The push for Bage’s ouster began after other members of the Commission resigned, prompting the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh to approach the President on the Chief Minister’s recommendation. The matter was then referred to the top court, as mandated under Article 317.
But the Court drew a sharp line: institutional shortcomings, even if true, do not automatically translate into individual guilt. “Removal on the ground of misbehaviour is individual and not collective in nature,” the Bench underscored, rejecting arguments that the Commission as a whole should bear the blame.
Citing past rulings, the judges noted that misconduct requires an element of intent—something entirely missing in this case. The paper-setting and moderation process, the Court found, was handled by examination staff, not Bage. Allegations linked to earlier irregularities from 2017 were irrelevant, since she only joined the Commission in 2021.
Even decisions like keeping punishment orders against candidates in abeyance were treated as quasi-judicial calls—wrong perhaps, but nowhere near the constitutional threshold of “misbehaviour.”
The inquiry report, the Court emphasized, did not point to any specific act of wrongdoing by Bage. Instead, letters from the Governor and Chief Minister rested on assumptions and broad strokes, not concrete findings.
“No overt act by her has been shown to meet the threshold of misbehaviour,” the Bench ruled, ordering her suspension revoked and her position, along with all benefits, restored.
