Natural Justice: Opportunity of hearing – Allegation of unauthorised encroachment of the appellants over the land of Gram Panchayat – Writ petition filed by respondent no.8 – High Court observed that it was not necessary to issue any notice to any of the private respondents except to the State and its authorities considering the nature of the order they intended to pass for disposal of writ petition and disposed of writ petition with direction to the Deputy Commissioner to obtain a report from a fact finding inquiry regarding unauthorized encroachment of the appellants and to restore the said land to the Gram Panchayat with police help – Aggrieved private respondents of writ petition filed these appeals – Held: Principle of natural justice demands that the party to the proceedings must be heard by the Court before passing any order in relation to the subject matter of such proceedings – In this case, the High Court issued some mandatory directions to the State in relation to the subjectmatter of the proceedings but it was done without hearing the appellants (respondents in the writ petition before the High Court) – For the said reason, the impugned order is set aside – Parties to raise all their pleas before the High Court to enable it to decide in accordance with law.
Allowing the appeals and remitting the matter to High Court, the Court
HELD : The basic fundamental principle of law that no order can be passed by any Court in any judicial proceedings against any party to such proceedings without hearing and giving such party an opportunity of hearing. The fact that a person is made a party to the judicial proceedings in relation to a certain dispute has a legitimate right to raise an objection that before passing any order in such proceedings, he should be at least heard and his views/stand in relation to the subject matter of the proceedings be taken into consideration. The Court is duty bound to hear all such person(s) by giving them an opportunity to place their stand. In this case, the High Court issued some mandatory directions to the State in relation to the subject-matter of the proceedings but it was done without hearing the appellants(respondents in the writ petition before the High Court). It is for this reason, the impugned order is set aside. It is for the parties to raise all their pleas before the High Court to enable it to decide in accordance with law. [Paras 8, 10, 11, 13][972-F-G; 973-A-D]
Sangram Singh v. Election Tribunal AIR 1955 SC 425 : [1955] SCR 1 – relied on
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
This page is for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate for advice specific to your situation.