Dismissal cases heard in the Industrial court, it is the duty of the employer to satisfy the court that they have acted in a just cause or excuse in dismissing or terminating the employee from his job.
One need to refer to a well known case which is called Stamford Executive Centre v Puan Dharsini Ganesan [1986] 1 ILR 101 whereby the court decided as follows:-
"The burden of proof lies on the employer. He must prove the workman is guilty, and it is not the workman who must prove himself not guilty. This is so basic a principle of industrial jurisprudence that no employer is expected to come to this Court in ignorance of it".
In Ireka Contruction Berhad v Chantiravathan a/l Subramaniam James [1995] 1 ILR, the Industrial Court had said:-
"It is a basic principle of industrial jurisprudence that in a dismissal case the employer must produce convincing evidence that the workman committed the offence or offences the workman is alleged to have committed for which he has been dismissed. The burden of proof lies on the employer to prove that he has just cause and excuse for taking the decision to impose the disciplinary measure of dismissal upon the employee."
Employer to prove.
Ramu
