RAVI KUMAR Vs. LOK NAYAK HOSPITAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present batch of writ petitions assail separate but identical Awards passed by the learned Labour Court whereunder the petitioners' claims for reinstatement were rejected on the ground that they had not been able to prove that they were employees of the respondent hospital.

(2.) The respondent Hospital had, from time to time, engaged the petitioners to the post of Safai Karamchari on a daily wage basis through different contractors, though for some short periods the petitioners were also paid their wages directly by the respondent. The petitioners, who were working in this capacity for the last many years, were aggrieved when the contractor presently engaged by the respondent/Hospital, namely, M/s. Sulabh International, on 20.09.2017 refused to permit them to continue serving at the hospital. Consequently, the petitioners raised a common industrial dispute alleging inter alia that the respondent, despite needing their services on a regular basis, had been deliberately engaging them through different contractors. They claimed that the respondent was resorting to such a practice of engaging the petitioners through a contractor solely with the intent to deprive them of their statutory dues, including ESI and provident fund contributions.

(3.) The claim of the petitioners was vehemently opposed by the respondent in its reply before the Labour Court. The respondent contended that the petitioners were employees of the contractor and the respondent had no relationship whatsoever with them.