AFTER LEGAL BATTEL FOR MORE THAN 34 YEARS, WORKERS ARE STILL BACK TO SQUARE ONE-LABOUR COURT TOOK 20 YEARS & HIGH COURT TOOK 14 YEARS TO DECIDE THE CASE
The management of M/s Parrys Confectionery Limited terminated services of its four workers namely; S.P.Kapoor, N.N.Nayar, J.C.Bhatia and O.P.Dhingra on 26.09.1975. These workers raised an industrial dispute before the Labour Court under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 challenging the validity of their termination of services claiming reinstatement with full back wages and continuity of services. During the pendency of the dispute before the Labour Court, two of the workers namely S.P.Kapoor and O.P.Dhingra died. The Labour Court passed Award dated 05.08.1995 dismissing the claim of the workers holding that they were not ‘workman’ within the meaning of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and therefore, not entitled to any relief.
The workers challenged the Labour Court Award in the Hon’ble Delhi High Court by way of writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India in March, 1996. The writ petition remained pending disposal till 20.02.2009 when the Hon’ble Mr. Justice Kailash Gambir of Hon’ble High Court finally heard and decided the case. The Hon’ble Judge remanded the matter back to the Labour Court for reconsideration after taking into account the documentary evidence having been produced by the workers in support of their case. Mr. Ashok Agarwal, Advocate who appeared for the workers before the Hon’ble High Court argued that the Labour Court erred in law as it had failed to appreciate the documentary evidence having been produced by the workers in support of their case.
Though the Judgement of the Hon’ble High Court has come in the favour of the workers but there is nothing to celebrate the same as the workers after fighting the legal battle for more than 34 years for justice are still back to square one. Though the Hon’ble High Court has expressed hope that the Labour Court would decide the case as expeditiously as possible, no body knows when the Labour Court would hear and decide the case once again. Two of the workers are not alive and the other two, though have not yet lost the hope, but have a grudge against the present justice delivery system.
By Ashok Agarwal, Advocate
M-09811101923
21.09.2009
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