PRADEEP KUMAR GUPTA Vs. P O LABOUR COURT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner-workman joined M/s Air France, respondent no.2, in the year 1964 in its Telecommunication Department as a Teleprinter Operator, which post fell in category PLC-2 under Clerical Staff category, and subsequently he was re-designated as Teleprinter Operator Assistant in 1969 after being put into PLC-3 category.

(2.) AFTER serving respondent no.2 almost two decades he was all of a sudden retrenched w.e.f. 25th February, 1983 on the ground that as a result of computerisation of the Telecommunication Department his services as a manual teleprinter operator became had become surplus. At that time the petitioner was offered money which according to respondent no.2 was payable to him as per Section 25-F of the Industrial Disputes Act,1947('the act of 1947' in short). The petitioner- workman protested against his retrenchment through the workers' Union of which he was a member since that retrenchment was brought about without serving him a notice under Section 9-A of the Act of 1947 and also because of breach of the provisions of Section 25-F, G and H of the said Act. However, since respondent no.2-management did not re-call his retrenchment order the matter was taken to the Labour Department of the Delhi Government where conciliation proceedings were held but failed. Thereafter the dispute about the termination of the services of the petitioner-workman, which he considered to be illegal, was referred for adjudication to the Labour Court on 6th august,1984.

(3.) THE Labour Court after examining the evidence adduced by the parties gave its Award holding that the petitioner-workman was legally retrenched and he was given due compensation as per Section 25-F of the Act of 1947. The relevant portions from the impugned award, where the Presiding Officer noted the pleas of the workman and the management and the conclusions arrived at are as under: -