NEUTRAL CITATION
C/LPA/240/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2023
undefined
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 240 of 2023
In R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 572 of 2023
With
R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 242 of 2023
In
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 570 of 2023
With
R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 245 of 2023
In
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 620 of 2023
With
R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 246 of 2023
In
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 621 of 2023
With
R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 247 of 2023
In
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 594 of 2023
With
R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 248 of 2023
In
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 590 of 2023
==========================================================
GUJARAT FOREST PRODUCE GATHERS AND FOREST WORKERS
UNION
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT
==========================================================
Appearance:
MR RASHESH A RINDANI(5380) for the Appellant(s) No. 1,2,3
MR SHIRISH H GOHIL(3253) for the Appellant(s) No. 1,2,3
ADVANCE COPY SERVED TO GOVERNMENT PLEADER/PP for the
Respondent(s) No. 1
NOTICE SERVED for the Respondent(s) No. 2,3,4
==========================================================
CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN M. DESAI
Date : 29/08/2023
COMMON ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA) All the above Letters Patent Appeals arise from common Page 1 of 4 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 02:51:30 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/LPA/240/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2023 undefined judgment and order of learned single Judge dated 16.1.2023 passed in Special Civil Application No.572 of 2023, Special Civil Application No.570 of 2023, Special Civil Application No.620 of 2023, Special Civil Application No.621 of 2023, Special Civil Application No.594 of 2021 and Special Civil Application No.590 of 2023 respectively.
2. When the appeals came up for consideration, learned advocate Mr. Rashesh Rindani for the appellants fairly stated that a cognate Letters Patent Appeal No.1130 of 2023 relatable to the judgment and order in Special Civil Application No.570 of 2023 came to be decided by the Division Bench as per order dated 17.8.2023.
3. It was submitted in that regard by learned Assistant Government Pleader Ms. Shruti Dhruve that though in the instant cases and in relation to the aforesaid Letters Patent Appeal No.1130 of 2023, the judgment and order of learned single Judge are different, they involve the similar facts and identical issue.
4. The aforementioned order dated 17.8.2023 passed in Letters Patent Appeal No.1130 of 2023 may be reproduced hereinbelow:
"This is an appeal filed by a self acclaimed Union of Gujarat Forest Produce Gathers and Forest Workers Union.
2. We may note that in the writ petition, there is no disclosure, nor any averment with regard to the legal status of the appellant-Union. By means of the prayer made in the writ petition, the writ petitioner agitated the claim of different workers whose identity is not known, claiming them to be Page 2 of 4 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 02:51:30 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/LPA/240/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2023 undefined the member of the Union with regard to computation of 240 working days by adding Sundays and public holidays.
3. The manner in which the writ petition has been filed, the learned Single Judge has noted in the judgment impugned that the petitioner Union in a strategic move, has accumulated the petitions of various daily wage workers working under different establishments and in the garb of representation, asking this Court to give leverage to raise a dispute, foundation of which has not been laid in the writ petition.
4. In view of the findings returned by the learned Single Judge in paragraph 9 of the judgment impugned on the dispute raised by the writ petitioner based on some information collected under RTI Act, we do not find any infirmity in the decision of the learned Single Judge to dismiss the writ petition holding that the issue pertaining to the decision of an authority with regard to consideration of the Sundays and public holidays as part of the service rendered and ultimately, for the purpose of grant of permanency of regularisation, cannot be taken into consideration as violation of fundamental right to invoke the provisions of Article 226 of the Constitution.
5. For the aforesaid, we dismiss the instant appeal being devoid of merits.
6. It is clarified that any claim of petitioner no.2 in the writ petition with regard to computation of Sundays and public holidays in the period of his working or the claim of permanency or regularisation would be required to be examined independently by the competent authority without Page 3 of 4 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 02:51:30 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION C/LPA/240/2023 ORDER DATED: 29/08/2023 undefined being influenced by any of the observations made hereinabove. In any case, the dismissal of writ petition or the instant appeal will not come in the way of petitioner no.2 in that matter."
5. Both the learned advocates therefore submitted that the present batch of appeals which are inextricably connected and deserves to be disposed of as per the above order.
6. The rights and obligations of the parties in these appeals shall also be governed in the present group of appeals in accordance with the findings and directions issued by the Division Bench in the aforesaid order dated 17.8.2023 in Letters Patent Appeal No.1130 of 2023.
7. The appeals stand disposed of accordingly.
(N.V.ANJARIA, J) (D. M. DESAI,J) VATSAL Page 4 of 4 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 02:51:30 IST 2023