JUDGMENT
Ashok Parihar, J.
1. Petitioner has challenged the order dated 30.7.2001 passed by the Central Government Industrial Tribunal, Jaipur by which having held the enquiry to be unfair and in violation of the principles of natural justice, the Tribunal has granted permission to the respondent Bank for submitting additional evidence for proving the charges against the concerned workman as also the order by which the application for review of the order dated 30.7.2001 has also been rejected.
2. Heavy reliance has been placed on the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation v. Lakshmidevamma (Smt.) and Anr. . It has been submitted that in view of majority judgment the permission should have been sought by the employer at the very initial stage i.e. at the time of filing of the written statement and no such permission could be granted at any later stage.
3. After hearing counsel for the parties, I have carefully gone through the material on record, the impugned orders passed by the Tribunal as also the judgment referred above.
4. A bare reading of the judgment in the case of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (supra), would show that though a view has been taken by the majority that the plea of leading additional evidence in case departmental enquiry is held vitiated should have been taken by the employer at the very initial stage, however, the discretion should also be left to the Court/Tribunal to grant permission at even later stage looking to the facts and circumstances as also in the interest of justice. The concluding Para 45 of the said judgment is reproduced herein as under:
It is consistently held and accepted that strici rules of evidence are not applicable to the proceedings before the Labour Court/Tribunal but essentially the rules of natural justice are to be observed in such proceedings. Labour Courts/Tribunals have the power to call for any evidence at any stage of the proceedings if the facts and circumstances of the case demand the same to meet the ends of justice in a given situation. We reiterate that in order to avoid unnecessary delay and multiplicity of proceedings, the management has to seek leave of the court/tribunal in the written statement itself to lead additional evidence to support its action in the alternative and without prejudice to its rights and contentions. But this should not be understood as placing fetters on the powers of the court/tribunal requiring or directing parties to lead additional evidence including production of documents at any stage of the proceedings before they are concluded if on facts and circumstances of the case it is deemed just and necessary in the interest of justice.
5. Admittedly, there is no fixed procedure for deciding a reference case provided under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 or the Rules made thereunder. The concerned court/tribunal has to follow the procedure within the norms laid down under the Act or the Rules. However, in view of observations made by the Supreme Court in regard to the discretion given to the court/tribunal, in my opinion, the order passed by the Tribunal cannot be set aside only on the ground of permission not been sought at the initial stage. In given circumstances, looking to the seriousness of the allegation made against the concerned workman, the court/tribunal is not prohibited to grant permission even at a later stage.
6. In the present case, there have been allegation of abusing, in-subordination and indiscipline. Looking to the nature of allegation made against the concerned workman, since proper discretion has been used by the tribunal in passing the impugned order as also the order by which review application filed by the petitioner has been rejected, in the facts and circumstances, no further interference is called for by this Court.
7. The writ petition is dismissed accordingly as having no merits. Since the matter is pending before the tribunal for last in fore than 5 years, in the interest of justice, I deem it proper to direct the tribunal to expedite the hearing.