The limited application of principles of fair play deeply rooted in the minds of modern men and women in relation to private affairs of private bodies and the public duty element in private bodies.

Pradeep Nandrajog, J.

1. On September 17, 2013 News X Channel had put on the air a discussion/debate on the subject ‘Profit over patients’. It contained a dialogue between the anchor, the petitioner Dr.Rani Bhatia, Dr.Sudhir Joseph, the Director of St. Stephens Hospital, Dr.Puneet Bedi and Dr.Kaul. The precursor to the debate/discussion was services of the petitioner being terminated on September 04, 2013. The petitioner was issued an appointment letter on December 20, 2008 with retrospective effect from October 01, 2008 as a Senior Specialist in the Psychiatry Department of St. Stephens Hospital. It was indicated to her that the employer-employee bond could be snapped by either party after giving one month notice or a month’s salary in lieu thereof. The foundation of the instant writ petition, which lays a challenge to the letter dated September 04, 2013 terminating petitioner’s service is malice, arbitrariness and an abuse of power by St. Stephens Hospital Society; stated to be a private body performing public functions. The substratum of the foundation is the dialogue put on the air by News X Channel between the anchor, Dr.Sudhir Joseph, the petitioner, Dr.Puneet Bedi and Dr.Kaul.

2. Conscious of the fact that St. Stephens Hospital Society is a private body not receiving any grant in aid or funds from the Government and the Government exercising no control whatsoever, much less a deep and pervasive control of the society, we had issued notice in the writ petition for the reason the transcript of what was put on the air was possibly suggestive of the fact that a private charitable institution, claiming to be rendering service to the needy and the poor in the form of either free or subsidized medical aid, was indulging in rank profiteering. We had in mind, when show cause notice was issued the law declared by the Supreme Court in the decision reported as AIR 1963 SC 1144 T.P.Davar Vs. Lodge Victoria No.363 SC Belgaum & Ors. to the effect that even in relation to private affairs of private bodies a judicial review was permissible on the limited application of principles of fair play deeply rooted in the minds of modern men and women; and no more, keeping in view what was observed by Lord Mortem in the decision reported as 1956 AC 104 Bonsor Vs. Musicians’ Union : a domestic Tribunal is bound to act strictly according to its rules and is under an obligation to act honestly and in good faith and the observations of Maugham, J. pertaining to what would be bias and lack of good faith in the opinion reported as (1929) 1929-I Ch. 602 Maclean Vs. Workers’ Union : lack of good faith can only mean in this connection the principles of fair play so deeply rooted in the minds of modern English men that a provision for an inquiry necessarily imports that the accused should be given his chance of defence and explanation.

3. The transcript of the dialogue is now being reproduced by us. It reads as under:-

“Transcript of the CD where Dr.Sudhir Joseph gives his statement.

Anchor: The Medical Profession’s biggest secret is out in the open. A leading and reputable charitable hospital, the St. Stephen’s hospital has landed itself in a massive row after its director sacked a doctor for allegedly not making enough money for the hospital. The doctor in question, a psychiatrist called Dr.Rani Bhatia had accused the director of St. Stephen’s Hospital of arbitrariness and vendetta. He director has hit back, justifying his decision, saying the doctor wasn’t making enough money for the charity.

Dr.Sudhir Joseph: I just said your salaries are twentyfour lakhs. Twenty-four lakhs, between three people. If twentyfour lakhs is your salary please make at least twenty, eighteen. So, I don’t have, you know, this burden on my back.

Dr.Rani Bhatia – My services have been terminated after working for nineteen long years of working for this hospital and I have been told by the director is that the reason for my termination is that my department is n