AIR INDIA LIMITED Vs. AIRPORT EMPLOYEES UNION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioner challenging the order dtd. 1/9/2015 passed by the Presiding Officer, Central Government Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court-II, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi (hereinafter referred to as „Tribunal") in LCA No. 10 of 2008, whereby the learned Tribunal dismissed the petitioner"s application assailing the maintainability of an application under Sec. 33C(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as „ID Act") filed by Respondent No.1, the Airport Employees Union.

(2.) The petitioner, Air India Limited (formerly Indian Airlines Limited), is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 and engaged in the business of carriage of passengers and cargo by air within India and abroad. For the purpose of its ground handling operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Terminal-II, New Delhi, the petitioner had entered into a contract dtd. 12/2/1996 with M/s. Neha International (hereinafter referred to as „Respondent No. 2") for providing services of loading and unloading of passenger baggage, as well as handling import and export cargo for various international and domestic flights.

(3.) The said contract, executed on a principal-to-principal basis, was extended from time to time and finally expired on 10/10/2002. During the subsistence of the contract, the loading and unloading work for these flights was performed exclusively by the contract labour engaged by Respondent No. 2, and no regular employees of the petitioner were deployed for such tasks.