C.W.P. No.7846 of 1989 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P. No.7846 of 1989 Date of Decision.21.03.2010 Balkar Singh and another ........Petitioners Versus Food Corporation of India through its Managing Director, 16-20 Barakhamba Lane, New Delhi and others ....Respondents Present: Mr. Subhash Ahuja, Advocate for the petitioners. None for the respondents. CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? No 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ? No 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? No -.- K. KANNAN J.(ORAL) 1. The petitioners seek for through a mandamus to treat the petitioners as employees of the Food Storage Depot of the Food Corporation of India. At the time when the writ petition was filed, the petitioners claimed that they had been employed through a contractor on contract which continued upto June, 1989. Their complaint was that the contractor kept changing the workmen under them and the contractor did not have valid registration certificate with the principal employer under relevant provisions of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970. The writ petition sought for an adjudication on an issue whether the petitioners could be deemed to be the employees of the principal C.W.P. No.7846 of 1989 -2- employer. Unless the principal employer himself had framed a policy of direct absorption, treating the employees through the contractors whose contract had not been registered as employees of the principal employer is not possible. There is no method by which the petitioners could obtain a positive direction in the nature of a mandamus to treat the petitioners as employees of the Food Corporation of India. 2. The petitioners cannot have a relief in the manner asked for and it is accordingly dismissed, subject however to any right that the petitioners may independently have by virtue of any policy of admitting employees of contractors as direct employees by any fresh contract. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE March 21, 2010 Pankaj*