JUDGMENT

Mokhtar Sidin JCA:

The respondent was the plaintiff in the court below (hereinafter referred to as "the plaintiff"). He was appointed on 29 December 1971 as Pegawai Keselamatan by the Suruhanjaya Pelabuhan Pulau Pinang (hereinafter referred to as "the appellant"). By a letter dated 15 May 1980, the Inspector-General of Police informed the plaintiff that his powers as an auxilliary police had been withdrawn. On 26 September 1980 the personnel manager of the appellant wrote to the plaintiff stating that:

(i) due to the fact that his powers as an auxilliary police had been withdrawn the Board decided to terminate his service as a security officer and remove him from the Security Department permanently;

(ii) the Board decided to place him on the Management Service Department as a works study officer for a period of six months with effect from 1 September 1980 to find out whether he could carry out his duties as such officer; and

(iii) his position as a works study officer would be reviewed within six months from the date of appointment.

After the six months period, ie, on 30 April 1981 the plaintiff received a letter from the personnel manager of the appellant informing hi