THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.9414 OF 2000 DATED 22nd JULY, 2010 BETWEEN APSRTC rep. by its Deputy Traffic Managar (Urban), RTC Complex, Visakhapatnam, And another. … Petitioners And L.Thirupathi Rao … Respondent THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.9414 OF 2000 O R D E R The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) challenges the Award dated 26.10.1999 passed by the Industrial Tribunal- cum-Labour Court, Visakhapatnam, in I.D.No.62 of 1999. The said dispute was raised by the deceased first respondent- Conductor assailing his termination from service on 20.09.1998. The charge against the first respondent was that he had produced a fake School Certificate. The appeal filed by the first respondent also met with failure. He therefore invoked the jurisdiction of the Labour Court under Section 2-A(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (for brevity, ‘the Act of 1947’). The Labour Court, having considered the matter held that no reasons were made out for removing the first respondent from service and accordingly directed his reinstatement in service with back wages and continuity of service. Aggrieved thereby, the APSRTC filed the present writ petition. During the pendency of the writ petition, the first respondent expired and his legal representatives, being the widow and son, came on record as respondents 2 and 3. It may be noticed that though the Award of the Labour Court was suspended in the first instance by an order of this Court dated 07.06.2000, the same was modified thereafter, restricting it only to the payment of back wages, by the subsequent order dated 01.08.2001. Accordingly, the first respondent was reinstated in service prior to his demise. The issue that remains presently is only with regard to his entitlement of back wages for the period that he remained out of service. The record reflects that the first respondent was removed from service on 10.09.1998 and according to the learned Standing Counsel for the APSRTC, he was reinstated on 14.02.2000. No doubt the Award of the Labour Court is silent in so far as the reasons for awarding back wages are concerned. The Supreme Court in J.K. SYNTHETICS LTD. V/s. K.P.AGRAWAL[1] laid down the law that payment of back wages is not an automatic incident of a direction of reinstatement and that the Labour Court must apply its mind to the various relevant aspects before deciding the entitlement of the workman to back wages for the period that he remained out of service. The Award in question is woefully lacking in this regard. However, keeping in mind the short duration that the first respondent remained out of service, the fact that he is no more and his dependants, being his widow and son, are agitating this issue, the interest of justice would be sufficiently served by restricting the entitlement of the first respondent to 50% of the back wages payable for the period that he remained out of service. The Award under challenge is accordingly modified to this extent and shall stand confirmed in all other respects. The Writ Petition is therefore allowed in part to the extent indicated above. No order as to costs. -------------------------- SANJAY KUMAR,J 22ND JULY, 2010 PGS/VGSR [1] (2007) 2 SCC 433