{"id":215738,"date":"2003-03-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2003-03-20T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/p-natarajan-vs-the-commissioner-of-labour-on-21-march-2003"},"modified":"2018-09-27T14:29:34","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T08:59:34","slug":"p-natarajan-vs-the-commissioner-of-labour-on-21-march-2003","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/p-natarajan-vs-the-commissioner-of-labour-on-21-march-2003","title":{"rendered":"P. Natarajan vs The Commissioner Of Labour on 21 March, 2003"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Madras High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">P. Natarajan vs The Commissioner Of Labour on 21 March, 2003<\/div>\n<pre>       \n\n  \n\n  \n\n \n \n IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS\n\nDATED: 21\/03\/2003\n\nCORAM\n\nTHE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. SAMPATH\n\nW.P.No.1276 of 2003\nand\nW.P.M.P.No.1586 of 2003\n\nP. Natarajan,\nS\/o P. Perumal,\nS.No.47, Sunitha Nagar,\nDunkrik Post,\nWadagaoncheri,\nPune  411 014.                 ...             Petitioner\n\n-Vs-\n\n1. The commissioner of Labour,\n   DMS Campus, Teynampet,\n   Chennai  600 006.\n\n2. The Deputy Commissioner of\n   Labour, 5, Shivaji Nagar,\n   Pune  411 005.\n\n3. T.V.S. Motor Company Ltd.\n   - Rep. by its Vice President\n   (I.R.) Thiru S. Rajagopaln,\n   Harita, Hosur,\n   Dharmapuri District  635 109.\n\n4. Shri M.R. Mande,\n   Labour Law Consultant\/\n   Enquiry Officer,\n   Prem Mohan Multipurpose\n   Security &amp; Allied Services\n   (P.) Ltd., C-6, Shangrilla\n   Garden, II Floor,\n   31, Bund Garden Road,\n   Pune  411 001.                      ...             Respondents\n\nFor Petitioner ::      Mr.M.K. Hidayathullah\n\nFor Respondents 1 &amp; 2 ::   Mr.S.V. Durai Solaimalai,\n                        Government Advocate.\n\nFor Respondent 3:       ...     Mr. Karthick for\n                             M\/s T. Gopalan &amp; Co.\n\n                This  writ  petition  is  filed  under  Article  226  of   the\nConstitution of India for a writ of mandamus as stated therein.\n\n:ORDER\n<\/pre>\n<p>                The  prayer  is  for  a  mandamus to direct the respondents to<br \/>\nconsider and pass orders on the petitioner&#8217;s latest representation dated 10-12\n<\/p>\n<p>-2002 and conduct de novo enquiry in regard to  the  allegations  against  the<br \/>\npetitioner  at  Hosur in Tamil Nadu or in any other place at Tamil Nadu in the<br \/>\npetitioner&#8217;s mother tongue Tamil.\n<\/p>\n<p>                2.  The facts as set out in the affidavit in  support  of  the<br \/>\nwrit petition are as follows:\n<\/p>\n<p>                The petitioner  had completed X Standard.  He was appointed as<br \/>\nOperator L-1 in the third respondent company on 22-9-1995 at Hosur.    He  had<br \/>\nbeen serving  in  his capacity as Operator with unblemished record.  There was<br \/>\nSection 18(1) Settlement under I.D.  Act between the Management and the  Trade<br \/>\nUnion at Hosur  Factory.    The petitioner is one of the beneficiaries.  He is<br \/>\ncontinuously paying the subscription to the Trade Union INTUC,  TVS  Employees<br \/>\nUnion, Hosur, every quarter in a year since 22-9-1995.  He is well-versed only<br \/>\nin Tamil.  Though he can speak Hindi, he does not know to read and write.  His<br \/>\nknowledge in  English  is  also  not fluent.  He is restricted only to sign in<br \/>\nEnglish.  The Union placed charges of demand for the enhancement of salary  at<br \/>\nHosur.  The  petitioner&#8217;s  salary  is  based  upon  Madras  Price  Index.   By<br \/>\ncommunication dated 5-11-2001 the management has reiterated that his  original<br \/>\nterms and   conditions   of  appointment  stand  unaltered.    The  petitioner<br \/>\ncontributed his signature in the Union, which is not  to  the  liking  of  the<br \/>\nManagement.   The Management purported to transfer him from Hosur, Tamil Nadu,<br \/>\nto Pune, vide Ref.PER\/392, dated 4-4-1998.  He joined the Pune  Ware-House  on<br \/>\n18-4-1998.   