Legal Principle - Decisions of Courts - Tribunals - Quasi Judicial Authorities – Important Requisites:
In the first instance, this Court for the first time declared the salient components of the functions exercised by a civil court , as under:-
"6. In the case of The Bharat Bank Ltd. V/s. Employees, AIR 1950 SC 188, this Court considered whether an Industrial Tribunal was a court. It said that one cannot go by mere nomenclature. One has to examine the functions of a Tribunal and how it proceeds to discharge those functions. It held that an Industrial Tribunal had all the trappings of a court and performed functions which cannot but be regarded as judicial. The Court referred to the Rules by which proceedings before the Tribunal were regulated.
The Court dwelt on the fact that the powers vested in it are similar to those exercised by civil courts under the Code of Civil Procedure when trying a suit. It had the power of ordering discovery, inspection etc. and forcing the attendance of witnesses, compelling production of documents and so on. It gave its decision on the basis of evidence and in accordance with law.
Applying the test laid down in the case of Cooper V/s. Wilson, (1937) 2 K.B. 309 at p.340, this Court said that "a true judicial decision presupposes an existence of dispute between two or more parties and then involves four requisites - (1) the presentation of their case by the parties; (2) ascertainment of facts by means of evidence adduced by the parties often with the assistance of argument; (3) if the dispute relates to a question of law, submission of legal arguments by the parties; and (4) by decision which disposes of the whole matter by findings on fact and application of law to facts so found. (Supreme Court of India – 2014)
