Kerala High Court: Considering the situation where very few people come forward to lodge a complaint against the violation/deficiency suffered in public utility services, a bench of T.B. Radhakrishnan and K. Harilal JJ held that even if there is non-examination of a complainant in the disciplinary proceedings that would not amount to violation of natural justice, else no one would come forward to file a complaint when there is such violation in the public sector bodies.
In the instant case, a passenger of KSRTC bus filed a complaint against the conductor of the bus, who refused to refund the balance amount of Rs 77 to him after purchase of ticket worth Rs 23 due to shortage of change, which lead to a disciplinary proceeding and the conductor was compulsorily retired from the service. Matter was challenged before the Tribunal, which tapered down the punishment of compulsory retirement and only barred 3 increments of the conductor with cumulative effect. Feeling aggrieved, the conductor challenged the said order before the appellate Tribunal, which handed down the order of the tribunal and observed that in the instant case “the fact that the complainant was not examined was of no consequence”. On a writ petition filed by the conductor, a single judge bench set aside the entire proceedings and held that non-examination of the complainant amounts to violation of natural justice.
The Court noted that “it would be too farfetched to say that the ultimate victim of the transaction, i.e. the passenger of the KRCTC bus, was rightly not summoned to support the disciplinary proceedings, because if a stand is taken otherwise, then no one would be interested even to put up a complaint when there are such violations in public sector bodies, who deal with the public utility services”. The Court observed that non-examination of the passenger in the case in hand was of no consequence at all. The Court held that non-appearance of the victim of violation in the public utility services before the Court does not amount to violation of natural justice and accordingly set aside the impugned judgment of the learned single bench. Kerala State Road Transport Corporation v. R. Saji Kumar, decided on 13-01-2015.