Though  his original appointment was as Operator L.1, he was made<br \/>\nto work without any designation, assigned odd jobs  like  Telephone  Attender,<br \/>\nDespatch  Clerk,  attending  to  drawing  of  moneys from Bank and deposits of<br \/>\ncheques, filing of correspondence  in  the  office  and  other  menial  works.<br \/>\nIgnoring  the petitioner&#8217;s experience as Operator L-1, his transfer to Pune to<br \/>\nattend odd jobs is more by way of punishment.  It was not a routine  transfer.<br \/>\nHowever, he  continued  in  the  transferred  place  at  Pune.  Ever since his<br \/>\ntransfer to Pune, the petitioner has been making repeated written requests for<br \/>\nretransfer to Hosur.  There has been no response to his requests.  However, on<br \/>\n19.9.2002 the third respondent issued  show  cause  notice  levelling  certain<br \/>\ncharges  inter  alia  stating  that  he  used an unparliamentary word in Hindi<br \/>\nagainst one contract labour by name Sachin at Pune.   Show  cause  notice  had<br \/>\nbeen issued  from  Hosur,  Tamil  Nadu,  to the petitioner&#8217;s Pune address.  He<br \/>\nsubmitted his explanation on 21-8-2002.  The third  respondent  appointed  the<br \/>\nfourth  respondent  as  Enquiry Officer to conduct a domestic enquiry into the<br \/>\ncharges levelled against the petitioner.    The  petitioner  has  been  making<br \/>\nrepeated  requests to conduct the enquiry in Tamil, in which he is well-versed<br \/>\nsince he is not able to follow the proceedings in English having very  limited<br \/>\nknowledge.   Further,  some  of  the  communications  were sent by the Enquiry<br \/>\nOfficer in Marati, which the petitioner does not know.  His request has not at<br \/>\nall been considered.  He was subjected to great hardship and trouble.  He  has<br \/>\nto  spend  money to have the assistance of English knowing persons to read the<br \/>\ncommunications and even to send reply.  Since he is not  fully  conversant  in<br \/>\nEnglish,  he  is not in a position to ascertain himself whether what he wanted<br \/>\nto convey had been properly  translated  into  English.    The  petitioner  is<br \/>\nundergoing  mental  agony,  anguish and irreparable injury by such proceedings<br \/>\nconducted in English and communication sent in  Marati.    The  petitioner  is<br \/>\ndenied a  fair  enquiry.  Principles of natural justice are not applied in the<br \/>\nproceedings.  During the proceedings, except  the  petitioner,  everybody  was<br \/>\nconversing only in Marati and the petitioner has to watch the proceedings like<br \/>\na deaf  and  dumb  person.    Due  to the communication gap, he is not able to<br \/>\neffectively represent himself.  He is also denied to engage an Advocate in the<br \/>\ndomestic enquiry.  The  petitioner,  therefore,  sent  a  communication  dated<br \/>\n10-12-2002  highlighting  the  denial  of principles of natural justice to him<br \/>\nrequiring  the  authorities  to  issue  direction  to  stop  further   enquiry<br \/>\nproceedings  by  the  fourth  respondent  and further seeking direction to the<br \/>\nmanagement to conduct the enquiry de novo in Tamil Nadu and also  furnish  the<br \/>\ndocuments to him to make his representation effectively.  There is no positive<br \/>\nresponse.  In these circumstances, the present writ petition has been filed.\n<\/p>\n<p>                3.  Notice  was  ordered  on  14-1-2003.    Respondents 1 to 3<br \/>\nentered appearance through Counsel and the third respondent filed  a  counter,<br \/>\nwhich is to the following effect:\n<\/p>\n<p>                On  28-7-1995  the  petitioner submitted a printed application<br \/>\nfor employment in which he declared that he could speak, read and write Tamil,<br \/>\nEnglish and Hindi.  The petitioner has been working in  the  third  respondent<br \/>\noffice in  Pune  from 20-4-1998.  In July-August, 2002 there were reports from<br \/>\nthe Area Office, Pune, that on  3-7-2002  the  petitioner  had  unauthorisedly<br \/>\ntaken an important and confidential office document from the representative of<br \/>\nthe  Courier,  before it was delivered to the addressee and when the addressee<br \/>\ncomplained about the nonreceipt of the said document, the area office came  to<br \/>\nknow  that  the  petitioner  had  unauthorisedly  collected the cover from the<br \/>\nCourier, opened the same, took out the confidential document and  kept  it  in<br \/>\nhis drawer.    