IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P.No.1855 of 2010 Date of Decision:- 04.02.2010 Kulbhushan ....Petitioner(s) vs. The Presiding Officer and others ....Respondent(s) *** CORAM:- HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH *** Present:- Mr.R.K.Arya, Advocate, for the petitioner. *** AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. Challenge in the present petition is to the Award dated 10.8.2009 (Annexure P-5) passed by the Labour Court-cum-Industrial Tribunal, Gurdaspur, vide which the reference made by the appropriate Government has been answered against the petitioner-workman holding therein that it is a case of abandonment of job by the workman himself and as such, the order of termination is neither illegal nor unjustified and as a result thereof, the workman has not been held entitled to any benefits. Counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner had completed more than 240 days of service and his services have been terminated in violation of the provisions of Section 25-F of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). He further contends that the persons junior to him were retained in service and fresh appointments have also been made without giving the petitioner a chance to take appointment with the respondents and, thus, Sections 25-G and 25-H of the Act have also been violated. C.W.P.No.1855 of 2010 -2- I have heard counsel for the petitioner and gone through the records of the case as also the impugned order. A perusal of the Award would show that the services of the petitioner, as per the demand notice, were terminated in October, 1985 whereas the demand notice was served in the year 2005, i.e. after a period of 20 years, which is highly belated. There is no explanation whatsoever for the delay on the part of the workman. The learned Labour Court has duly considered all these aspects and has come to a conclusion that even if the evidence so brought on record is taken into consideration, the delay of more than 6 years is unexplained on behalf of the workman and, therefore, it is a stale claim. Counsel for the petitioner has not been able to satisfy this Court with regard to the unexplained delay on the part of the workman in approaching the respondents after a delay of 20 years of his termination. That apart, the muster rolls which have been placed on record by the respondents show the workman to have completed 116 days only. On appreciation of both oral and documentary evidence produced before the Labour Court, the Court has come to a conclusion that the workman has not been able to prove that he has completed more than 240 days in service in the 12 preceding months from the date of his termination which would confer a right on him in case there is violation of Section 25-F of the Act. The findings so recorded by the Labour Court are fully justified and based upon the evidence on record after its appreciation in the right perspective. As regards the violation of provisions of Sections 25-G and 25-H of the Act, the petitioner-workman has not been able to substantiate this contention as no evidence in accordance with law was produced by him before the Labour C.W.P.No.1855 of 2010 -3- Court which would support his contention in regard to violation of these provisions. The findings which have been recorded by the Labour Court with regard to abandonment of the job by the workman is based upon the conclusions drawn after appreciation of the evidence led by the parties. The delay in submission of the demand notice itself is a reasonable ground to come to a conclusion that the workman had abandoned the job as nothing has been placed on record which would suggest that after his termination, he took any steps to press his claim against the respondents, in case he had some grouse. The findings as recorded by the Labour Court are in accordance with law as they are based on proper appreciation of the evidence led by the parties. Accordingly, there is no merit in the present petition and the same is hereby dismissed. February 04, 2010 ( AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) poonam JUDGE