KUNJU MOOSA C M Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, the President of a Panchayat, has filed this petition under Art.226 of the Constitution to quash an order Ext. P1 by the 1st respondent, the State of Kerala, rejecting his appeal petition, Ext. P2, directed against an order of the second respondent, the Director of Local Bodies, by which he refused to cancel a resolution passed by the Panchayat on November 2, 1957, accepting a letter of resignation purporting to have been signed by the petitioner. The chief ground on which Ext. P1 was assailed before me was, that in making it, the first respondent had called for a report from the third respondent, the Deputy Director of Local Bodies, and had acted upon it, to the prejudice of the petitioner and without notice to him and that therefore the rules of natural justice have been violated. The first reply to this contention, on behalf of the fourth respondent, the Vice President of the Panchayat, who had been allowed to function as President, was, that the first respondent had not relied upon the report of the Deputy Director of Local Bodies. This report was forwarded to Government with a covering letter which is referred to as the first paper read in Ext. P-1. Ext. PI further says, that the matter was enquired into, and the Government have carefully examined all the relevant records. Incidentally, it refers to a statement, that the petitioner had signed the letter of resignation in the presence of the Deputy Director of Local Bodies, a fact which is made mention of in the report received from the Deputy Director. It is impossible to accept the contention of the learned counsel for the fourth respondent, that the report of the Deputy Director was not looked into in passing Ext. P1.

(2.) The next question is, whether in doing so, the principles of natural justice have been violated. It was not disputed, that the procedure which was followed by the first respondent in disposing of the appeal was quasi judicial in character. The report was not compiled after an enquiry by the Deputy Director of Local Bodies, or with notice to the petitioner, and the petitioner had no opportunity of perusing its contents at any time. It was contended on behalf of the fourth respondent, that the petitioner had no right to look into it, and that the first respondent did not violate any principle of natural justice. In support of this, reliance was placed upon the decision of the House of Lords in Local Government Board v. Alridge, 1915 Appeal Cases 120, where, in disposing of an appeal, a report was called for from the Inspector who, under the provisions of the concerned Statute, had to make a public enquiry. The objection was taken, that the disposal of the matter without furnishing a copy of the report violated the rules of natural justice. The report could not be divorced from the public enquiry, the scope of which was stated thus by Lord Parmoor at page 144 of the report:-