It  was  further  reported that on 8-7-2002 at about 10.30 a.m.<br \/>\nwhen the errand  boy  of  a  contractor  was  packing  some  of  the  personal<br \/>\nbelongings of  Shri  B.V.    Sridhar,  General  Manager  (Service), as per the<br \/>\ndirection of the  Area  Manager,  the  petitioner  needlessly  interfered  and<br \/>\nthreatened  the errand boy that how he could send that without his permission.<br \/>\nThe petitioner also hit him on his face.\n<\/p>\n<p>                On 19-8-2002 a show cause notice was issued  to  him  pointing<br \/>\nout  the misconduct on the part of the petitioner and calling upon him to show<br \/>\ncause why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.  The petitioner<br \/>\ngave a reply on 21-8-2002.  The petitioner had not addressed to  the  acts  of<br \/>\nmisconduct levelled  against  him.    Therefore, he was asked to appear for an<br \/>\nenquiry.  The domestic enquiry was held  by  an  independent  outsider.    The<br \/>\npetitioner did not participate in the enquiry.  He used to participate on some<br \/>\ndays,  avoid  enquiry  on  some other days and he used to raise trivial issues<br \/>\nsolely with a view to frustrate the enquiry.  At that stage,  he  addressed  a<br \/>\nletter  dated 25-1 1-2002 to the second respondent purporting to be a petition<br \/>\nunder Section 2-A of the Industrial Disputes  Act,  challenging  his  transfer<br \/>\nfrom Hosur to Pune made in April, 1998 and also making imaginary grievances in<br \/>\nthe  matter of conduct of the enquiry into the charges levelled against him on<br \/>\n19-8-2002.  On 10.12.2002 he made a further  representation  making  imaginary<br \/>\ngrievances against the enquiry to the second respondent at Pune with a copy to<br \/>\nthe first and the third respondents.  The representation has been addressed to<br \/>\nthe  second respondent, who is not amenable to the jurisdiction of this Court.<br \/>\nThe writ petition is therefore not maintainable.\n<\/p>\n<p>                As regards the prayer for de novo enquiry in some other  place<br \/>\nin  Tamil  Nadu,  it  is  stated that the petitioner is working in Pune and he<br \/>\ncould not be allowed to say that the enquiry should be conducted away from his<br \/>\nworking place.  In any event,  only  the  third  respondent  had  ordered  the<br \/>\nenquiry to  be  held at Pune.  The forth respondent is a private person and is<br \/>\nnot amenable to the writ jurisdiction.   Since  no  relief  has  been  claimed<br \/>\nagainst  the  first and the fourth respondents, the writ petition against them<br \/>\nis not sustainable.\n<\/p>\n<p>                The petitioner is a workman within the meaning of Section  2-A<br \/>\nof the  Industrial Disputes Act.  If the disciplinary action initiated against<br \/>\nthe petitioner results in imposition of any punishment, it is always  open  to<br \/>\nhim  to  move the machinery under the Industrial Disputes Act and seek remedy.<br \/>\nWhen such remedy  is  sought  before  the  adjudicating  authority  under  the<br \/>\nIndustrial  Disputes  Act,  even  if  for  any  reason,  the  complaint of the<br \/>\npetitioner against the enquiry is countenanced, the third respondent will have<br \/>\nthe opportunity of justifying its action by leading evidence.   Therefore,  no<br \/>\ncase is  made  out  to  injunct  the  enquiry  at  this  stage.  It is for the<br \/>\npetitioner to decide whether or not he should participate in the enquiry.   It<br \/>\nis  open  to  the  petitioner  to raise whatever objections he has against the<br \/>\nenquiry and without prejudice to those objections, he could participate in the<br \/>\nenquiry and avail of the opportunities given to him to defend his case.  It is<br \/>\nnot open to him to seek direction  to  injunct  the  enquiry  at  this  stage,<br \/>\nparticularly when the enquiry is in progress and witnesses are being examined.