The inquiry is the employer's own proceeding, run by the employer, into an allegation the employer has made. It is not a trial and the officer is not a judge. That is precisely why the procedure around it is strict, and why most dismissals for misconduct that are set aside are set aside on the process rather than on the facts.
Where the obligation comes from
- Certified standing orders. The standing orders chapter of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 applies to every industrial establishment employing three hundred or more workers, or which employed that number on any day of the preceding twelve months. Where it applies, the employer prepares draft standing orders based on the Central Government's model standing orders, covering every matter in the Code's First Schedule. Two of those matters are suspension or dismissal for misconduct with the acts or omissions that constitute it, and the means of redress against unfair treatment. So the definition of misconduct and the procedure sit in a certified document you are entitled to read before answering anything.
- Below that threshold, and for employees who are not workers, the source is the appointment letter and the HR policy read with the ordinary requirements of a fair hearing. That is one reason our guide on what an Indian employment agreement should contain treats the disciplinary clause as a substantive term rather than boilerplate.
- In Karnataka, the point is put in the statute. Section 39 of the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961 allows an employer to dispense with the one month's notice or pay in lieu only where misconduct is brought on record with proof at an enquiry held for the purpose. No enquiry, no benefit of that proviso.
What the inquiry has to give you
- A charge in particulars. The act alleged, the date, the place, and the standing order or rule said to have been broken. "Loss of confidence" or "unprofessional conduct" with nothing behind it cannot be answered, and a charge that cannot be answered is the first and most common defect.
- The material relied on, before the hearing. The complaint, the statements, the access logs, the emails, the audit note. Disclosure at the hearing itself is not disclosure.
- An inquiry officer who is not the complainant, a witness or the punishing authority. One person wearing two of those hats is a recurring and usually fatal defect.
- Presence, and a real hearing. You are entitled to be present, to hear the evidence given, to cross examine each witness, and to lead your own witnesses and documents. An inquiry conducted on paper alone, or in your absence without proper notice, is vulnerable.
- The report, then the punishment. A reasoned finding, furnished to you, with an opportunity to respond before the penalty is decided, and a penalty proportionate to what was actually found.
Where standing orders are certified, no oral evidence may be admitted in any court to add to, vary or contradict them. And if a question arises about the application or interpretation of a certified standing order, the employer, the worker or the Trade Union may apply to the Industrial Tribunal to decide it, and that decision binds both sides. Separately, where a worker is suspended pending an investigation or inquiry, the Code says the investigation or inquiry shall ordinarily be completed within ninety days of the suspension.
When the process itself becomes the claim
The Code prohibits any employer from committing an unfair labour practice listed in its Second Schedule. That Schedule expressly names discharging or dismissing a worker in utter disregard of the principles of natural justice in the conduct of a domestic enquiry or with undue haste. It also names dismissal by way of victimisation, dismissal in the colourable exercise of the employer's rights, and punishment out of all proportion to a minor or technical lapse. If the inquiry was a formality, that Schedule is the provision to plead, not a general complaint about unfairness.
What the Tribunal can do about it
Where an industrial dispute involving discharge, dismissal or other termination reaches the Tribunal on an application after conciliation fails, and the Tribunal is satisfied the order was not justified, it may set the order aside and direct reinstatement on such terms as it thinks fit, or grant other relief including a lesser punishment in place of dismissal. And if the employer takes a reinstatement award to the High Court or the Supreme Court, it is liable to pay full wages last drawn for the period those proceedings are pending, on your affidavit that you were not employed elsewhere. Whether that route is open to you turns on whether you are a worker, which our note on whether you count as a worker under the Industrial Relations Code works through.
Ask for these in writing, on day one
- The charge sheet with dates and particulars
- The complaint and every document and statement relied on
- The certified standing orders or the policy said to have been breached
- The name of the inquiry officer and confirmation of his role in the events
- A copy of the daily proceedings, signed
Attend. Do not boycott the inquiry as a protest: absence is treated as an opportunity given and not taken, and it costs the record of what the witnesses said. Answer the charge on its particulars, put your case to every witness, and keep your own note of each sitting. For what happens after the order of punishment, and the sequence of remedies and forums, see our guide on wrongful termination and employee rights in India.