Karnataka Power Transmission vs S. Kiran
2023 Latest Caselaw 7368 Kant

                                             -1-
                                                     NC: 2023:KHC:38263-DB
                                                         WA No. 217 of 2023



                    IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU

                       DATED THIS THE 30TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2023

                                         PRESENT
                   THE HON'BLE MR PRASANNA B. VARALE, CHIEF JUSTICE
                                            AND
                          THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE KRISHNA S DIXIT
                           WRIT APPEAL NO. 217 OF 2023 (L-RES)
                   BETWEEN:

                   KARNATAKA POWER TRANSMISSION
                   CORPORATION LIMITED.,
                   M.R.S DIVISION, SHIVAMOGGA 577 203,
                   REPRESENTED BY B R YOGEESHA
                   EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (ELECTRICAL)
                                                               ...APPELLANT
                   (BY SRI. SHIRISH KRISHNA.,ADVOCATE)

                   AND:

                   S. KIRAN,
                   AGED ABOUT 35 YEARS,
                   S/O SUBBACHARY,
                   NO 3587, MALIYAMMA KRUPA,
Digitally signed
by SHARADA         HEMAVATHINAGAR, HASSAN 573 201.
VANI B                                                       ...RESPONDENT
Location: HIGH
COURT OF                THIS WRIT APPEAL FILED UNDER SECTION 4 OF THE
KARNATAKA          KARNATAKA HIGH COURT ACT PRAYING TO ALLOW THE
                   INSTANT WRIT APPEAL AND THEREBY SET ASIDE THE
                   IMPUGNED ORDER DATED 10.11.2022 RENDERED BY THE Ld.
                   SINGLE JUDGE OF THIS HONBLE COURT IN WP No-31833/2019
                   AND CONSEQUENTLY ALLOW THE WP BEARING WP No-
                   31883/2019 AS PRAYED FOR AND GRANT OTHER SUCH
                   RELIEFS, IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE AND EQUITY.

                        THIS APPEAL COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING,
                   THIS DAY, CHIEF JUSTICE DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
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                                               NC: 2023:KHC:38263-DB
                                                   WA No. 217 of 2023




                             JUDGMENT

This intra-Court seeks to call in question a learned

Single Judge's order dated 10.11.2022 whereby

appellant's W.P.No.31833/2019 having been dismissed,

the Labour Court award dated 21.03.2019 for

reinstatement of the respondent herein has been

sustained.

2. Learned counsel for the appellant vehemently

argues that the respondent workman had remained

unauthorisedly absent for a period of 632 days, on various

occasions; unauthorised absence of an employee breeds a

lot of indiscipline and therefore the punishment of

dismissal could not have been set aside by the Labour

Court which committed the error and that the learned

Single Judge also committed a concurrent error. That

being the position, the impugned order is liable to be

invalidated, argues the counsel for the appellant.

NC: 2023:KHC:38263-DB WA No. 217 of 2023

3. Having heard the learned counsel for the

appellant and having perused the appeal papers, we

decline indulgence in the matter inasmuch as the Labour

Court, after due appreciation of facts, in its accumulated

wisdom, has set aside the dismissal and directed the

reinstatement of the workman; the same has been deeply

examined the learned Single Judge who concurred with

the findings of the Labour Court, after referring to as many

as ten Rulings cited at the bar. Both they have held the

explanation offered by the workman for remaining absent,

as plausible. There is absolutely no material for us to take

a different view of the matter.

4. The respondent workman has specifically stated

that he was undergoing a serious distress of mind and as a

consequence, was not able to evince interest in the

accomplishment of the job. That is why he had remained

absent with no culpable intent to cause any inconvenience

to the employer. Distress and depressions are the by-

products of modern life, whichever be the calling. Stress is

NC: 2023:KHC:38263-DB WA No. 217 of 2023

the product of the psychological or emotional pressure

that we experience both in our personal and occupational

lives. Often it is difficult to insulate the stress, and to

determine its impact on day to day activities. There may

come a point that the 'stressors' encountered in the work

place lead to the inability to function in a work

environment. A decision to lay an employee off work, with

or without just cause, may well escalate the level of

depression. What the Apex Court in RAVINDER KUMAR

DHARIWAL vs. UOI, (2023) 2 SCC 209, observed at para

79 is profitably reproduced:

"International conventions like the CRPD recognise mental health disorders as psychosocial disabilities. Psychosocial disability is sometimes characterised as an "invisible disability" because it is not always obvious, unlike other disabilities... Employees often do not disclose their mental health disorders, which leads to the invisibilisation of psychosocial disabilities. The World Health Organisation and the World Psychiatric Association identify stigma as a major cause of discrimination against persons with mental health disorders. Many people with mental health disorders are willing and able to work. However, socio-structural barriers impede their participation in the workforce... Exclusion from the workforce not only creates conditions of material deprivation,

NC: 2023:KHC:38263-DB WA No. 217 of 2023

but it also impacts self-confidence, and results in isolation and marginalisation which exacerbates mental distress. To escape stigma and discrimination, persons with mental health issues painstakingly attempt to hide their illnesses from co-workers and managers..."

These realities of life cannot be lost sight of while

adjudging the woes of workmen; after all, life being what

it is, spares none from its kiln. What P.B. Shelley (1792-

1822) poetically wrote is the reality of life: 'I fall on the

thorns of life, I bleed...'. The appellant being an entity

under Article 12 of the Constitution of India, has to

conduct itself as a model employer; that is how a Welfare

State should be; it has to treat its employees with fairness

& empathy; by that, it wins the heart of work force and

that eventually results in increased productivity.

Otherwise, where would we locate the line that bifurcates

a Welfare State and a Colonial Regime..?

5. It is not that the respondent workman is

holding a high office and that his remaining absent, of

course arguably for a long period, has caused miseries to

the Management; he is only a Station Attendant (Grade II)

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who had gained entry to the employment way back in

January 2008, on permanent basis. It is not the case of

appellant that after his removal from service, a new

incumbent has occupied the resultant vacancy. A Court

has to do justice keeping in view a host of factors that

propelled the grieving workman to its portals. The Labour

Court did its job and the Writ Court too, did its. We cannot

deny justice to the deserving just by quoting some

jurisprudential theories. More than a century ago, in

DAVIS vs MILLS, 194 U.S. 451 (1904), Holmes J.,

alarmed:

"Constitutions are intended to preserve practical and substantial rights, not to maintain theories..."

The impugned order of the learned Single Judge

inarticulately echoes the same. It is just & reasonable, to

say the least. Therefore, it does not warrant our

interference.

6. There is yet another aspect which comes in the

way of appeal of the kind being entertained: a Seven

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Judge Bench of this Court in TAMMANNA vs RENUKA,

2009 SCC ONLINE KAR 123 said that an intra-Court

appeal against the orders of a Single Judge passed under

Article 227 ordinarily does not lie, the other provision

namely Article 226 of the Constitution having been

ornamentally employed in the pleadings of the

Management.

In the above circumstances, the writ appeal being

devoid of merits, is liable to be and accordingly dismissed,

costs having been made easy.

Sd/-

CHIEF JUSTICE

Sd/-

JUDGE

Snb,