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TMI Blog1960 (9) TMI 120X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... by the Board of Directors. The plaintiff has brought the present suit for a declaration that he is still in the service of the Company as the Order dismissing him is illegal and inoperative. Further he has claimed a sum of ₹ 13,698/- as amount due to him in respect of the several claims made by him. He has also claimed a mandatory injunction directing the Company to revive his policy (No. 1227) which was ordered to be paid up by the Company on the ground that the premiums due were not paid. 3. The Court below has refused to give the plaintiff the declaration prayed for. As regards the revival of the Policy in question, the Order of the Court below is un-understandable. It has not granted to the plaintiff any relief in this respect. But in the course of its judgment it has stated in paragraph 93 that So as the contract of service is to be treated as continued, the defendant will have to contribute half of the arrears of premium during the period of suspension, if plaintiff offers to pay the other half with interest on his half as per rules of revival and also the subsequent orders till date of application he applies for survival . To say the least these observations are ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... specific resolutions. It is unnecessary to refer to this aspect in detail as it has no direct bearing on the points in issue in this case. Reference will be made to the relevant resolutions at the appropriate places. Suffice it to say that on the day when the plaintiff was suspended i.e. 7-4-1948 be was actually drawing a monthly salary of Its. 188/- plus ₹ 22/- as dearness allowance. 6. Admittedly the plaintiff was under suspension from 7-4-1948 to 2-12-1949. A controversy had been raised in the Court below as to whether the Managing Director had competence to suspend the plaintiff. It is unnecessary to pronounce on the same as in our judgment the plaintiff is entitled to receive his remuneration during the period of his suspension irrespective of the competence of the Managing Director to suspend him. We have earlier mentioned that the plaintiff's service conditions had neither been regulated by any contract nor by the Rules of the Company. That being so, the relationship between the Company and the plaintiff is the ordinary relationship existing between a master and a servant. A suspended servant is still the servant of the master and so long as he is the servant ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the same; charges made against him in Exhibit 122 are clear and definite; the plaintiff had been given adequate opportunity to meet those charges and under any circumstance the facts established in the case fully justify the action taken against the plaintiff. Be it noted that the plaintiffs services ware not terminated by giving notice but he was dismissed. 9. A number of accusations have been made against the plaintiff under Exhibit 122. The only substantial charge amongst those made in that letter is the one relating to the loans in the name of Sri Melligalti. The other charges are either not substantial or not proved. There is very little evidence in support of them. Nor were they pressed before this Court. 10. The alleged loans to Sri Melligatti have figured prominently during the trial of this case and we have heard a great deal about them during the course of the hearing of this appeal. In substance the allegation is that the plaintiff had opened an account in the name of his friend Sri Melligatti and was freely operating the same in spite of the objections taken by the Directors and the monies were drawn without the authority of the Managing Director and sometimes ag ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of law admitting of no exception. 12. It is not denied that in the present case the relationship between tho Company and the plaintiff is that of a master and a servant and that relationship is not regulated either by contract or by the rules of the Company. Hence the plaintiff cannot complain that his dismissal is against the terms, explicit for implicit, in the contract or that the same is in contravention of the rules of the Company. There-fore the plaintiff can only take his stand on the basis that principles of Natural Justice are of universal application in all cases where justice is the essence of the matter. In my judgment, for the reasons mentioned earlier, the plaintiff was clearly guilty of breach of an implied term of his contract though one may properly go further and say that he was guilty of temporary misappropriations. His continuance in the office was detrimental to the interest of the Company and his dismissal was fully justified. In this view it is not necessary to consider the allegation that he had disobeyed the direction of the Board of Directors by failing to credit the entire sum granted to him as back pay. The evidence on this point is conflicting ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ISO; and Board of Education v. Rice, 1911 AC 179. Lord Shaw of Dunfermline in Arlidge's case, 1915 AC 120 (at p. 138) said : The words 'natural justice' occur in arguments and sometimes in judicial pronouncements in such cases. My Lords, when a central administrative board deals with an appeal from a local authority it must do its best to act justly, and to reach just ends by just means. If a statute prescribes the means it must employ them. If it is left without express guidance it must still act honestly and by honest means. In regard to these certain ways and methods of judicial procedure may very likely be imitated; and lawyer-like methods may find especial favour from lawyers. But that the judiciary should presume to impose its own methods on administrative or executive officers is a usurpation. And the assumption that the methods of natural justice are ex necessitate those of courts of justice is wholly unfounded. This is expressly applicable to steps of procedure or forms of pleadings. In so far as the term 'natural justice' means that a result or process should be just, it is a harmless though it may be a high sounding expression; in so far as it at ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . It is in tune with our thinking. But unlike in America we do not have any due process clause in this Country as in England. Hence it is no wonder that the concept of natural justice is subjected to stresses and strains of the time. Consequently while the concept has remained as something real its contents have changed. This is inevitable. In my view we shall be doing injustice to this great concept by trying to put the same in a straight jacket. Clearly it is not a rule of law that can over-ride the laws of the land. It cannot also be made a touch-stone to find out the validity of any piece of legislation. But if a given statute can be interpreted both consistently with the principles of natural justice as well as dehors those principles, I see no reason why it should not be construed in accordance with the principles of natural justice. Similarly unless there is something in the contract either specifically or by necessary implication, legativing the application of that rule, it is proper to read into the terms of that contract if it deals with the civil rights of a person the rule of audi alteram partem as an implied term. I am not unaware of the fact that this rule of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... graph 6 of the plaint. It is alleged therein that the Working Committee by its resolution dated 26-7-1946 granted to the plaintiff a sum of ₹ 5040/- as arrears of salary due to him; but this amount was made payable in 5 annual instalments of ₹ 1008/- beginning from 1946. The plaintiff says that he received two instalments out of that sum and the balance of ₹ 3024/- is due. This claim is denied by the Company. There was some difficulty in considering the claim under this head as all the relevant papers have not been printed. Further it is difficult to understand some of the resolutions of the Company or its Working Committee. They do not make intelligible reading. But from the available material on record we are convinced that the plaintiffs claim is justified, (His Lordship discussed the evidence and proceeded): We are in agreement with the Court below that the plaintiff is entitled to the sum of ₹ 3040/-daimed as arrears of pay. 18. The last point that remains to be considered is whether the plaintiff is entitled to the mandatory injunction prayed for by him. From the evidence on record it is seen that the plaintiff was given a life policy of ͅ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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