\n<\/p>\n<p>                In  the  first  sitting  of  the enqiry held on 23.9.2002, the<br \/>\npetitioner accepted that  he  had  studied  up  to  S.S.L.C.,  that  he  could<br \/>\nunderstand English, that the proceedings could be recorded in English and that<br \/>\nhe had  no  objection  to the fourth respondent conducting the enquiry.  It is<br \/>\nnot open to the petitioner to challenge his transfer from Hosur to  Pune  made<br \/>\nin April,  1998.  If, as alleged by the petitioner, any communication had been<br \/>\nsent by the Enquiry Officer in Marati, this respondent  would  take  steps  to<br \/>\nfurnish the  petitioner  with  English translation.  Hindi is generally spoken<br \/>\nand understood in Maharashtra including Pune.  The petitioner knows Hindi  and<br \/>\nit will  not  be  difficult  for  him to understand Hindi.  He claims to be an<br \/>\nEx-serviceman and therefore, he would be conversant with Hindi, which fact  he<br \/>\naccepted at  the  time  of  joining  the  employment.    The  enquiry is being<br \/>\nconducted only in English, with which the petitioner is quite familiar.   When<br \/>\nnon-English  speaking  witness  is examined, the deposition is translated into<br \/>\nEnglish and recorded in English and hence no prejudice would be caused to  the<br \/>\npetitioner.   It  is  not  admitted that the petitioner is not conversant with<br \/>\nEnglish.  He has been corresponding with the third respondent in English.   He<br \/>\ndoes  not  have a right to demand or dictate about the place where the enquiry<br \/>\nshould be held in respect of the charges  levelled  against  him  and  in  any<br \/>\nevent, he  is working in Pune and enquiry can be held only in Pune.  He cannot<br \/>\ndemand shifting the place of enquiry from Pune to any  other  place  in  Tamil<br \/>\nNadu.   Not  only  his  demand  is unreasonable, but also has no basis in law.<br \/>\nNeither the first respondent nor the second respondent has any power under any<br \/>\nEnactment to give any direction about the conduct of the enquiry.  The  points<br \/>\nraised in the petitioner&#8217;s representation dated 10-1 2-2002 do not fall within<br \/>\nthe  powers  of  jurisdiction  of the first or the second respondent under any<br \/>\nlaw.  The petition is gross abuse of process  of  law  and  is  liable  to  be<br \/>\ndismissed.\n<\/p>\n<p>                4.   By  consent  the  main  writ  petition  was  taken up and<br \/>\narguments were heard.\n<\/p>\n<p>                5.  The appointment order  dated  22-9-1995  clearly  provides<br \/>\nthat  during  the  period of training, the appointee should accept transfer to<br \/>\nany place in the organisation or to any other division or  associates  of  the<br \/>\ncompany existing or to be formed in future or to any of the group of companies<br \/>\nin any  place, if required.  If the trainee completed one year training to the<br \/>\nsatisfaction of the management, he would be considered for appointment on  the<br \/>\nregular  rolls  of  the  company  on probation in a suitable post based on the<br \/>\nprogress the trainee had shown during  the  training  period.    On  4-4-1998,<br \/>\neffective 6.4.1998, the petitioner was transferred to the Marketing Department<br \/>\non  the  same  designation  and salary in terms of the appointment order dated<br \/>\n22-9-1995 and also in terms of Clause 4 of the Certified  Standing  Orders  of<br \/>\nthe Company applicable  to  the  petitioner.    He was posted to Pune.  He was<br \/>\nrelieved from his duties in the Factory Production Department, effective close<br \/>\nto his shift 4-4-1998 to enable him to make arrangements for his journey.   By<br \/>\norder  dated  5.12.1998,  effective 22-9-1998, the petitioner was confirmed as<br \/>\nOperator L.1 in Group-A.  His basic salary was also revised.  It  was  further<br \/>\nrevised on  22-9-200  as Rs.1479\/- per month.  Periodical revisions were being<br \/>\nmade.  However, on 19-8-2 002 the petitioner was  issued  with  a  show  cause<br \/>\nnotice.   He  submitted his explanation, which was perused and found to be not<br \/>\nsatisfactory.  