CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.574 OF 2011 :{ 1 }: IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH DATE OF DECISION: JANUARY 13, 2011 Girish Chandra Mahto and others .....Petitioners VERSUS Food Corporation of India, New Delhi and others ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RANJIT SINGH 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgement? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? PRESENT: Mr. Ashwani Bakshi, Advocate, for the petitioners. **** RANJIT SINGH, J. This is yet another attempt to re-open the issue of inter- se seniority of the workers working with FCI at Karnal for the purpose of their departmentalization. Despite recommendation of various Committees and issue having been dealt with by this Court in writ petition, which is upheld by Division Bench, the petitioners are making yet another attempt to re-start the litigation afresh. Various Committees were formed by respondent-FCI to CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.574 OF 2011 :{ 2 }: identify the workers working in its Depot at Karnal through various Contractors for their absorption in the services of the Corporation pursuant to abolition of contract labour system. 250 workers were to be so absorbed but the claimants were large in number, who may have worked for different spells with long gaps during the relevant period. Different Committees at various stages were accordingly formed and they gave reports, which are annexed with the petition as Annexures P-1 to P-3, P-7 and P-8. The petitioners appear to have been departmentalized in the year 1994 on the basis of report, Annexure P-7. This was challenged before this Court through Civil Writ Petition No.11647 of 1994. This writ petition came to be disposed of with certain directions on 8.1.2009. Copy of the order is at Annexure P-9. Having made reference to the entire background and the earlier order passed by this Court and noticing the different submissions made, learned Single Judge of this Court appointed Sh.R.P.Bajaj, District and Sessions Judge (Retd.) as one man Committee to examine all the relevant record produced before Chopra Committee and the report of Ranga Committee in the light of direction issued by this Court in its order dated 21.9.1993 and 4.2.1994 and then to re-determine the seniority of the workers, who were working at FCI, Karnal Depot. The Committee was given four months time to complete the exercise and appropriate steps were to be taken pursuant to the seniority so fixed within one month thereafter. The respondent-Corporation impugned this order passed CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.574 OF 2011 :{ 3 }: by filing LPA No.249 of 2009. The LPA Bench took notice of the flaws noticed by the Single Judge while setting-aside the report given by Ranga Committee and thereafter did not interfere in the order by observing that R.P.Bajaj, while considering the representations, would take into account the Dalela, Chopra and Ranga Committees reports. The Bajaj Committee has, thus, now given its report. The present writ petition, therefore, as been filed to challenge the findings given by the Bajaj Committee. The main submission, as made, is that Bajaj Committee has gone outside the purview of direction issued by Single Judge and had not taken into consideration the reports of all the Committees, as per direction given in the order as well as by the LPA Bench. I am unable to accept the submission made by learned counsel for the petitioners. The Bajaj Committee report, which is annexed with the petition as Annexure P-7, is comprehensive, giving history of the issues involved and various Committees that had earlier gone into to examine the issue. Reference is made to the reports of Dalela Committee, Chopra Committee and the Ranga Committee as well and thereafter it is concluded that in depth study of reports of all the four Committees set up by the Food Corporation of India to determine seniority, the Chopra Committee report is found unblemished. This report was found to be well reasoned and to be in conformity with the parameters laid down in the F.C.I circulars issued in the year 1991. The finding also is that this will lessen the agony of those persons who were deprived of the benefit of seniority as given CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.574 OF 2011 :{ 4 }: by Chopra Committee report due to undue benefit given on the basis of Ranga Committee report, which had been quashed. It, thus, can not be said that Bajaj Committee has in any manner gone outside the purview or parameters laid down by learned Single Judge of this Court. Once after detailed analysis, the Bajaj Committee has come to conclude that Chopra Committee has reached the correct conclusion, then it can be observed that mode and method adopted by the Bajaj Committee was fair, just and equitable and would not suffer from any infirmity as urged by counsel for the petitioners. The fact that some evidence regarding gate register was not produced before the Bajaj Committee would also not mean much as same registers were not found available but the names of those employees, reflected in these registers were taken from Chopra Committee report before which these registers had been earlier produced. It can not, therefore, be said that the Bajaj Committee report would be bad on the ground that relevant material was not considered and that it would call for interference in exercise of writ jurisdiction by this Court. The submission that the matter be referred to the Labour Court for determination would be too late in a day to accept and such submission, if any, ought to have been made before the Single Judge or the LPA Bench, where this plea was never raised. The order passed by the learned Single Judge in CWP No.11647 of 1994 and that passed by the LPA Bench was allowed to acquire finality and was not put to any challenge, can not be allowed to be now challenged in under hand manner by challenging the report of Bajaj CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.574 OF 2011 :{ 5 }: Committee with a prayer to refer the matter for examination by Labour Court. There is, thus, no merit in the writ petition and the same is accordingly dismissed. January 13, 2011 ( RANJIT SINGH ) khurmi JUDGE