Non-binding Commission of Inquiry report not quashed for alleged denial of hearing where future action required independent assessment.

A Commission of Inquiry report based on illegal mining, trade and transport of ore was treated as a non-binding fact-finding exercise rather than an adjudication of individual liability. The challenge on the ground that affected persons were not heard under Sections 8-B and 8-C of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 did not justify writ interference, because the Union and the State stated that no action would follow merely from the report and any future action would require independent assessment and hearing. In that setting, the absence of notice was insufficient to quash the report or its adverse observations.

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Issues: Whether the Commission of Inquiry report warranted interference on the ground that the affected persons were not heard under Sections 8-B and 8-C of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, and whether the report should be quashed to the extent it contained adverse observations against them.

Analysis: The report was treated as a fact-finding exercise and not as an adjudicatory determination binding on any person. The inquiry was held to be concerned with the larger problem of illegal mining, trade and transport of ore, and not with a conclusive determination of individual liability. The Union and the State unequivocally stated that no action would be taken merely on the basis of the report and that any future action would be preceded by independent assessment and opportunity of hearing. In that background, the challenge was found to rest on a feared future use of the report rather than on any present legal consequence flowing from it. The Court held that the grievance about absence of notice and hearing did not justify striking down the report in writ jurisdiction in the facts before it.

Conclusion: The challenge to the report was not accepted and the petitions failed.

Final Conclusion: The report was left undisturbed, with the Court declining to exercise writ interference on the basis of the stated assurances by the Union and the State.

Ratio Decidendi: A Commission of Inquiry report that is only a non-binding fact-finding exercise will not ordinarily be quashed in writ jurisdiction merely because affected persons allege denial of hearing, especially where the appointing authorities state that no adverse action will be taken without independent consideration and hearing.

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