The fourth respondent was asked to conduct a  domestic  enquiry<br \/>\nagainst him.\n<\/p>\n<p>                6.   The  notice  of  enquiry provides, among other things, as<br \/>\nfollows:\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The management will be represented by Shri Suresh B.  Patil,  Senior  Manager<br \/>\n(Personnel),  M\/s  Harita  Grammer  Limited, Pune, sister concern of TVS Motor<br \/>\nCompany Limited.\n<\/p>\n<p>        The enquiry procedure will be explained to you by the Enquiry Officer.\n<\/p>\n<p>        The enquiry will be conducted based  on  the  &#8220;Principles  of  Natural<br \/>\nJustice&#8221; and based on the provisions of the Model Standing Orders contained in<br \/>\nthe Bombay Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Rules, 195 9.\n<\/p>\n<p>        If  you  are  interested, you can bring a co-employee to assist you in<br \/>\nthe enquiry.  However, please note that  no  outsider  will  be  permitted  to<br \/>\nassist you in the enquiry.\n<\/p>\n<p>        Please  note  that  if  you do not appear for the enquiry on the above<br \/>\ndate and time or refuse to participate, the enquiry will be conducted ex parte<br \/>\nand disposed of on merits.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>                7.  On 23-9-2002, the petitioner made an objection in  writing<br \/>\nthat,<br \/>\n&#8220;recording  of proceedings are being gone with manual hand written in English.<br \/>\nBut, I have studied only up to X  Standard  and  I  am  unable  to  understand<br \/>\nEnglish properly.  So I request you to take enquiry proceedings in Tamil, i.e.<br \/>\nmy mother tongue and I have strong verbal objection to handwritten script made<br \/>\navailable to  me  is  in poor state.  The average eye sight person cannot read<br \/>\nthe said script, which affect the defence of me.\n<\/p>\n<p>        The procedure of conducting domestic enquiry was  not  brought  to  my<br \/>\nnotice by the Presiding Officer conducting the domestic enquiry.\n<\/p>\n<p>        &#8230;&#8230;.\n<\/p>\n<p>        I was not furnished with the copy of the charge sheet till date.<br \/>\n        &#8230;&#8230;.\n<\/p>\n<p>        Notice,  order communication or information handed over to me have not<br \/>\nbeen read out and explained to me.\n<\/p>\n<p>        &#8230;&#8230;.\n<\/p>\n<p>        The order for issue of some important documents to me for preparing my<br \/>\ndefence should be allowed.\n<\/p>\n<p>        I may kindly be allowed to represent my case through Advocate.\n<\/p>\n<p>        Procedure of conducting domestic enquiry should be explained to me.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>                8.  This is followed by another letter dated 26.11.2002.   The<br \/>\npetitioner  objected  to the fourth respondent conducting the enquiry, that he<br \/>\nhas no faith in him and that the enquiry is not in accordance with  principles<br \/>\nof natural justice.  He wanted change of Enquiry officer.  This is followed by<br \/>\nanother   letter   dated  27.11.2002  stating  that  the  Enquiry  Officer  is<br \/>\nco-operative with the   Management and  that  he  allowed  one  Suresh  Patil,<br \/>\nManager of  Harita Grammer Company unofficially.  He shouted at the petitioner<br \/>\nin loud voice and threatened him.  The petitioner was harassed at the time  of<br \/>\nenquiry.  One  Ranganath  Pund  was  allowed as the defence counsel.  The said<br \/>\nRanganath Pund is the President of Poona Zilla Mazoor Sabha and he is not  the<br \/>\npetitioner&#8217; s  union  leader.    He knows only Marati and he could not explain<br \/>\nanything to the petitioner.  Then  only  the  petitioner  dispensed  with  his<br \/>\nservices and asked  for  assistance of another counsel.  This was refused.  So<br \/>\nhe wanted the enquiry to be conducted in Tamil by following the principles  of<br \/>\nnatural justice, the Enquiry Officer to be changed and necessary documents and<br \/>\nCertified Standing O rders have to be furnished to him.         9.