(2011] 1 S.C.R. 587

RANBIR SINGH

THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER

(Civil'Appeal No. 5 of 2011)

JANUARY 3, 2011

[HARJIT SINGH BEDI AND CHANDRAMAULI KR.

PRASAD, JJ.]

Labour Law:

c Back wages - Award of Labour Court directing reinstatement of workman with 50% back wages - State Government filing writ petition challenging the part of the award granting back wages - Single Judge of the High Court setting aside the award in toto and directing compensation to 0 be paid to workman - Order affirmed by Division Bench of

-<: High Court - HELD: The order of the Single Judge as well as of the Division Bench was well beyond the scope of the prayers in the writ petition - If the State felt aggrieved by the Award of the Labour Court in toto, there was no impediment in its way to challenge it in its entirety - A party must be held E to be bound by its pleadings - A prayer clause cannot be construed or dubbed as a technicality - The orders of the

Single Judge as well as the Division Bench of the High Court are set aside and that of the Labour Court is restored to the

xtent of reinstatement - Since services of the workmen had F • ain been tenninatedin December, 2009, the back wages uld be payable to him only from January, 2010 onwards till

reinstatement as a consequence of the instant order - adings - Relief.

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 5 011.

From the Judgment & Order dated 21.10.2010 of the High

587 H

SUPREME COURT REPORTS

(2011) 1 S.C.R.

A Court of Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh in LPA No. 420 ot 2009 in WP No. 269 of 2009.

M.K. Bhardwaj, Priyanka Bhardwaj, R.C. Kaushik for the Appellant.

Manjit Singh, AAG. Tarjit Singh, Kamal Mohan Gupta, Gaurav Teotia, Sanjeev Kumar for the Respondent.

The following order of the Court was delivered

ORDER

1. Leave granted.

2. The appellant herein, a workman, was engaged on daily wages in the year 1992. His services were terminated in the D year 1999 on the ground that he had been involved in a criminal case. It is the conceded position that the criminal case has ended in his acquittal. The appellant also raised an industrial dispute alleging violation of Section 25(f) of. the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The matter was referred to the Labour E Court which held in favour of the appellant directing his reinstatement with fifty per cent back wages. The State of Haryana challenged the order of the Labour Cort exclusively on the plea that the award of back wages was not justified. The learned Single Judge, however, allowed the writ petition filed F by the State in toto and set side the Award of the Labour Court and instead awarded a compensation of Rs. 60,000/- to the appellant. The matter was thereafter taken before the Lette Patent Bench and it was argued that the challenge in the w petition had been limited to the award of back wages and G judgment of the Single Bench setting aside the Award in t.

was beyond the prayer. The Division Bench noticed t argument but nevertheless went on to hold that as the issue regard to the status of a daily wage employee was cover against the appellant by a string of judgments of this Court, technicality with regard to the prayer in the writ petition wou H

RANBIR SINGH v. EXECUTIVE ENGINEER 589

not stand in the way of the High Court making an order setting A aside the Award of the Labour Court. The Division Bench, accordingly, affirmed the order of the learned Single Judge. The appellant-workman is here before us in appeal.

3. Before us today, the learned counsel for the appellant B has argued that in the writ petition filed by the respondent-State challenging the Award of the Labour Court, the only plea was

>- against the grant of back wages and nothing more. In support of this submission, the learned counsel has drawn o.ur attention to the writ petition which has been appended with the paper c book. We find that the assertion of the learned counsel is correct. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the order of the Single Judge as well as of the D"ivision Bench was well beyond the scope of the prayers in the writ petition . If the State felt aggrieved by the Award of the Labour Court in toto there was D no impediment in its way to challenge it in its entirety. We feel

-~ that a party must be held.to be bound by its pleadings; a prayer clause cannot be construed or dubbed as a technicality. We .. are, therefore, of the opinion that the appeal deserves to succeed. We, accordingly, allow the appeal and set aside the orders of the Single Judge as well as the Division Bench and E restore the order of the Labour Court to the extent of reinstatement. We are also told by the learned counsel for the - appellant that the appellant had in fact been reinstated but after the order of tt:ie Division Bench his sel'Vices had again been terminated in December, 2009. We, accordingly, direct that the F back wages envisaged would be payable only from January 201 O onwards till his reinstatement as a consequence of this order.

4. The appellant will also have his costs which are G ..,.,. assessed at Rs. 5,000/-.

R.P.

Appeal allowed.