Case: Parimal Chandra Raha & Ors Vs. Life Insurance Corporation Of India & Ors


Decision:
1[ds]The relief of minimum wages paid to the other regular employees of the Corporation on the basis of the principle of equal pay for equal work is thus claimed on the ground that they are also the regular employees of the Corporation. Thus, the relief claimed includes in it the basis of the relief, viz., their status as the regular employees of the Corporation. It is necessary to restate here the law regarding the interpretation of the pleadings. They have to be read as a whole and construed accordingly. Thus construed, the relief claimed leaves no doubt that it is based on the claim for the status of the regular employees of the Corporation. We therefore, find no substance in the preliminary objection.In the face of the aforesaid facts, it is difficult to support the findings of the Division Bench that (a) the canteen is being run by a committee orcooperative society of thestaff members of the Corporation (b) the Corporation only agreed to provide space to house the canteen and certain chairs and tables for the use of its staff members, (c) an independent contractor has been appointed to run the canteen (d) and since no letter of appointment has ever bene issued by the Corporation and no attendance register is maintained and the salary of the canteen workers is being paid by the independent contractor and not from the funds of the Corporation, there is no employer and employee relationship between the Corporation and the appellants.31. The facts on record on the other hand, show in unmistakable terms that canteen services have been provided to the employees of the Corporation for a long time and it is the Corporation which has been from time to time, taking steps to provide the said services. The canteen committees, thecooperative society of theemployees and the contractors have only been acting for and on behalf of the Corporation and its agencies to provide the said services. The Corporation has been taking active interest even in organising the canteen committees. It is further the Corporation which has bene appointing the contractors to run the canteens and entering into agreements with them for the purpose. The terms of the contract further show that they are in the nature of directions to the contractor about the manner in which the canteen should be run and the canteen services should be rendered to the employees. Both the appointment of the contractor and the tenure of the contract is as per the stipulations made by the Corporation in the agreement. Even the prices of the items served the place where they should be cooked, the hours during which and the place where they should be served, are dictated by the Corporation. The Corporation has also reserved the right to modify the terms of the contract unilaterally and the contractor has no say in the matter. Further, the record shows that almost all the workers of the canteen like the appellants have been working in the canteen continuously for a long time whatever the mechanism employed by the Corporation to supervise and control the working of the canteen. Although the supervising and managing body of the canteen has changed hands from time to time, the workers have remained constant. This is apart from the fact that the infrastructure for running the canteen, viz., the premises, furniture, electricity, water etc. is supplied by the Corporation to the managing agency for running the canteen. Further, it cannot be disputed that the canteen service is essential for the efficient working of the employees and of the offices of the Corporation. In fact, by controlling the hours during which the counter and floor service will be made available to the employees by the canteen, the Corporation has also tried to avoid the waste of time which would otherwise be the result if the employees have to go outside the offices in search of such services. The service is available to all the employees in the premise of the office itself and continuously since inception of the Corporation, as pointed out earlier. The employees of the Corporation have all along been making the complaints about the poor or inadequate service rendered by the canteen to them, only to the Corporation and the Corporation has been taking steps to remedy the defects in the canteen service. Further, whenever there was a temporary breakdown in the canteen service, on account of the agitation or of strike by the canteen workers, it is the Corporation which has been taking active interest in getting the dispute resolved and the canteen workers have also looked upon the Corporation as their real employer and joined it as a party of the industrial dispute raised by them. In the circumstances, we are of the view that the canteen has become a part of the establishment of the Corporation. The canteen committees, thecooperative society of theemployees and the contractors engaged from tie to time are in reality the agencies of the Corporation and are, only a veil between the Corporation and the canteen workers. We have, therefore, no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the canteen workers are in fact the employees of theview of our finding that the appellants who are the canteen workers in the four offices of the Corporation in Calcutta are entitled to be the employees of the Corporation, the appellants are certainly entitled to the first relief they have claimed. The question however, is to what service conditions they would be entitled. They have prayed for the minimum salary paid to the employees of the Corporation which necessarily means the minimum salary of the lowest paid employees of the Corporation, i.e., of class IV employees. There would be no difficulty in directing the payment to them of the minimum of the salary paid to the Class IV employees of the Corporation. However, there his distinction between and present service conditions of the appellants and the other Class IV employees of the Corporation. For example, the appellants get free food, and free tea. Their hours of service may also differ. There are also different categories of canteen workers such as General Manager, CanteenKitchen Clerk, Canteen clerk, Halwai, Assistant Halwai, Cook, Bearer,Sweeper etc. It is not possible for the Court to evaluate the work done by each of the categories. Hence different service conditions will have to be prescribed for the different appellants. The Corporation may have, therefore, to prescribe appropriate service conditions for the canteen workers.33. Pending the prescription of such service conditions, the Corporation should pay to all the appellants the minimum of the salary presently paid to its Class IV employees taking into consideration and making allowance for the special facilities, if any, available to them and also their special working conditions. In addition, the Corporation should also give them the benefit of the other service conditions available to its Class IVinto consideration the relevant facts and circumstances on record we are of the view that they should be deemed to have become the regular employees of the Corporation from the date of the filing of the writ petition before the High Court and should, therefore, be paid the arrears of salary and other monetary benefits, if any, from the said date after adjusting the salary and monetary benefits that they may have received. The years of continuous service put in by them even prior to the aforesaid date as canteen workers should, however, be taken into account for the purpose of calculating their retiral benefits.35. We, however, make it clear that the above direction to treat the appellants as the regular employees of the Corporation will be subject to two conditions, viz., (a) that they were above the minimum and below the maximum age limit and medically fit as per] the regulations of the Corporation on the date of the filing of the writ petition and (b) that on the date of the filing of the writ petition before the High Court, they had put in a minimum of three years continuous service as canteen workers in the canteens in question. For the purposes of calculating the said three years qualifying service and the retiral benefits, the service prior to the attainment of the minimum qualifying are under the Corporations regulations shall be ignored.