Natural Justice Principles

What are the principles of fair hearing and natural justice and to what extent do they extend to educational institutions in India? Lastly, how do principles of natural justice apply in situations of sexual harassment? Examine this on the basis of cases in India and abroad.

“‘Principles of natural justice’ as an expression is used for describing the criteria of procedural fairness of the administrative process. They ensure that decisions are taken objectively, impartially, without prejudice, and after hearing the person likely to be affected.”

It is absolutely imperative to conform to the principles of natural justice during the course of a case proceeding else the entire concept of the judicial system is negated. This being so as, the

Though they may not be explicitly stated within the Constitution, they are however implied. For example: Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees a right to equality and thus forbids arbitrariness. Freedom from arbitrariness may only be achieved by conforming to the rules of natural justice thus making non-arbitrariness a facet under Principles of natural justice, and consequently, Article 14 promotes principles of natural justice.

While the governance and monitoring of principles of natural justice within the Indian judiciary is manageable, the question arises how the same would be applicable in different strata’s of society. Providing such principles is not hard to those who known the law such as the lawyers and judges in a court, but instead it is hard to make it obtainable to those unaware of their rights or those areas of society where law itself has not been entirely laid

In the case of UP Singh v. Board of Governors MACT , the court held that in case of expulsion due to physical violence over a period of time, the expulsion would be valid even without an oral hearing.

In the case of Chinni Ramakrishna Rao v. Registrar, Andra Pradesh University , the court held that students using unfair means during the examination are not entitled to an oral hearing before being penalized as long as an enquiry has been conducted.

In another case in the Madras High Court, the court pointed out that rigid and mechanical insistence on the full-fledged inquiry was not conductive to effective functioning of the educational institutions.

The Rajasthan High Court clarifies this principle when it stated that in cases where the evidence is not enough to punish a student, an oral hearing is mandatory in which the student may explain his actions. In an absence of a hearing, the penalty against the student was