KHAZAN SINGH Vs. DTC

JUDGEMENT

(1.) There appears, on the face of it, to be so much vacillation, in the stance of the petitioner in the present case from time to time, that it would probably be best to "start at the beginning, and, when we come to the end, stop" - to borrow the timely advice of the Mad Hatter to Alice.

(2.) This writ petition is directed against an Award, dated 27 th June 2003, of the learned Industrial Tribunal, Karkardooma (hereinafter referred to as "the learned Tribunal"). Inasmuch as the other applicants, before the learned Tribunal, have not chosen to challenge the impugned Award, the recital of facts hereinafter, shall be limited to the case of the petitioner. The petitioner was one of four Draftsmen, employed by the respondent-Corporation, who initialized the industrial dispute wherefrom the present proceedings emanate. There is, however, considerable road to be covered, before we reach the stage of such initialization.

(3.) The story, in a way, starts with the agitation, by Draftsmen, in the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), for enhancement/upward revision in the scales of pay being drawn by them. The matter was referred, by the Ministry of Labour, to a 3- member Board of Arbitration (hereinafter referred to as "the Arbitral Board"), headed by a learned retired Judge of the Supreme Court, Honble Jaswant Singh, J. It is not necessary to allude to the details of the Award, dated 20th June 1980 (hereinafter referred to as "the Arbitral Award"), which came to be delivered by the Arbitral Board; suffice it to state that the operative portion, thereof, read thus: "Having given its careful consideration to the whole of the material on the record and having examined the merits of the case presented both by the Official and Staff Sites, in the light of the entire material and the arguments advanced by the aforesaid representatives of both sides and having taken into account all other relevant factors, including the special features of the case, the Board gives the following Award: -