STATE BANK OF INDIA Vs. D CHANDRASEKARAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed by the State Bank of India challenging the impugned award passed by the Presiding Officer, Central Government Labour Court, Chennai in C.P. No. 6 of 1998, dated 18.6.2003. The only short issue raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner in the present writ petition is that when the first respondent D. Chandrasekaran was dismissed from service of the petitioner Bank by the order dated 12.12.1982 and the said dismissal order was also upheld finally by the Industrial Tribunal in I.D. No. 7 of 1987, dated 23.5.1994, whether the Tribunal is legally right to postpone the order of dismissal dated 12.12.1982 giving effect to the same from the date of passing of the award namely, 23.5.1994 by virtue of which the petitioner employer is liable to pay the salary of the dismissed employee for a period of 16 years namely from 1978 to 1994?

(2.) The learned counsel for the petitioner has fairly submitted that though the earlier award passed by the Industrial Tribunal in I.D. No. 7 of 1987, dated 23.5.1994 has not been challenged, the subsequent Award passed by the Industrial Tribunal in I.D. No. 6 of 1998 holding that the first respondent is entitled to receive all the monetary benefits from the date of suspension till the date of award passed in I.D. No. 7 of 1987 has been challenged by the petitioner Bank, hence the illegality committed by the Tribunal is liable to be interfered with.

(3.) Firstly, the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the Industrial Tribunal has erred in passing the Award in I.D. No. 7 of 1987 by wrongly postponing the order of dismissal dated 11.12.1982 passed by the petitioner Bank to 23.5.1994, the date of passing of the Award. In C.P. No. 6 of 1998, the Industrial Tribunal again committed second error in spite of the fault committed in I.D. No. 7 of 1987, that the first respondent is entitled to receive all the monetary benefits from the date of suspension till the date of award passed in I.D. No. 7 of 1987. Hence, the petitioner Bank was constrained to treat the period namely, from the year 1978 till the date of passing of the award i.e., on 23.5.1994 as period of suspension and paid the subsistence allowance amounting to Rs. 2,13,385/- in three instalments.