Judgment

SINHA, C.J.I. : The main question for determination in this appeal by special leave is whether the provisions of Art. 311 (2) of the Constitution are applicable to a probationer in the Bihar Subordinate Civil Service, who has been discharged as unsuitable on grounds of notoriety for corruption and unsatisfactory work in the discharge of his public duties.

2. The facts of this case are short and simple. The respondent was appointed as a temporary Sub-Deputy Collector in the year 1944. In 1946, he was vested with the powers of a Magistrate of the First Class. In December, 1947, he was appointed to a substantive post in the Bihar Subordinate Civil Service, on probation. During the period of his probation, he was posted at Jamshedpur in the district of Singhbhum, and later at Nawada in the district of Gaya. Proceedings were taken against him and he was called upon to show cause why his services should not be terminated forthwith, by the Government letter dated November 4, 1952, a copy of which was forwarded to the respondent through the District Magistrate, Gaya. In that letter it was stated that throughout the year 1948 and upto the end of May, 1949, the respondent, while emplo