Dear Friends,


I am new to this forum. Can some one guide me about all the procedure & steps of domestic inquiry ? If there is any book on this subject ? Pl let me know.


Regds
Maaya

Well, yesterday i just concluded the domestic enquiry of workman in our factory which took almost a year..therefore let me share some points on the same..

Procedure of holding a domestic enquiry-

*A workman against whom an enquiry is to be held is to be given a charge-sheet clearly stating the charges levelled against him and asking him to submit his explanation.

* Management has to appoint Enquiry Officer(EO) & Management Representative(MR) for the enquiry as per the charge sheet.

*Management reserves the right to suspend the workman pending enquiry depending upon the gravity of the charges.

* Workman is permitted to defend himself by other workman or by an office bearer of Trade Union of which he is a member-defence Representative (DR).

*In Domestic enquiry - starts with the recording of the statements & letters as per the charge sheet. The workman is allowed to produce witnesses in his defence and cross examine the witness of the Management. EO shall record the concise summary of the evidences & questions & answers asked by the both the parties.

* The proceedings of the inquiry shall be conducted in English,hindi or in the language of the state where the Industrial establishment is located.

* After it is over, sometimes it takes a year or more- EO should sumit his findings giving brief reasons.

* EO - appointment - The management can appoint
a. An officer employed in his Industrial establishment
b. An officer from outside
c. An advocate

In normal it is better to have an adocate to give credibility to the proceedings.

* On the receipt of the finding report from EO , the Management should give a letter to workman along with the finding report of EO for his explanation.

* On the receipt of the same , Management can accord punishments to the workman found guilty of misconduct. Here they are four types of punishments viz
1. Dismissal without any notice
2. suspension for a period of not more than 4 days.
3. Fine
4. Warning or censure.

* Points to remember while according the punishment
1. Gravity of the misconduct
2. Previous records if any
3. aggravating circumstances that may exist.

* The doctrine of proof beyond doubt as applicable in criminal trial is not applicable here. This is as per the judgement held in High Court Judicature of Bombay v/s Udaysingh Ganpatrao,1997/CLR 1122 S.C.

Also look forward to finer points on this matter by Anil Anand as well..

Hope this helps...

Have a great weekend..

Cheers,
Sagar