KANDLA PORT WORKERS UNION Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner " Kandla Port Workers' Union has filed this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for declaration that the action of the respondents of not including the names of 306 employees in the impugned order at Annexure A passed by the Under Secretary to the Govt. of India, Ministry of Food, Department of Food Procurement and Distribution, New Delhi is void and inoperative. The petitioner has also sought for the direction to the Govt. of India to issue appropriate order clarifying that all the 321 employees (including all employees listed in Annexure C) as having been transferred to Food Corporation of India under Section 12A of the Food Corporation Act, 1964 with effect from 01.01.1973.

(2.) It is the case of the petitioner union that the petitioner union was representing workers employed under the Kandla Port Trust. The members of the petitioner union include those employees who were upto 1973 working in the Vacuvator division of the Kandla Port Trust and taken over by the Food Corporation of India with effect from 01.01.1973. It is also the case of the petitioner that initially, the work of loading and unloading foodgrains at Kandla Port was undertaken departmentally by the Govt. of India. In 1965, the aforesaid work was transferred to Kandla Port Trust which is a body set up under the Kandla Port Trust Act, 1963. An agreement was executed between the Government of India on the one hand and the Trustees of the Port of Kandla on the other hand on 08.04.1965 on the question of loading and unloading of foodgrains at Kandla. It was stated in the said agreement that the Board of Kandla Port Trust was willing to act as an Agent of the Government for the purpose of assembly, operation and maintainance of wheat discharging machines (Wit Vacuvators) on behalf of the Government of India in connection with discharge of foodgrains, on vessels arriving at Kandla as and when required by the Government with machines and equipments provided by the Government. It was agreed that the Government of India shall, for the purposes of the aforesaid work supply to the Board 25 Vacuvators of DK-168 type and all ancillary equipments. It was further agreed that the Board on behalf of the Port Trust shall be responsible for the operation and maintainance of the machines with a view to obtaining the best possible performance. Therefore, for that purpose, the Board would provide adequate number of staff employed for the various stages of operation and of maintainance. It was also agreed that for the purpose of reconciliation of expenditure, the Board shall submit monthly statement together with account of all expenditure in such form and detail. It was further agreed that on conclusion of termination of the agreement, the Board of the Port Trust shall return all the machineries, equipments, and spare parts given to the Board by the Government or purchased by the Board on behalf of the Government in good condition. It was further agreed that the Government shall, at the conclusion or termination of this agreement also take over the staff engaged by the Board for working this agreement.

(3.) The arrangement namely the loading and unloading work carried out by Kandla Port Trust as an Agent of the Government of India continued upto the end of 1972. With effect from 01.01.1973, the aforesaid work was transferred to the Food Corporation of India, a Statutory Corporation set up under the Food Corporation of India Act, 1964. As a result thereof, the employees who were working in Vacuvator Division of the Kandla Port Trust were taken over by the Food Corporation of India. On 18.09.1973, an office order was issued by FCI in this context on the question of taking over of the employees of the Kandla Port Trust who were working in the Vacuvator Division. The order provided inter alia that the required employees of the Vacuvator Division of the Kandla Port Trust were taken over as confirmed in the appropriate post indicated against each and would be subject to service conditions of the provisions of the Act and Regulation. The staff was thus taken over with effect from 01.01.1973. Several other provisions concerning service conditions of the staff who were taken over were also contained therein. The said office order was accompanied by a statement showing the names of employees of the Kandla Port Trust Vacuvator Division taken over by FCI as on 01.01.1973. The said statement contained names of 318 employees. The names of 3 employees taken over along with the employees mentioned in the said statement were subsequently added by FCI.