Enquiry reports and departmental records may be admitted at the preliminary stage to determine enquiry validity.

Delhi Transport Corporation (“DTC”) challenged the order dated 17 January 2026 passed by the District Judge, Presiding Officer, Labour Court-08, RACC, in L.I.R. 295/2023.

The Labour Court had rejected DTC’s application under Rule 15 of the Industrial Disputes (Central) Rules, 1957, read with Order VIII Rule 1A(3) and Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, seeking to place additional documents on record.

The dispute involved a preliminary issue concerning the legality and validity of a departmental enquiry conducted against Mukesh Kumar.

DTC sought permission to produce the Enquiry Report and the departmental-enquiry record, contending that these documents were material for adjudication of the preliminary issue and had not been filed by the respondent.

The respondent opposed the application on the ground that the documents had always been in DTC’s possession and ought to have been produced before the Labour Court at the first instance.

Whether DTC should be permitted to place the Enquiry Report and the record of the departmental enquiry on record for adjudication of the preliminary issue concerning the legality and validity of the enquiry.

Whether such documents could be produced through a witness at this stage, subject to the respondent’s right of cross-examination.

The Court considered Rule 15 of the Industrial Disputes (Central) Rules, 1957, read with Order VIII Rule 1A(3) and Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, governing the production of documents and the procedural power to permit documents to be brought on record in the interests of justice.

The Court applied the principle that where the legality and validity of a departmental enquiry constitutes a preliminary issue, the Enquiry Report and the record of the enquiry are material documents necessary for its proper adjudication.

The Court further preserved procedural fairness by permitting the respondent to cross-examine the witness through whom the documents would be produced.

The Court found that the Labour Court’s preliminary issue directly required examination of the departmental-enquiry record and the Enquiry Report.

Since those documents constituted the substance and outcome of the enquiry whose validity was under consideration, they were material to a fair determination of the preliminary issue.

Although the respondent contended that DTC had possession of the documents and should have filed them earlier, the Court considered their relevance and allowed their production, while safeguarding the respondent’s rights by directing that they be introduced through a witness and made subject to cross-examination.

DTC was permitted to file and produce the Enquiry Report and the departmental-enquiry record before the Labour Court through a witness within two weeks.

The respondent was granted liberty to cross-examine that witness on the documents.

The relief was made conditional upon DTC paying costs of ₹30,000 to the respondent within two weeks.

The parties were directed to appear before the Labour Court on 10 August 2026, and the writ petition along with the pending applications was disposed of.