TMI Blog1980 (1) TMI 204X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on and to indicate the evidence, if any. On receiving the charge-sheet, the respondent addressed a communication, requesting the Managing Director to furnish him with certain papers, which were accordingly furnished. Thereafter, the respondent submitted his explanation on January 19, 1961. In this explanation, he specifically demanded that he wanted to cross-examine certain witnesses, the particulars of which were mentioned by him. He further gave the names and particulars of certain other witnesses, stating that he wanted to examine them, in defence. Nothing happened thereafter till April 18, 1961, on which date the Managing Director passed an order dismissing the respondent from service with effect from the date of his suspension. Later on, a demand was made from the respondent, requiring him to remit a sum of ₹ 549.61 due to the Corporation on account of certain commodities said to have been misappropriated by the respondent on account of short realisation of storage charges by him. The respondent then filed a Writ Petition (No. 87 of 1962) under Article 226 of the Constitution, in the High Court praying for a writ of certiorari to quash the order of his dismissal on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ain the writ petition. It is submitted that the only remedy of the respondent was to file a suit for damages on account of his alleged wrongful dismissal. Support for this contention has been sought from a decision of this Court in Executive Committee of U.P. State Warehousing Corporation Ltd. v. Chandra Kiran Tyagi(1). Reference has also been made to Sirsi Municipality v. Cecelia Kom Francis Tellis.(2) On the other hand, Shri A. K. Sen, appearing for the respondent, submits that since the decision of this Court in U.P. State Warehousing Corporation (ibid), the law has undergone a change. It is pointed out that the appellant is a Corporation constituted under a statue and is owned and controlled by the State Government and its employees. therefore, have a statutory status. It is argued that even in the absence of Regulation 16 providing for a departmental enquiry, the appellant was bound to hold an enquiry and to give, in compliance with the rules of natural justice, full and fair opportunity to the respondent to defend himself and repel the charges levelled against him. It is maintained that such an opportunity was denied to him because he was not allowed to examine witn ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Government does not enjoy a statutory status, appears to have been eroded by the later decisions of this Court, particularly the pronouncement in Sukhdev Singh's case (ibid). The statutory bodies in that case were : Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Industrial Finance Corporation and Life Insurance Corporation. All the three bodies were created under separate stututes enacted by the Central Legislature. It was clear from the Oil and Natural Gas Commission Act, 1954, that the Commission created by it, acts as an agency of the Central Government. Similarly, by virtue of the Industrial Finance Corporation Act, 1948, the Finance Corporation is under the control and management of the Central Government. The Life Insurance Corporation is similarly owned and managed by the Government and can be dissolved only by the Government in view of the provisions of the Life Insurance Act, 1956. All the three statutes constituting the three statutory corporations enabled them to make regulations which provide, inter alia, for the terms and conditions of employment and services of their employees. Questions arose : (i) whether the regulations have the force of law, and (ii) whether the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tasks which were often of a specialised and highly technical character For this reason, a policy of public administration through separate Corporations which would operate largely according to business principles and be separately accountable, was evolved. Such public corporations constituted under enactments, became a third arm of the Government. The employees of public corporation are not civil servants. In so far as public corporations fulfil public tasks on behalf of the Government, they are public authorities and, as such, subject to control by Government. The public corporation being a creation of the State is subject to the constitutional limitation as the State itself. The Court thus with a majority of 4-1 held that the statutory bodies then under consideration were `authorities' within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution and though their employees were not servants of the Union or of a State, yet they had a statutory status. The appellant is a Corporation constituted under the Uttar Pradesh State Warehousing Corporation (Act 28) of 1956, which was subsequently replaced by the Central Act 58 of 1962. It is a statutory body wholly controlled and manag ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s explanation is obtained. In the present case, no such enquiry was held and the order of dismissal was passed summarily after perusing the respondent's explanation. The rules of natural justice in this case, were honoured in total breach. The impugned order of dismissal was thus bad in law and had been rightly set aside by the High Court. Before passing on to the next question we may in fairness mention, that Mr. Asok Sen had cited two more decisions, also. The first was a recent judgment of the House of Lords in Melloch. v. Aberdeen Corporation(1), wherein Lord Wilberforce in his speech (at pages 1595-1596 of the Report) observed that in cases in which there is an element of public employment or service, or support by statute or something in the nature of an office or a status, which is capable of protection, then irrespective of the terminology used, and even though in some inter parties aspects the relationship may be called that of master and servant, there may be essential procedural requirement to be observed on grounds of natural justice. The second decision is Ramana Dayaram Shetty v. The International Airport Authority of India Ors. In Ramana Dayara ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ismissal of the employee, the High Court should ordinarily. in the event of the dismissal being found illegal, simply quash the same and should not further give a positive direction for payment to the employee full back wages (although as consequence of the annulment of the dismissal, the position as it obtained immediately before the dismissal is restored), such peculiar powers can properly be exercised in a case where the impugned adjudication or award has been given by an Industrial Tribunal or Labour Court. The instant case is not one under Industrial/Labour Law. The respondent employee never raised any industrial dispute, nor invoked the jurisdiction of the Labour Court or the Industrial Tribunal. He directly moved the High Court for the exercise of its special jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution for challenging the order of dismissal primarily on the ground that it was violative of the principles of natural justice which required that his public employment should not be terminated without giving him a due opportunity to defend himself and to rebut the charges against him. Furthermore, whether a workman or employee of a statutory authority should be reinstated i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... agencies or instrumentalities of the Government was also considered, again at some length, by this Court in Ramana Dayaram Shetty v. The International Airport Authority of India Ors. I find it very hard indeed to discover any distinction, on principle, between a person directly under the employment of the Government and a person under the employment of an agency or instrumentality of the Government or a Corporation, set up under a statute or incorporated but wholly owned by the Government. It is self evident and trite to say that the function of the State has long since ceased to be confined to the preservation of the public peace, the exaction of taxes and the defence of its frontiers. It is now the function of the State to secure `social, economic and political justice', to preserve `liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship', and to ensure `equality of status and of opportunity'. That is the proclamation of the people in the preamble to the Constitution. The desire to attain these objectives has necessarily resulted in intense Governmental activity in manifold ways. Legislative and executive activity have reached very far and have touched very ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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