TMI Blog1968 (7) TMI 79X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ilty of malpractice during the examination held in April 1965 and consequently debarred him from appearing in any examination till April, 1966. In the examination in question the appellant bad to appear in two papers in Mathematics. In this case we are concerned with the Mathematics I paper. The Additional Examiner who valued that paper awarded the appellant 14% marks but the Chief Examiner gave him 64% in that paper. The appellant had answered questions Nos. 1(a), 5(a), 9(a) and 4(a) in the main answer book and secured 0.2 out of 6.0 and 0 marks respectively from the Additional Examiner. Pages 611 of his main answer book were left blank. There were some additional answer books, certain pages of which were also left blank. Two of the additional answer books were also unused and left blank. In the used additional answer book questions 1(a) and 9(a) which the appellant had already answered in the main answer book and for which he had secured 0 marks from the Additional Examiner were found re- answered and for these he Secured 100% marks from the Chief Examiner. The Chairman of the Board of Examinations, notic- ing this unusual feature reported the matter to the Board of Examiners ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... llant appeals to the Court against that decision. Before the High Court as well as in this court the impugned order was assailed on two grounds viz.-(1) the formal inquiry required under the rules should have been conducted by an officer designated by the Principal of the College in which the appellant appeared for his examination i.e. Examination Centre and hence there was no proper inquiry and (2) the impugned order was invalid inasmuch as no copy of the report made 'by the second respondent was made available to the appellant before he was called upon to submit his explanation in response to the show ,cause notice issued to him by the Vice Chancellor. Those contentions appealed to, the learned Single Judge but the Judges of the Division Bench found no merit in them. Those very contentions have again been repeated before us. Before examining those contentions, it is necessary to men- tion a few more facts. The Kerala University is governed by Kerala University Act, 1957. The Engineering College, Trichur is affiliated to the Kerala University. Under s. 19(N) of the Kerala University Act, the control over the discipline of the students is vested with the Syndicate of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be called upon to show cause against the provisional decision and after receiving his representation, if any, the Vice Chancellor should pass appropriate final orders. In this case the Principal of the College in which the appellant appeared for his examination was not requested to appoint an Inquiry Officer. The Inquiry Officer was directly appointed by the Vice Chancellor himself. The reason for this course is obvious. The Principal in question was the father of the appellants The Vice Chancellor, therefore, thought it proper that be himself should appoint some independent person as the Inquiry Officer. We have earlier seen that the rule under which the Vice Chancellor was required to request the Principal of the concerned college to appoint an Inquiry Officer is not a statutory rule. That rule merely laid down a convenient procedure. Hence the Vice Chancellor cannot be said to have; contravened any law in appointing the Inquiry Officer. It cannot be said and it was not said that the steps taken by the Vice Chancellor were in contravention of the principles of natural justice. The second respondent as mentioned earlier is a retired Principal of an Engineering College, a responsi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t Board v. Alridge(2) Viscount Haldane L.C. observed My Lords, when the duty of deciding an appeal is imposed, those whose duty it is to decide it must act judicially. They must deal with the question referred to them without bias, and they must give to each of the parties the opportunity of adequately presenting the case made. The decision must become to in the spirit and with the sense of responsibility of a tribunal whose duty. it is to mete, out justice. But it does not follow that the procedure of every such tribunal must be the same. In the case of a Court of law tradition in this country has prescribed certain principles to which in the main the procedure must conform. But what that procedure is to be in detail must depend on the nature of the tribunal. In modem times it has become increasingly common for Parliament to give an appeal in matters which really pertain to administration rather than to the exercise of the judicial functions of an ordinary Court, to authorities whose functions are administrative and not in the ordinary sense judicial. Such a body as the Local Government Board has the duty of enforcing obligations on the individual which are imposed in the inte ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s kind ? First, I think that the person accused should know the nature of the accusation made; secondly that he should be given an opportunity to state his case; and thirdly, of course, that the tribunal should act in good faith. I do not think that there really is anything more. The decision of the Judicial Committee in University of Ceylon V. Fernando (2 ) appears to go much further than what was laid down in the aforementioned cases. For the purpose of this case it is not necessary to take assistance from the ratio of that derision. Suffice it to say that in the case before us there was a fair inquiry against the appellant; the officer appointed to inquire was an impartial person- he cannot be said to have been biassed against the appellant; the charge against the appellant was made known to him before the commencement of the inquiry; the witnesses who gave evidence against him were examined in his presence and he was allowed to cross-examine them and lastly he was given every opportunity to present his case before the Inquiry Officer. Hence we see no merit in the contention that there was any breach of the principles of natural justice. It is true that the Vice Chancelor did n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he was guilty of infamous conduct was not correct. In that case the General Medical Council took action against Dr. Spackman solely on the basis of the conclusions reached by the Divorce Court in Pepper v. Pepper. Dr. Spackman wanted to negative the court's finding of adultery by tendering evidence which though available was not called in the divorce proceedings. The House of Lords held that the Council's refusal to take fresh evidence prevented their being the due inquiry required by s. 29 of the Medical Act, 1858 and therefore an order of certiorari was granted. The scope of the principles of natural justice as explained by the English Courts was adopted by this Court in a large number of cases. See New Prakash Transport Co. v. New Savarna Transport Co.(3) and Nagendra Nath Bora v. The Commissioner of Hill Divisions (4 ). Before closing this case we would like to recall the observations made by Gajendragadkar J. (as he then was) speaking for the Court in The Board of High School and Intermediate Education U.P. v. Bagleshwar Prasad and ors.(5). His Lordship observed : In dealing with petitions of this type, it is necessary to bear in mind that educational i ..... 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