OLAVANNA KOLATHARA CHUNGAM Vs. MANAL KAYATTIRAKKU THOZHILALI UNION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant challenges the judgment of the learned Single Judge, which reversed the order of the appellate authority and confirmed that of the original authority. The dispute is between the workers licensed under the Kerala Protection of River Banks & Regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001 (hereinafter referred to as the "sand mining employees") and those licensed under the Kerala Headload Workers Act, 1978 (hereinafter referred to as the "headload workers"). The loading work, of the sand mined, in the area covered under the Scheme under the Kerala Headload Workers Act, 1978 (for brevity "Headload Workers Act"), is the disputed question. The appellant is representing the sand mining employees and the respondents 1 to 3 and 6 to 8 represent the headload workers.

(2.) There is no dispute that the workers who raised the conflicting claims are registered workers under two separate enactments. It is also not disputed that the mining of sand is to be carried out by the sand mining workers and the specified headload work, as indicated in the Headload Workers Act, in a scheme covered area, is to be carried out by the headload workers. Sand mining from rivers is conducted on country boats in which the mining workers go beyond the restricted limit as per the Kerala Protection of River Banks & Regulation of Removal of Sand Act, 2001 (for brevity "Sand Act") and mine sand from the river bed and collect it in the country boats. The sand mined from the river bed and collected in the country boats are brought to the bank, specifically to the ghats on the river bank. The work, till then, undisputedly is to be carried on by the sand mining workers.

(3.) The dispute is with respect to the loading of the sand, so mined, into the lorries of the purchasers. The sand mining workers maintained that even that is to be carried on by them, since the price fixed on the basis of the load per country boat or per lorry is their responsibility and it is for them to ensure that the sand is properly loaded to the lorries. However, since customarily the headload workers were also involved in that work, the practise followed was to permit the headload workers to fill the baskets with sand from the country boats and lift it on to the head of the sand mining workers, who carries it to the lorries and unload it on to the lorries. For the loading work, i.e., specifically from the country boats to the lorries, the workers share the wages on a 50-50 basis. The headload workers, however, maintained that there is no such customary practise and the sand mining workers have only the licence to carry on the sand mining work and the minute it reaches the banks of the river, like any other goods, it is their exclusive right to load it on to the lorries.