Gujarat High Court
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation vs Parmar Arvindbhai Nanjibhai ... on 23 August, 2023
Bench: Devan M. Desai
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/CA/663/2023 ORDER DATED: 23/08/2023
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 663 of 2023
In R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 1148 of 2023
With
R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 1148 of 2023
In
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 15664 of 2016
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AHMEDABAD MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
Versus
PARMAR ARVINDBHAI NANJIBHAI (DECEASED) THROUGH HIS LEGAL
HEIRS AND REPRESENTATIVE
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Appearance:
MR HS MUNSHAW(495) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
for the Respondent(s) No. 1
(4444) for the Respondent(s) No. 2
MS VANDANA L BHATT(2464) for the Respondent(s) No. 1.1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN M. DESAI
Date : 23/08/2023
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.ANJARIA)
Civil Application as well as the Letters Patent Appeal, both are
notified on the board. With the consent of learned advocates for the
parties, the application as well as the appeal, are taken up for
simultaneous hearing.
1.1 Heard learned advocate Mr. H. S. Munshaw for the
applicant-appellant and learned advocate Ms. Vandana Bhatt for the
respondent, in respect of condonation of delay and the merits of the main
Letters Patent Appeal.
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C/CA/663/2023 ORDER DATED: 23/08/2023
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2. Delay of 54 days has taken place in preferring the Letters Patent
Appeal. The reasons supplied in the pleadings explaining the passage of
time, are procedural in nature. No negligence could be attributed to the
appellant, more particularly the appellant is a statutory body, where the
decision making process necessarily consumes time to pass through the
stages. In that view, sufficient cause is made out. Delay is condoned.
Civil Application stands disposed of.
3. The Registry is directed to give pakka number to the Letters Patent
Appeal, to be notified today itself.
Order in Letters Patent Appeal
4. Heard learned advocates for the parties. The Letters Patent Appeal
is preferred by the Corporation under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent, in
which the challenge is directed against judgment and order of learned
single Judge dated 25.4.2023, whereby while setting aside the order of the
Labour Court rejecting the Reference, learned single Judge held that the
respondent workman would be entitled to the lumpsum compensation of
Rs. 1,50,000/-. The workman having died during the pendency of the
proceedings on 26.3.2020, the heirs of the petitioner would be receiving
the amount, it was provided.
5. In the original Special Civil Application at the instance of the
petitioner-workman, what was under scanner was the judgment and
award dated 22.12.2010 of the Labour Court, Ahmedabad, whereby the
Reference (LCA) No. 891 of 2002 was rejected by the Labour Court.
The jurisdiction of the Labour Court was invoked by the workman
challenging the termination of his services effected from 16.10.1999, to
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/CA/663/2023 ORDER DATED: 23/08/2023
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further pray that he was entitled to regularisation in light of the policy of
the Corporation to regularise the employees, who has completed 900 days
in five years. The Labour Court, however, proceeded to address the issue
whether the workman had completed 240 days of continuous service.
Holding against the workman on that score, the Reference itself was
rejected.
6. Learned single Judge while considering the challenge to the said
judgment and order of the Labour Court considered inter alia that the
Corporation used to maintain service book of the workman. The aspect
was noticed that the Corporation had adopted the policy which provided
that if a daily waged employee had completed particular days - 900 days
during five years of service, he would be entitled to regularisation. It was
perceived rightly by learned single Judge that the said aspect was
required to be focused by the Labour Court while considering the
Reference of the workman, but the Labour Court misdirected itself.
7. Revisiting with the evidence, which was led before the Labour
Court, learned single Judge noticed that it could be clearly culled out that
the workman had completed 627 days during last four years. The number
of days for which the workman had rendered services were available
from the document at Exh. 25, 26 and others before the Labour Court.
On the basis of the totality of evidence, learned single Judge found that
the workman had completed in each year the requisite number of days
service to be entitled to the benefit of the policy of the Corporation to get
regularisation in the service.
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C/CA/663/2023 ORDER DATED: 23/08/2023
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7.1 Admittedly, the petitioner died on 26.3.2020, which was before
deliverance of judgment and award of labour court. In that view and
further having regard to the consideration that the petitioner had served
for only five years from 1995 to 1999, learned single Judge took the view
that lumpsum compensation of Rs. 1,50,000/- was required to be paid to
the workman by way of relief in lieu of reinstatement even as the
reinstatement was not possible the workman having died on 26.3.2020.
7.2 The findings recorded by learned single Judge about the number of
days etc. put in by the workman and the entitlement of the workman to be
covered under the policy of the state government, are not liable to be
interfered with, since they are based on the consideration of the relevant
material before it. The aspect was duly addressed about the number of
days put in by the workman to be entitled to the aforesaid policy.
7.3 The relief of the reinstatement was not be granted, but the
lumpsum compensation was awarded for the evident reason that the
workman had died during the pendency of the proceedings and on the
date of delivery of award, as stated above. Looking to the period of
service rendered by the petitioner as daily rated workman, the date of
termination, the nature of work performed by it and the total period
passed by since the date of termination, the compensation of Rs.
1,50,000/- could be said to be reasonable required to be upheld.
8. Learned advocate for the workman in course of her submission,
harped that full backwages ought to have been granted. She also harped
that compensation should be enhanced.
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C/CA/663/2023 ORDER DATED: 23/08/2023
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9. The present appeal is by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
There is no Cross Appeal against the judgment and order of learned
single Judge. Therefore, prayer for such a relief cannot be considered in
the appeal filed by the Corporation. The submissions on behalf of
workman in this regard are of no consequence.
10. The amount of compensation of Rs. 1,50,000/- required to be paid
as directed by learned single Judge, shall be paid to the respondent
workman within three weeks from the date of receipt of the present order
by crediting the payable amount directly in the bank account of the
respondent-workman.
10.1 The details of the bank account of respondent-widow of deceased
workman are provided by learned advocate for the respondent-widow of
deceased workman, are as under, in which the amount shall be credited,
Name of the Account Holder : Manjulaben Arvindbhai Parmar
Account Number :03368100000326
Bank Name : Bank of Baroda
Branch Name: Rakhial Ind. Estate, Ahmedabad
IFSC Code : BARB0INDRAK
11. The Appeal is devoid of merit. It is dismissed.
(N.V.ANJARIA, J)
(D. M. DESAI,J)
C.M. JOSHI
