RAJULA NAGARPALIKA Vs. BHAGUBHAI AAPABHAI DHANDHAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Both the present Special Civil Applications raise common questions of law and facts and therefore, both of them are being disposed of by the present common judgment.

(2.) In both the Special Civil Applications, the petitioner - Rajula Nagarpalika has prayed to quash and set aside the awards of the learned Labour Court, Amreli passed in Reference (LCA) Nos.65 of 2000 dtd. 9/3/2009 and 41 of 2001 dtd. 20/4/2009.

(3.) It is the case of the petitioner Nagarpalika that the respondent workmen were engaged as Rojmadar Ward Peon w.e.f. 3/2/1998. The respondent workmen left their services on their own accord and thereafter, references i.e. Reference (LCA) Nos.65 of 2000 and 41 of 2001 came to be filed by the respondent workmen in the learned Labour Court, Amreli. That the said references came to be decided ex-parte against the petitioner Nagarpalika. The petitioner Nagarpalika, thereafter, preferred Misc. Civil Application Nos.3 of 2005 and 2 of 2005 for setting aside the ex-parte awards which came to be dismissed by the learned Labour Court, Amreli. Thereafter, the petitioner Nagarpalika preferred Special Civil Application Nos.10255 of 2007 and 8198 of 2007 in this Court which came to be allowed and the ex-parte awards came to be quashed and set aside remanding the case back to the learned Labour Court, Amreli to dispose of the references on merits at the earliest after hearing both the parties. It was also directed by this Court, pending the adjudication of the references, the petitioner Nagarpalika shall pay Rs.51,051.00 and Rs.52,055.00 to the concerned workmen towards wages under Sec. 17(B) of the Industrial Disputes Act [" ID Act " short].