Fair departmental enquiry under Article 311(2) requires disclosed evidence, proper charges, and a real chance to defend.

Departmental punishment against a civil servant must follow Article 311(2) and the principles of natural justice: the employee must receive a proper charge, disclosure of relied-upon evidence, and a fair opportunity to cross-examine and respond. Preliminary enquiry material cannot be treated as proved unless disclosed and tested in the enquiry. Any disciplinary process that withholds statements, examines witnesses behind the employee's back, or proceeds as if charges are already established is procedurally defective. A service rule cannot override the constitutional guarantee of a fair hearing, and an alternative departmental appeal does not cure a punishment founded on unlawful procedure.

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Issues: (i) Whether the departmental enquiry and punishment were vitiated for want of a proper charge, disclosure of evidence, and a fair opportunity of hearing under Article 311(2) of the Constitution of India; (ii) Whether the impugned dismissal or removal could be sustained in view of the railway rules and the alleged pendency of the departmental appeal.

Issue (i): Whether the departmental enquiry and punishment were vitiated for want of a proper charge, disclosure of evidence, and a fair opportunity of hearing under Article 311(2) of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: A civil servant can be dismissed, removed, or reduced in rank only after being given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause. That opportunity must conform to the rules of natural justice. A delinquent must know the specific charge, must be confronted with the evidence relied upon, and must have a fair chance to meet that evidence. A preliminary enquiry may be held to frame a charge, but its material cannot be treated as proved without disclosure and opportunity to answer it. The enquiry here was defective at every stage: witnesses were examined behind the petitioner's back, statements were withheld, some witnesses were not produced for cross-examination, and the so-called charge-sheet proceeded on the footing that the charges were already proved.

Conclusion: The enquiry and the resulting punishment were invalid and liable to be set aside for breach of Article 311(2) and the principles of natural justice.

Issue (ii): Whether the impugned dismissal or removal could be sustained in view of the railway rules and the alleged pendency of the departmental appeal.

Analysis: A rule cannot override the constitutional safeguard in Article 311(2). To the extent the railway rules dispensed with a proper departmental enquiry or restricted the servant's right to be heard, they could not stand. The contention that the matter should be left to the departmental appeal was rejected because the appeal had not been effectively pursued and, in any event, the existence of an alternative remedy did not bar relief under Article 226 in a case of clear procedural illegality. An order of punishment founded on an unlawful process could not be sustained merely by reference to the pending appeal.

Conclusion: The dismissal or removal could not be saved by the railway rules or by the alleged pendency of appeal, and the writ remedy was maintainable.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order of punishment was quashed, and mandamus issued to forbear from acting upon it, leaving the authorities free to proceed afresh in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: In departmental proceedings against a civil servant, the charge, evidence, and hearing must satisfy Article 311(2) and the rules of natural justice, and any rule or procedural shortcut that denies a fair opportunity to meet the case is void to that extent.

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