Uttarakhand High Court
WPMS/2539/2023 on 5 November, 2024
Author: Manoj Kumar Tiwari
Bench: Manoj Kumar Tiwari
2024:UHC:8147
Office Notes,
reports, orders
or proceedings
SL.
Date or directions COURT'S OR JUDGE'S ORDERS
No.
and Registrar's
order with
Signatures
WPMS No. 2539 of 2023
with
WPMS No. 2540 of 2023
Hon'ble Manoj Kumar Tiwari, A.C.J.
Mr. Tapan Singh, Advocate for
petitioner.
2. Mr. Sachin Kumar Sharma,
Advocate, holding brief of Mr. S.K. Pal,
Advocate for the respondent.
3. Since common questions of fact
and law are involved in these petitions,
therefore, all these petitions are clubbed
together and are being heard & decided
by a common judgment. However, for
the sake of clarity, facts of Writ Petition
(M/S) No. 2539 of 2023 alone are being
considered and discussed.
4. Mr. Tapan Singh, learned counsel
appearing for petitioner gives up the
prayer, as made in relief clause no. 1 in
the writ petition, as he confined his
prayer only qua order dated
02.05.2023, passed by Labour
Commissioner, Uttarakhand in Appeal
No. 02 of 2022. By the said order,
Labour Commissioner, acting as
Appellate Authority under Payment of
Gratuity Act, 1972, dismissed the
Appeal filed by petitioner under sub-
section 7 of Section 7 of Payment of
Gratuity Act as not maintainable. Sub-
section (7) of Section 7 of the aforesaid
Act is extracted below:-
2024:UHC:8147
"(7) Any person aggrieved by an order under
sub-section (4), may, within sixty days from the
date of the receipt of the order, prefer an appeal
to the appropriate Government or such other
authority as may be specified by the appropriate
Government in this behalf:
Provided that the appropriate Government
or the appellate authority, as the case may be,
may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was
prevented by sufficient cause from preferring the
appeal within the said period of sixty days, extend
the said period by a further period of sixty days.
Provided further that no appeal by an
employer shall be admitted unless at the time of
preferring the appeal, the appellant either
produces a certificate of the controlling authority
to the effect that the appellant has deposited with
him an amount equal to the amount of gratuity
required to be deposited under subsection (4), or
deposits with the appellate authority such
amount."
5. From perusal of record, it is
revealed that the order, against which
Appeal was filed, was passed on
22.12.2021 by the Controlling Authority/
Assistant Labour Commissioner,
Haridwar. Sub-section 7 of Section 7 of
Payment of Gratuity Act prescribes
limitation period of 60 days from the
date of receipt of order, for preferring an
appeal, and the first proviso to sub-
section 7 of Section 7 provides that the
limitation can be extended by another
sixty days. A conjoint reading of sub-
section 7 and its first proviso provides
maximum period of limitation 60+60
days i.e. 120 days.
6. Since the Appeal filed by petitioner
was beyond maximum period of 120
days, therefore, the same was not
maintainable.
2024:UHC:8147
7. Learned counsel for petitioner
submits that since Appeal was
accompanied by Delay Condonation
Application filed under Section 5 of
Limitation Act, therefore, the delay
ought to have been condoned.
8. Since the statute provides limitation
period of only 60 days, which can be
extended for another 60 days under
unavoidable circumstances, while,
petitioner filed Appeal much beyond the
period prescribed in sub-section 7 of
Section 7 of the Payment of Gratuity
Act, therefore, learned Appellate
Authority was justified in rejecting
petitioner's Appeal as not maintainable.
The provisions of Limitation Act are not
made applicable to Payment of Gratuity
Act.
9. Thus, the order passed by Appellate
Authority/ Labour Commissioner cannot
be faulted. Therefore, there is no scope
for interference with the orders
impugned while exercising supervisory
power under Article 227 of the
Constitution. The writ petitions fail and
are dismissed. No order as to costs.
(Manoj Kumar Tiwari, A.C.J.)
05.11.2024
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Date: 2024.11.07 16:37:36 +05'30'
