domestic inquiry

Dear Friends,


I am new to this forum. Can some one guide me about all the procedure & steps of domestic inquiry ? If there is any book on this subject ? Pl let me know.


Regds

Vikram Singh,

09810102421

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With Warm Regds,

Vikram Singh

+919810102421

Hai !

No one to Guide me in this regard ? Anil Ji I was expecting it form u.


Regds,

Vikram Singh
0910102421

__________________
With Warm Regds,

Vikram Singh

+919810102421

Ajmal Mirja is champion in steps and procedure. Please fire your questions
to him.

thanks
umalme

Hi Vikram,

Welcome to citehr.com..

Well, yesterday i just concluded the domestic enquiry of workman in our factory which took almost a year..therefore let me share some points on the same..

Procedure of holding a domestic enquiry-

*A workman against whom an enquiry is to be held is to be given a charge-sheet clearly stating the charges levelled against him and asking him to submit his explanation.

* Management has to appoint Enquiry Officer(EO) & Management Representative(MR) for the enquiry as per the charge sheet.

*Management reserves the right to suspend the workman pending enquiry depending upon the gravity of the charges.

* Workman is permitted to defend himself by other workman or by an office bearer of Trade Union of which he is a member-defence Representative (DR).

*In Domestic enquiry - starts with the recording of the statements & letters as per the chargesheet. The workman is allowed to produce witnesses in his defence and cross examine the witness of the Management. EO shall record the concise summary of the evidences & questions & answers asked by the both the parties.

* The proceedings of the inquiry shall be conducted in English,hindi or in the language of the state where the Industrial establishment is located.

* After it is over, sometimes it takes a year or more- EO should sumit his findings giving brief reasons.

* EO - appointment - The management can appoint
a. An oficer employed in his Industrial establishment
b. An officer from outside
c. An advocate

In normal it is better to have an adocate to give credibility to the proceedings.

* On the reciept of the finding report from EO , the Management should give a letter to workman alongwith the finding report of EO for his explanation.

* On the reciept of the same , Management can accord punishments to the workman found guilty of msconduct. Here they are four types of punishments viz
1. Dismissal without any notice
2. suspension for a period of not more than 4 days.
3. Fine
4. Warning or censure.

* Points to remember while according the punishment
1. Gravity of the misconduct
2. Previous records if any
3. aggravating circumstances that may exist.

* The doctrine of proof beyond doubt as applicable in criminal trial is not applicable here. This is as per the judgement held in High Court Judicature of Bombay v/s Udaysingh Ganpatrao,1997/CLR 1122 S.C.

Also look forward to finer points on this matter by Anil Anand as well..

Hope this helps...

Have a great weekend..

Cheers,

Rajat

Dear Rajat,

Thanks for the same. I am looking for the response of Anil ji in this regard.


Regds,

Vikram Singh

__________________
With Warm Regds,

Vikram Singh

+919810102421

Dear Vikram
As one for many years defended employees, I would like to add on what Rajat had already said.

A domestic enqauiry issues out of the charge sheet, which describes the misconduct falling under the Standing orders Act or any other act under which the company comes under. If any other act comes under it had to be ratified by the Board of Directors of the Company and specifically mentioned in the Standing Orders Act 1949 that the said act will also be taken into consideration for determining the Misconduct. But misconduct according to me is a state of mind and any misconduct should not be vague. The charges have to be firm in order to proceed aginst the employee like witnesses, documents etc., If there are documents they cannot be just accepted as introduced by the management. On the other hand, if the employee has a reason to believe that the documents are just there only to find fault with him and it could be challenged, he has to produce during the course of eneuqiry any other document that disproves the management version.

The management has two main people in this: One the PResenting Officer who presents the documents and acts a prosecution. Our domestic enquiries are based on adversary system where there are two opposing parites like the presenting officr and the defence assistant. (or legal assistant in the case of lawyer representing the employee). After Chief examination of witnesses if any or documents, the defence has the right to cross examine the witnesses. The management has the right to reexamine the witnesses in the light of defence cross examination in which case there shall be another cross exam by the Defence. This is a special privilege given to employees by the higher Courts and the Supreme Court to have justice and fair play. After the enquiry the Presenting officer presents his arguments and like wise the Defence. The Enquiry officer goes through both and gives his findings. There is another side to it once the findings are known to the employee and the supposed punishment intimated to him by the Disciplinary authority. Then the employee can appeal against the punishment if it is higher.
You can ask me on this at
Good wishes
Raghavan V

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Writing is a passion for me. I am a yoga practitioner for more than 3 decades. I have some useful modules (not the gymnastic ones) for the modern executives for good health.

Hai Friends,

Really valuable sharing by Mr. Rajat but sill i have followings doubts in this regard:

- Suppose if an employee confess his misconduct in writting and make the Management free to take any action. Now my question is, whether in these circumstances it is obligatory/legally to issue a chargesheet to him even after his confession and conduct a domestic enquiry to take further action or NOT?

- Rajat... you have mentioned about the punishments after comletion of domestic enquiry that we can suspend the concerned employee for not more than 4 days. Whether it is a legal boundation to not to suspend more than 4 days.

- Is there any time limit to complete the domestic enquiry?

Please Clarify.

Regards,

__________________
With Warm Regds,

Vikram Singh

+919810102421

Hi,


I would like to add my opinion on the above subject:


1) Even if the employee confess his misconduct in writing, it would be better to have a domestic enquiry.If the misconduct warrants minor punishment & the employee has confessed his misconduct in writing , the emloyer can waive the conduct of domestic enquiry.suppose if the punishment to be given is a major one, even though the employee has confessed his misconduct , it would be better to have a domestic enquiry.

2) as far as i know an employee can be suspended for more than 4 days.Again this depends upon the gravity of the misconduct & the standings orders of the company.

3) the law does not specify any time limit for completion of domestic enquiry.It has to be conducted within a reasonable period.

If there is any correction on the above points i would be happy to receive the feedback.

Sivakumar.

Dear Shiva & Raghavan ji,


Thanks a lot for ur valuable inputs. Anil ji why you a silent on this issue.What is your openion ?


Regds,

__________________
With Warm Regds,

Vikram Singh

+919810102421

Hello,

Just to add to Mr.Shiva's point... In order to find whether suspension for more than 4 days, one must see whether the provision to this regard is made in the company's Certified Standing Orders. In case the company doesnt hav its Certified Standing Orders, The Model Standing Orders given under Industrial Estb. Standing Orders Act are automatically applicable to the Company. If that is the case, the managment cannot suspend the delequant employee for more than 4 days, as stated in the Model Standing Orders.

Feedback is invited.

Regards,
Samarth Desai.