Union Of India & Anr vs Kartick Chandra Mondal & Anr

3. The respondents herein, Shri K.C. Mondal and Shri S.K. Chakraborty, were engaged to work as casual labours in the office of the Ordnance Factory Board, Kolkata without going through the regular process of recruitment of their names being sponsored by the Employment Exchange, which was the extant policy at the relevant point of time. After their engagement as casual labours, they worked for two years with appellant no. 2, i.e., till 1983 and they were disengaged 2 from service in the month of April, 1983 on the ground that their names were not sponsored by the Employment Exchange.

7. The Tribunal, however, granted the prayer of the respondents on the ground that 10 other similarly placed casual workers of the Ordnance Factory Board were regularised w.e.f. 01.01.1987. It was held by the Tribunal that the aforesaid 10 employees were also casual workers and all of them were similarly situated as the respondents inasmuch as they also were not recruited through the Employment Exchange. Subsequently, the Tribunal held that the respondents could not claim regularisation of their service w.e.f. 1983 or 1985, but keeping in view the fact that they had served the Ordnance Factory Board from 1981 to 1983 with technical breaks, their cases deserved to be considered favourably for re-engagement as casual labours. In light of the aforesaid findings, the Tribunal issued a direction to the appellants to re-engage the respondents as casual labours if there was work/vacancy in 5 preference to freshers and those who rendered lesser length of service as casual labours.

8. The respondents, thereafter, making an allegation that despite the said order passed by the CAT the appellants did not pass any order in favour of the respondents filed a Contempt Application before the Tribunal which was disposed of by the Tribunal stating that since no time limit was stipulated in the order of the Tribunal, therefore, the appellants could not be held to have committed any contempt of Court. Since, even thereafter, no order was passed by the appellants to re-engage the respondents in terms of the order of the Tribunal, a Writ Petition was filed by the respondents before the High Court which was again disposed of by the High Court with a liberty to the respondents to approach the Tribunal in terms of which the respondents filed a fresh petition before the Tribunal which was registered as O.A. No. 903 of 2000. The said O.A. was heard and disposed of by the impugned judgment and order dated 11.03.2004 passed by the Tribunal with a direction to the appellants to absorb the respondents in any suitable 6 post commensurate with their qualifications. The appellants being aggrieved by the aforesaid judgment and order filed a Writ Petition in the Calcutta High Court which was registered as WPCT No. 517 of 2004 for setting aside and quashing the aforesaid order passed by the Tribunal. The Calcutta High Court heard the parties in the said Writ Petition and by its judgment and order dated 17.08.2005 dismissed the said Writ Petition holding that the directions of the Tribunal are justified and that there is no valid ground for interfering with the aforesaid directions given by the CAT. Being aggrieved by the said judgment and order, the present appeal has been filed by the appellants on which we have heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties.

18.In view of the aforesaid discussions and conclusions arrived at, we are of the considered opinion, that this appeal should be allowed, which we hereby do. We set aside the orders passed by the Tribunal as also by the High Court. There will be no order as to costs.

..................................J. [J.M. Panchal] ..................................... [Dr. Mukundakam Sharma] New Delhi, January 15, 2010.