The petitioner had the post of Village Karnam of Kamakkapalayam village in Salem District. It was a post which was not governed by the provisions of the Hereditary Village Offices Act III of 1895. Charges were framed against the petitioner by the Revenue Divisional Officer, and after an enquiry, the Revenue Divisional Officer directed on 9th February, 1953, that the petitioner should be dismissed from the post. The petitioner appealed to the Collector against the order of dismissal, but the appeal was dismissed on 23rd March, 1953. Further appeals to the Board of Revenue and to the Government also failed. The petitioner applied under Article 226 of the Constitution for the issue of a Writ of Certiorari to set aside the order of the Revenue Divisional Officer dated, 9th February, 1953, which was successively confirmed by the Collector, the Board of Revenue and the Government.

The grounds on which the validity of the order of dismissal was attacked by the learned counsel for the petitioner were as follows: (1) The provisions of Article 311(2) of the Constitution were violated and petitioner was not given the opportunity prescribed by Article 311(2) to show cause against his dismi