Defective disciplinary enquiry procedure permits a fresh enquiry when material evidence is excluded and oral evidence rules are breached.

A disciplinary authority may set aside an enquiry and order a de novo enquiry where the enquiry officer departs from the prescribed procedure and thereby excludes material evidence. Rule 27(c)(2) required oral evidence to be recorded directly by the enquiring officer in the presence of the parties, with cross-examination. Treating witness letters as substitutes for oral testimony breached that requirement and created a serious procedural defect. The earlier precedent did not prevent further enquiry in such circumstances; it only barred rejection of an enquiry merely because the report was unattractive. The direction for a fresh enquiry was therefore held valid.

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Issues: Whether the disciplinary authority, upon finding that the enquiry officer adopted a procedure contrary to the governing rules and thereby shut out material evidence, could set aside the enquiry and direct a de novo enquiry.

Analysis: Rule 27(c)(2) required oral evidence to be direct and recorded by the officer conducting the enquiry in the presence of the parties, with an opportunity of cross-examination. Treating letters of witnesses as statements in place of oral examination violated the prescribed procedure. The earlier decision relied on by the respondent did not bar further enquiry where a serious defect had crept into the proceedings or important witnesses had not been properly examined; it only prevented the disciplinary authority from discarding an enquiry merely because its report was unattractive. Where the procedure itself was fundamentally irregular and material evidence had been excluded, the disciplinary authority was entitled to intervene and order a fresh enquiry.

Conclusion: The direction for a de novo enquiry was valid, and the challenge to it failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an enquiry suffers from a serious procedural defect that excludes material evidence or violates the prescribed mode of recording oral evidence, the disciplinary authority may set aside the defective enquiry and direct further or fresh enquiry.

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