IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S.SIRI JAGAN TUESDAY, THE 19TH AUGUST 2008 / 28TH SRAVANA 1930 WP(C).No. 24965 of 2008(V) ------------------------------------ ID.52/2004 of INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL, ALAPPUZHA .................... PETITIONER: ------------------- S.RAMAKANTHA PRABHU, HOUSE NO.10/360, VISALAKSHI PARAMBU, AMARAVATHY, KOCHI-1. BY ADV. SRI.A.JAYASANKAR SRI.MANU GOVIND SRI.PRAMOD DAS LOHYA RESPONDENTS: ------------------------ 1. THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL, ALAPPUZHA. 2. COCHIN THIRUMALA DEVASWOM COMMITTEE, GOSRIPURAM, KOCHI-2, REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT. BY GOVERNMENT PLEADER SRI. I.V.PREMOD THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 19/08/2008, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: S.SIRI JAGAN, J ================== W.P(C)No.24965 of 2008 ================== Dated this the 19th day of August, 2008. J U D G M E N T The petitioner is a workman involved in I.D. No. 52/2004 before the Industrial Tribunal, Alappuzha. He is challenging Ext.P2 award passed by the Tribunal in that I.D., whereby his termination from service by the 2nd respondent was upheld. The issue referred for adjudication was: “Whether the termination of the service of Shri. S.Ramakantha Prabhu, by the Management of Cochin Thirumala Devaswam Committee, Gosripuram, Kochi-2 can be justified or not? If not what remedies are the worker entitled to get”. 2. The termination was on allegations of misconduct. But the same was not preceded by a domestic enquiry. The management sought permission to adduce evidence to prove the misconducts alleged against the petitioner - workman. The same was allowed and the Tribunal, after considering the evidence adduced by the Management before him, came to the conclusion that the misconducts alleged against the petitioner was properly proved by the management. Considering gravity of the misconducts proved against the workman, the Tribunal came to the conclusion that the termination of service was W.P(C)No.24965 of 2008 - 2 - proper and the workman is not entitled to any relief in the I.D. That award is under challenge before me. 3. The petitioner challenges the award on the ground of insufficiency of evidence to prove the misconduct. According to the petitioner, the very fact that no enquiry was conducted, would go a long way in proving that the charges were concocted. He further submitted that no charge sheet was issued to him. Without a charge sheet even before the Tribunal, no evidence could have been adduced to prove the alleged misconduct is the contention raised. Without even a memo of charges the Tribunal has allowed the management to adduce evidence in respect of new charges levelled against the workman, which is illegal and unsustainable, is the contention raised. 4. I have heard the contentions of the petitioner. The allegations against the petitioner was that he allowed foreigners who were non-Hindus to enter the temple premises and also molested the foreign lady. The management proved the same by examining the autorickshaw driver who dropped the foreigners to the temple who categorically deposed to the effect that the foreign lady, whom the petitioner took inside W.P(C)No.24965 of 2008 - 3 - the temple came out the temple in an angry mood saying that the petitioner is a bad man. It was also proved by evidence that the foreign lady took the trouble of going to a member of the Devaswom committe to file a compliant in which the autorickshaw driver also signed. That complaint was also proved in evidence. It is considering these and other evidence that the Tribunal came to the conclusion that the allegation against the petitioner was sufficiently proved. I do not find any perversity whatsoever in those findings. Regarding the contention that no charge sheet was issued to the petitioner, I am satisfied that Ext.P1 memo which admittedly was received by the petitioner contains the charges on which evidence was led before the Tribunal. That being so, I do not find any merit in the contentions in the writ petition and accordingly, the same is dismissed. S.SIRI JAGAN, JUDGE rhs