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                         IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

                           CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

                    CIVIL APPEAL No. 14 OF 2009        [Arising out of SLP(C)No.19390 of 2006]

PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK & ANR                                      ...     Appellant(s)

         Versus

O.N.SHARMA & ORS                                                  ...   Respondent(s)

                       ORDER

        Leave granted.

        Despite notice of the special leave petition having been served on the

  respondents, who have received notice personally, there is no appearance on their

  behalf. Since such notices have been served in the month of February, 2008, fresh

  notices were also directed to be served, which were issued in August, 2008. Even

  then, there is no appearance on behalf of the respondents and in particular

  respondent No. 1, who is the contesting respondent.

                                                  -2-

        The only question which arises for consideration in this appeal is whether

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the respondent was entitled to a

personal hearing at the appellate stage when he had filed an appeal before the

Appellate Authority against the order of the Disciplinary Authority, by which he had

been awarded punishment of withdrawal of special pay as Special Assistant for 2

years under Clause 6(g) of the Bipartite Settlement arrived at between the

management and the workmen. Mr. Mehta, appearing in support of the appeal, has

drawn our attention to the procedure for taking disciplinary action, as was indicated

in the Bipartite Settlement and has laid special emphasis on paragraph 14 of the

same which indicates that at the appellate stage, if an employee, who has been

dismissed from service, asks for personal hearing, such prayer could be granted by

the Appellate Authority. In other cases, no such provision has been made.

       Mr. Mehta submitted that at the time of the disciplinary proceedings, the

respondent was given all opportunities to defend himself and has also been given a

hearing by the Disciplinary Authority. Mr. Mehta has also referred to and relied on

the decision of this Court in State Bank of Patiala Vs. Mahendra Kumar Singhal,

[1994

                                   -3-

(Suppl.) 2 SCC 463], where in a similar situation, it was observed   that the rules

of natural justice did not

necessarily in all cases confer a right to be heard personally at the appellate stage

unless there was a rule to the contrary. In fact, such an observation was made

following the Constitution Bench decision of this Court in F.N. Roy Vs. Collector of

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    Customs, Calcutta, [1957 SCR 1151].

            The facts of the case of this appeal being similar, we are unable to sustain th e

    order of the High Court impugned in this appeal remitting the matter to the

    Appellate Authority for giving the respondent a personal hearing.

            We, accordingly, set aside the impugned judgment of the High Court and

    remit the matter to the High Court for fresh consideration with leave to the

    respondent to raise the other questions taken in the writ petition, which do not

    appear to have been gone into by the High Court, since the submissions before the

    High Court were confined only to the question as to whether the respondent was

    entitled to a personal hearing before the Appellate Authority.

                                                  -4-

            The Civil Appeal is allowed in the above terms.

            There will be no order as to costs.

                                                          ...................J.                                (ALTAMAS KABIR)

                                             ...................J.                                       (CYRIAC JOSEPH)

New Delhi,

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January 05, 2009.