Sudhakar S/O Dharmaji Haste vs The State Of Maharashtra, Thr. ...
2023 Latest Caselaw 8834 Bom

2023:BHC-NAG:12866-DB
                                                       1                 WP-5568-2023.odt


                     IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                               NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR
                                         Writ Petition No.5568 of 2023
                Shri Sudhakar S/o Dharmaji Haste,
                Aged about 57 years,
                Occupation : Service,
                R/o Naginabag, Chandrapur,
                Tah. & Distt. Chandrapur.                                ... Petitioner


                    Versus


                1. The State of Maharashtra,
                    through the Principal Secretary,
                    Technical and Higher Education,
                    Mantralaya, Mumbai-01.


                2. Desk/Section Officer,
                    Technical and Higher Education,
                    Mantralaya, Mumbai-01.


                3. The Director,
                    Technical and Higher Education,
                    Dhobi Talao,
                    Mahyalika mark,
                    Mumbai-01.


                4. The Joint Director,
                    Technical Education, Sadar, Nagpur,
                    Tah. and Distt. Nagpur.


                5. The Government College of Engineering,
                    though its Principal,
                    Chandrapur,
                    Tah. & Distt. Chandrapur.
                                      2                          WP-5568-2023.odt


6. Shri M.M. Joshi,
     Aged Major,
     Occupation : Service,
     Administrative Officer in
     Technical Education Department,
     Sadar, Nagpur,
     Tah. and Distt. Nagpur.


7. Ku. Neha Omprakash Kamble,
     Aged Major,
     Occupation : Service,
     In Government College of Engineering,
     through its Principal, Chandrapur,
     Tah. and Distt. Chandrapur.                                 ... Respondents


Shri N.R. Saboo, Counsel for Petitioner.
Shri A.M. Deshpande, In-Charge Government Pleader for Respondent Nos.1 to 5.


CORAM : A. S. CHANDURKAR AND MRS. VRUSHALI V. JOSHI, JJ.

DATE : 29th AUGUST, 2023.

ORAL JUDGMENT (PER A.S. CHANDURKAR, J.) :

1. Rule. Shri A.M. Deshpande, learned In-charge Government Pleader,

waives service of notice of hearing for the respondent Nos.1 to 5. The

names of the respondent Nos.6 and 7 are permitted to be deleted from the

array of parties. The necessary deletion be carried out. Rule is made

returnable forthwith.

2. The petitioner, who was working as a Laboratory Assistant with the

respondent No.5-College, was served with an order of termination

dated 31-5-2018. Being aggrieved, the petitioner approached the

Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal by filing Original Application No.448

of 2018. The Tribunal recorded a finding that it had no jurisdiction to 3 WP-5568-2023.odt

entertain the Original Application and that the petitioner ought to have

approached the Labour Court for challenging the order of termination.

However, the Tribunal further held that the order of termination was legal

and proper and that it had no right to direct the absorption of the

petitioner in the respondent No.5-College. The petitioner filed Review

Petition No.13 of 2023 for review of the order passed by the Tribunal on

the ground that the Tribunal having held that it had no jurisdiction to

entertain the Original Application, the findings recorded by the Tribunal on

the order of termination were liable to be set aside. The Review Petition

has been dismissed by the Tribunal by holding that there is no error

apparent on the face of the record. All these orders passed by the Tribunal

are under challenge in the present writ petition.

3. Having heard Shri N.R. Saboo, learned counsel for the petitioner,

and Shri A.M. Deshpande, learned In-charge Government Pleader for the

respondent Nos.1 to 5, we find that initially the services of the petitioner

were terminated on 30-4-2000. The petitioner approached the Labour

Court by filing a complaint under Section 28 of the Maharashtra

Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act,

1971. That complaint was allowed by the Labour Court by setting aside

the order of termination dated 30-4-2000 and directing reinstatement of

the petitioner. Subsequently, again on 31-5-2018, the services of the

petitioner were terminated by giving notice under Section 25F of the

Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Though the petitioner approached the

Tribunal, it has been held that the petitioner ought to have approached the

Labour Court for seeking redressal of his grievance. However, having 4 WP-5568-2023.odt

recorded that finding, it was not necessary for the Tribunal to have

proceeded to hold that the order of termination dated 31-5-2018 was legal

and proper. That finding was given without jurisdiction. When the

Tribunal chose not to exercise jurisdiction, since the same was with the

Labour Court, it was not justified in going into the merits of the challenge

to the order of termination. The Review Petition preferred by the petitioner

has also been dismissed by the Tribunal. We find that the Tribunal having

held that it had no jurisdiction to entertain the challenge to the order of

termination, it ought to have stopped at that without examining the merits

of the matter. On this ground, the orders passed by the Tribunal are liable

to be set aside. Hence, the following order is passed :

4. The writ petition is allowed. The judgment and order

dated 13-3-2023 passed in Original Application No.448 of 2018 as well as

the order dated 21-6-2023 passed in Review Petition No.13 of 2023 in

Original Application No.448 of 2018 by the Maharashtra Administrative

Tribunal are set aside. The petitioner is at liberty to challenge the order of

termination dated 31-5-2018 by approaching the Labour Court in

accordance with law.

5. Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms with no order as to

costs.

(MRS. VRUSHALI V. JOSHI, J.) (A. S. CHANDURKAR, J.)

LANJEWAR

Signed by: Prashant D. Lanjewar Designation: Senior Pvt. Secretary Date: 30/08/2023 16:25:40