<br \/>\nThereafter,  he  sent  a  letter  on  10-12-2002 to the Deputy Commissioner of<br \/>\nLabour, Mumbai, that if the enquiry proceedings were to be conducted in  Pune,<br \/>\nit  would  not  be fair and &#8220;the petitioner would risk his life if the enquiry<br \/>\nwas conducted out side the Ware House Complex; an outsider has been  appointed<br \/>\nas  Enquiry  Officer,  which  is  violative  of the principles of the Standing<br \/>\nOrders; the cause of action for conducting enquiry  as  per  the  management&#8217;s<br \/>\ndocuments and files will be within the State of Tamil Nadu and not at Pune; he<br \/>\nprayed  for stoppage of all enquiry by the fourth respondent and conduct of de<br \/>\nnovo enquiry by appointing a fresh Enquiry Officer; the enquiry is to be  held<br \/>\nwithin the  State  of  Tamil Nadu.  Not having been successful in stalling the<br \/>\nproceedings, the petitioner has come to this Court.\n<\/p>\n<p>                10.  The respective contentions have already been set out.  On<br \/>\nbehalf of the third respondent, two documents have been produced.   The  first<br \/>\none  is  the  application  dated 28-7-1995 submitted by the petitioner for his<br \/>\nemployment.  In Column 11 of  the  application,  under  languages  known,  the<br \/>\npetitioner  has said that he knows to speak, read and write Tamil, English and<br \/>\nHindi.  In Column 14 it is shown that he joined on 2nd November, 1983  in  the<br \/>\nLight  Air  Defence  of  the  Indian  Air  Force  as Wireless Operator and was<br \/>\ndischarged in January, 1992 on medical ground.   The  other  document  is  the<br \/>\nminutes of  the  enquiry  conducted  on 23-9-2002.  The petitioner has given a<br \/>\nstatement as follows:\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My name is P.  Natarajan.  I am working as  an  Operator  L-1  at  TVS  Motor<br \/>\nCompany&#8217;s  Warehouse and Marketing Office at Wagholi since last about four and<br \/>\nhalf years.  &#8230;.  I have studied up to S.S.L.C.  I, understand English.   The<br \/>\nproceedings of  the  enquiry  may  please  be  recorded in English.  I have no<br \/>\nobjections for the authority of the signatory to Exs.P-1 to P-4 as well as for<br \/>\nMr.M.R.  Mande conducting this enquiry as the  Enquiry  Officer.y  However,  I<br \/>\nhave objections  for  Mr.S.B.   Patil appearing in this enquiry as the Company<br \/>\nRepresentative, because he is an employee of Harita Grammer Ltd.  and not from<br \/>\nTVS Motor Company of which I am an employee.  &#8230;..  I am  also  producing  in<br \/>\nthe  enquiry,  the  copy  of my letter dated 14-9-2002 (four pages in English)<br \/>\nsent to the Vice President (Operations) Mr.S.  Rajagopalan at Hosur, regarding<br \/>\nthe charges against me mentioned in Ex.P-4.  &#8230;.  I say that I have not  been<br \/>\ncharge sheeted.  &#8230;..   Advocate P.M.  Behera may please be allowed to defend<br \/>\nmy case in this enquiry.&#8221; [Emphasis supplied]<\/p>\n<p>The petitioner has also signed the minutes.\n<\/p>\n<p>                11.  Thus, the petitioner himself had in the  application  for<br \/>\nemployment  indicated that he knew to read, write and speak English, Hindi and<br \/>\nTamil and on 23-9-2002 had specifically  stated  that  the  enquiry  could  be<br \/>\nconducted  in  English  and  that he had no objection to the fourth respondent<br \/>\nbeing the Enquiry Officer.  As rightly pointed out by the learned Counsel  for<br \/>\nthe third respondent, it is not open to the petitioner to change track and ask<br \/>\nfor enquiry  being  conducted  in his mother tongue Tamil.  The charge against<br \/>\nhim is that he had unauthorisedly taken an important and  confidential  office<br \/>\ndocument from the representative of the Courier before it was delivered to the<br \/>\naddressee  and when the addressee complained about the non-receipt of the said<br \/>\ndocument, the area office came to know that the petitioner had  unauthorisedly<br \/>\ncollected  the  cover  from  the  Courier,  opened  the  same,  took  out  the<br \/>\nconfidential document and kept it in his drawer and again, when the errand boy<br \/>\nof a contractor was packing some of  the  personal  belongings  of  Shri  B.V.