ROMI SHARMA Vs. EIH LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This LPA has been filed against the judgment of a learned Single Judge dated 5.7.2004 by which he has disposed of three writ petitions being Writ Petition Nos. WP(C) Nos. 4361/1997, 2736/1998 and 3115/1998 by a common judgment.

(2.) The respondent No. 1 is a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act. It runs a hotel known as The Oberoi(tm) at Dr.Zakir Hussain Marg, New Delhi. The workmen concerned, D.S.Teja, L.K.Shandilya, Ram Charan and Rohit Sharma had been employed in the said hotel.

(3.) The appellants were members of the Hotel Oberoi Inter Continental Employees Union. The management was recognizing the Hotel Oberoi New Delhi Employees Union(tm) as the union of its workmen and had entered into a settlement with the said union. Hotel Oberoi Inter Continental Employees Union was not recognizing the said settlement as it claimed that Hotel Oberoi New Delhi Employees Union was a stooge union of the management. This resulted in unrest and the management obtained an injunction against Hotel Oberoi Inter Continental Employees Union and its office bearers from holding dharnas within the hotel premises or in a manner which obstructed ingress and egress to the hotel premises. The management received two reports that firstly at 12.15 PM on 30.5.1994 the appellants concerned and a few others unauthorisedly entered one of the restaurants in the hotel namely Baan Thai Restaurant. They assaulted the restaurant manager Mr.Javed I.Baig who was abused verbally and physically thrown out of the restaurant. The cause of the assault was allegedly that he had marked one Mr.David Sherpa, a steward, as being absent on 29.5.1994.