Understanding the Principle of Natural Justice in Domestic Enquiries: What Does the Law Say?

I am going to conduct a domestic enquiry in one case. We have mentioned in the enquiry letter that the enquiry shall be done following the principle of natural justice. Can you tell me about the law regarding the principle of natural justice? What is it? In which Act or law is it mentioned?

You asked a very good question. The two principles which govern the principle of natural justice are:

1. No man shall be a judge in his own cause.
2. No man shall be punished without his reply (in other words, hear the other side).

Though there is no clear-cut rule or law on the conduct of domestic enquiry in labor laws, various labor, high, and supreme courts have given directions and guidelines for the conduct of domestic enquiry based on the above two principles. Hence, the enquiry has to be conducted without any bias, and the enquiry officer, Mr., has to be a neutral person and should not have a link to the misconduct done by the delinquent. Also, the statement of the delinquent plays a major role in the second principle, which is vital for rendering justice to the delinquent.

Hope this would suffice. Now, legally trained enquiry officers are available who know all the nuances of the enquiry, whom you can engage for this domestic enquiry.

The attached checklist is useful before you conduct a domestic enquiry.

Dear Colleague,

There is no separate Act or Law enacted so far for laying down principles and procedures of conducting the domestic enquiry. They are culled from the plethora of Supreme Court judgments on a variety of aspects in this regard, and it is very difficult to accommodate all of them in detail.

Major guiding principles in conducting and following due procedures emanating from the judgments briefly are:

1. The chargesheet should contain clear facts and circumstances about the charges such as date, time, place, and the nature of charges, and under what clauses of the Certified/Model Standing Orders/Service Rules the acts alleged amount to misconduct.
2. The alleged act of misconduct must have been committed while the employee is on duty or during the course of his employment.
3. Due notice, well in advance, of the domestic enquiry containing date, time, and place, and the name of the enquiry officer should be served. The notice should specifically mention that the chargesheeted employee will be given a full and reasonable opportunity to defend his case by a coworker or union representative.
4. The Enquiry Officer should be an independent person and not a connected or interested party to any party to the enquiry.
5. The enquiry should be conducted in the language understood by the chargesheeted person at his request during the enquiry. The recording of the enquiry proceedings can be in English but translated into the language of the chargesheeted workman.
6. At the outset, the enquiry officer should read out and explain clearly the charges leveled against him and ascertain whether he has understood and accepts the same. If he denies, then the enquiry should proceed further after due recording.
7. The enquiry officer (EO) should allow a coworker or union representative to defend the case, make written submissions, and examine witnesses as well as cross-examine management witnesses.
8. All witnesses should be examined/cross-examined in the presence of the chargesheeted person/Defendant.
9. The chargesheeted person/Defendant is to be given a fair and reasonable opportunity to cross-examine witnesses.
10. The enquiry officer should record each proceeding and obtain signatures of all present on both sides with dates.
11. After duly concluding the enquiry, the EO should submit the report of his findings with reasons as to whether the charges leveled against the chargesheeted person are proved or not. The EO should not recommend any punishment if the charges are proved.

Thus, it can be seen that only an experienced and legally trained person can do justice to the domestic enquiry, and it is not a job for any riffraff.

Regards,

Vinayak Nagarkar
HR and Employee Relations Consultant.

The principles of natural law can be read in Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, or Jurisprudence. The following are the important points to be kept in mind:

1. The person against whom the inquiry is going to be conducted should be given a hearing.
2. The parties concerned in the hearing should not be part of the decision-making panel.
3. The decision given should be reasoned.

Point one can be elaborated further, such as:
- Giving notice to the person about the charges and hearing.
- Giving him time to prepare and file a reply.

If you are keeping all these points in mind during the inquiry, you are adhering to the principles of Natural Justice.

Hope it helps.

Looking forward,
Aakash Bhatnagar