THE KPTCL VIDYUT VITARANA GUTTIGE KARMIKAR SANGHA, THROUGH ITS PRESIDENT, AFFILIATED TO AIUTUC AND AISF RAGHAVENDRA NILAYA, NEAR GANESH KATTA GANGA NIVAS, RAICHUR Vs. KARNATAKA POWER TRANSMISSION CORPORATION LTD., KAVERI BHAVAN, BENGALURU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition is filed by the KPTCL Vidyut Vitarana Guttige Karmikar Sangha, through its President seeking the following reliefs;

(2.) The contention urged by the petitioner is that since 1999 first respondent used to utilize the services of Operators, Helpers/Junior Linemen etc., without making any permanent appointment by adopting the modus operandi to appoint them as contract employees without there being any contract or in the name of fictitious contractor. In this regard it is alleged that, first respondent-Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited resorted to create documents by inviting tenders for supply of work force for the posts of Helpers/Junior Linemen, Operators etc., and the said tenders used to be for a period of one year. According to the assertion made by the petitioner, members of the petitioner-union have been orally appointed by the respective Executive Engineers on different dates as per Annexure-A list produced along with the writ petition. It is urged that since the date of their respective appointments, they have been working sincerely under the direct control and supervision of officers of the second respondent. It is further urged that though they were directly under the control and supervision of the officers of the respondent company, they were characterized as contract employees and monthly wages were paid by the respondents in the name of alleged contractor. Petitioner claimed to have made several representations addressed to the respondent-company seeking regularisation of their service. When the request was not acceded to, they claim to have raised an industrial dispute before the Assistant Labour Commissioner and Conciliation Officer. Kalaburagi on 11.02.2016 vide Annexure-A and during the pendency of said conciliation proceedings, the respondents have issued notification as per Annexure-C dated 29.03.2016 calling for applications to fill up several posts including posts of Operator and Helpers/Junior Linemen thereby defeating the rights of the employees/members of the petitioner union and rendering the proceeding pending before the Conciliator virtually nugatory. In this background, petitioner-union has approached this Court seeking aforementioned reliefs for regularisation of the services of the employees from the date of their respective entry into service. They have also sought for an alternative relief of writ of mandamus directing respondents not to appoint any other persons to the posts in which the members of the petitioner-union have been working under the respondent-Company until the dispute raised was adjudicated by the Labour Court or Industrial Tribunal as the case may be.

(3.) Learned counsel appearing for respondents-2 and 3 at the outset submitted that in respect of similarly placed persons who were discharging similar duties attached to the post of Shift Junior Engineers, Assistant Engineers, Shift Operators and Shift Helpers whose services were availed through contractors by calling for tenders, relief of regularisation sought by them by approaching the High Court of Karnataka, Dharwad Bench in WP Nos. 101732-938 of 2015 was examined and by a detailed order passed on 15th March 2016, the High Court has rejected the prayer made for regularisation of the petitioners therein. A direction has been issued to the respondent-KPTCL to formulate a scheme providing relaxation in age to the petitioners therein and provide them an opportunity in terms of the said Scheme and the Rules regulating recruitment p icipate in the process of selection and recruitment. A further direction has been issued to the respondent-Corporation that the Scheme to be framed regarding age relaxation shall take info account length of service rendered by them in different posts for which they might be eligible to apply. In addition, another direction has been issued to the State Government to consider the representations of Helpers for abolition of contract labour as expeditiously as possible, at any rate, within three months from the date of receipt of a copy of the order.