Q: What is the meaning of ?natural justice?? How far is the concept applicable in cases of domestic enquiry? Is not the report of an enquiry officer necessarily bad if the enquiry is held in breach of natural justice?
Bikash Basu, Howrah
A: The principle of natural justice has two limbs. One is that an adjudicating authority must hear all the parties to a dispute before deciding. The principle is that no man should be condemned unheard. The other limb is that no one can be a judge in his own cause since human instinct is to protect one?s own interest.
The concept of natural justice applies to cases of domestic enquiry or disciplinary proceedings. Generally speaking, an enquiry proceeding held in breach of the principles of natural justice and the resultant report of the enquiry officer are bad and unsustainable.
However, the courts have held that the principles of natural justice cannot be put in a straitjacket formula. This means that in a case where the principle has been deviated from, the court may insist upon proof of prejudice suffered by a party before interfering. Thus, an enquiry conducted in violation of natural justice many not necessarily be interfered with by a court of law if the complaining party has not suffered any prejudice by reason of non-compliance with the principles of natural justice.
Q: I am a junior executive in a government company. I have had an unblemished record for the past eight years. About two months ago, the company placed me under suspension and issued a baseless chargesheet alleging various irregularities on my part while placing a purchase order on a party. The note-sheet recommending that particular order has been signed by four senior executives of the company and approved by the board of directors. I think the management is trying to make me a scapegoat. Can I take any legal step to protect my interests?
Name withheld
A: At this stage any legal proceeding challenging the domestic enquiry is unlikely to succeed. You should raise your objections before the enquiry officer and defend the proceedings on merits. In case of an adverse report, you can challenge it before the appellate authority, if there be one. Otherwise, you can challenge the report and any punishment imposed pursuant thereto, by way of writ application before the High Court.
If you can demonstrate that the report is perverse or unsupported by any evidence, the same is likely to be quashed. In the meantime, however, you are entitled to subsistence allowance during the period of suspension as per the company?s service rules and you should claim the same.
Send your letters to Inlaw at The Telegraph,
Jobs Desk, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001; or fax at 2258112; or send e-mails to jobs@abpmail.com. All letters should have your full name and postal address.