<br \/>\nSridhar,  General  Manager (Service) as per the direction of the Area Manager,<br \/>\nthe petitioner needlessly interfered and threatened the errand boy as  to  how<br \/>\nhe  could send this without his permission; the petitioner also hit him on his<br \/>\nface.\n<\/p>\n<p>                12.  These things were alleged to have happened in Pune.    It<br \/>\nis  absolutely  meaningless  for the petitioner to ask for an enquiry in Tamil<br \/>\nNadu.  Again, as pointed out  on  behalf  of  the  third  respondent,  if  the<br \/>\ndisciplinary  action  initiated  against  him  results  in  imposition  of any<br \/>\npunishment, it is  always  open  to  him  to  move  the  machinery  under  the<br \/>\nIndustrial  Disputes Act and seek remedy and if before the authority under the<br \/>\nIndustrial Disputes Act the complaint of the  petitioner  is  entertained,  it<br \/>\nwould  be  open  to  the  third  respondent  to  justify his action by leading<br \/>\nevidence.  It is, therefore, totally unnecessary to stall the  proceedings  at<br \/>\nthis stage.    Further,  if objections are available to the petitioner, he can<br \/>\nraise them at the enqiry and without prejudice to  those  objections,  he  can<br \/>\nparticipate  in  the  enquiry  and  avail of the opportunities given to him to<br \/>\ndefend his case.  I do not wish to say anything further.  The  demand  of  the<br \/>\npetitioner  to have the enquiry at some place in Tamil Nadu and for conducting<br \/>\nof the proceedings in Tamil appears to be rather unreasonable.  His demand for<br \/>\nassistance of a lawyer also does not appear to  be  justified.    But,  it  is<br \/>\nalways  open  to  the  petitioner,  as  pointed  out  on  behalf  of the third<br \/>\nrespondent that he could raise all objections available  to  him  and  without<br \/>\nprejudice  to those objections, choose to either participate in the enquiry or<br \/>\nremain ex parte and take the matter  for  adjudication  under  the  Industrial<br \/>\nDisputes Act before the proper authority.\n<\/p>\n<p>                13.   It  is  also pointed out that enquiry had been proceeded<br \/>\nwith and witnesses are being examined.  The  main  object  of  the  petitioner<br \/>\nappears to be to abort the proceedings by some means.  This cannot be allowed.<br \/>\nIn my  view, the writ petition is premature and is misconceived.  It is liable<br \/>\nto be dismissed and accordingly it is dismissed.  The connected  miscellaneous<br \/>\npetition is also dismissed.  However, there will be no order as to costs.\n<\/p>\n<p>                14.   It  is,  however,  expected  that  in the conduct of the<br \/>\nenquiry, the principles of natural justice will be followed and the petitioner<br \/>\nwould be afforded proper opportunity to defend himself.\n<\/p>\n<p>21-3-2002<br \/>\nIndex:  Yes<br \/>\nInternet:  Yes<br \/>\nIGP<\/p>\n<p>To<\/p>\n<p>1.  The commissioner of Labour,<br \/>\nDMS Campus, Teynampet,<br \/>\nChennai  600 006.\n<\/p>\n<p>2.  The Deputy Commissioner of<br \/>\nLabour, 5, Shivaji Nagar,<br \/>\nPune  411 005.\n<\/p>\n<p>3.  T.V.S.  Motor Company Ltd.\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Rep.  by its Vice President<br \/>\n(I.R.) Thiru S.  Rajagopaln,<br \/>\nHarita, Hosur,<br \/>\nDharmapuri District  635 109.\n<\/p>\n<p>4.  Shri M.R.  Mande,<br \/>\nLabour Law Consultant\/<br \/>\nEnquiry Officer,<br \/>\nPrem Mohan Multipurpose<br \/>\nSecurity &amp; Allied Services<br \/>\n(P.) Ltd., C-6, Shangrilla<br \/>\nGarden, II Floor,<br \/>\n31, Bund Garden Road,<br \/>\nPune  411 001.\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Madras High Court P. Natarajan vs The Commissioner Of Labour on 21 March, 2003 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED: 21\/03\/2003 CORAM THE HON&#8217;BLE MR. JUSTICE K. SAMPATH W.P.No.1276 of 2003 and W.P.M.P.No.1586 of 2003 P. Natarajan, S\/o P. Perumal, S.No.47, Sunitha Nagar, Dunkrik Post, Wadagaoncheri, Pune 411 014. &#8230; Petitioner -Vs- [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-court","category-madras-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>P. 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