106. Principles of Natural Justice - traditional English Law
The traditional English law recognises two principles of natural justice :(1) Nemo De bet esse judex in propria sua causa : No man shall be a judge in his own cause or the deciding authority must be impartial and without bias.
(2)
Audi Alteram partem : Hear the other side, or both the sides must be
heard, or no man should be condemned unheard or that there must be fairness on
the part of the deciding authority.
Due
to rapid growth of constitutional as well as administrative law, a third
principle of natural justice has been evolved;
(3) Speaking orders or Reasoned decisions
: All orders should be supported by reasons.
107.
Four principles of Natural Justice Case-Law
The
quintessence of the rules of natural justice in its journey through centuries
has shed much of its glories and is now crystallised into four principles of
justice namely :
(a)
opportunity for both the contending parties to be heard;
(b)
hearing before an impartial Tribunal so that no man can be judge of his own
cause;
(c)
decision made in good faith; and
(d)
an orderly course of procedure
[Saxby
and Parmer (India) Ltd. v. Third Industrial Tribunal, (1962) II LLJ 52 (56)
(Calcutta High Court).]
108.
Perverse Finding - Contrary to natural justice
A
perverse finding is a finding which is not supported by evidence and is
impelled by arbitrariness or prejudice. If a finding of the Inquiry Officer is
one which is not supported by evidence or is such that no rational or
reasonable man can demonstrably reach on the evidence, it will be set aside on
the ground that it is perverse.
[Central
Bank of India v. P.C. Jain, 1969 II LLJ 377]
109.
Speaking order or Reasoned Decisions
·
A speaking
order means an order speaking for itself. In other words, it means that an
order must contain reasons in support of it. The party affected must know why
and on what grounds an order has been passed against him. This is one of the
cardinal principles of natural justice.
·
The rule
requiring reasons to be given in support of an order is like the principles of
audi alteram pattern, a basic principle of natural justice which must conform
every quasi-judicial process and this rule must be observed in its proper
spirit and mere pretense of compliance with it would not satisfy the
requirement of law.
[Seimens Engineering v. Union of India, AIR
1976 SC 1785.]
110. Natural justice vis-a-vis departmental
proceedings
The
rules of natural justice require that a party should have the opportunity of
adducing all relevant evidence on which he relies, the evidence of the opponent
should be taken in his presence, and that he should be given the opportunity of
cross-examining the witnesses examined by that party, and, that no materials
should be relied on against him without his being given an opportunity of
explaining them. It is hardly necessary to emphasise that the right to cross
examine the witnesses who give evidence against him is a very valuable right
and if it appears that effective exercise of his right has been prevented by
the enquiring officer by not giving to the officer relevant documents to which
he is entitled, that inevitably would mean that the enquiry had not been held
in accordance with the rules of natural justice.
[Union of India v. T. R. Verma, AIR 1957 SC 882]
An ordinary Postal worker, born in a village Krishnarayapuram in the erstwhile Trichy District and now under Karur district. Elevated to the highest echelon of the Union as the General Secretary of the All India Postal Employees Union, Group C Central Headquarters at New Delhi and the Leader Staff Side of the Departmental Council JCM. 
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