MANAGEMENT OF NILGIRI Vs. VANAJA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) COMMON Order: all the above Writ Petitions have been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to quash the Common Award of the Labour Court, Coimbatore dated 4. 6. 1996 respectively made in I. D. Nos. 130 to 133 of 1994.

(2.) ON a perusal of the materials placed on record and upon hearing the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned counsel for the first respondents in all the above writ petitions, it comes to be seen that the first respondents in all the above writ petitions were the employees of the petitioner Management and on ground that they have committed theft i. e. carrying of milk, ghee packets, butter and milk powder etc. , the petitioner Management has denied work for them by a oral order. Challenging the said order of denial of work, the workmen have raised Industrial Disputes before the Labour Court, Coimbatore in I. D. Nos. 130 to 133 of 1994 and the Labour Court would conduct a joint enquiry wherein on behalf of the Management, they would examine four witnesses for oral evidence as M. Ws. 1 to 4 and would mark 13 documents for documentary evidence as Exs. M. 1 to M. 13. On the contrary, on behalf of the first respondents herein, though no oral evidence has been adduced, seven documents would be marked for documentary evidence as Exs. W. 1 to W. 7.

(3.) IN consideration of the said oral and documentary evidence, the Labour Court having observed that the workmen have completed 480 days of work in two calendar years and termination of their services by the Management is against the provisions of Section 25 of the Industrial Disputes Act; that the enquiry was not conducted in the manner known to law and hence would hold that the termination of the workmen is void and would order reinstatement of the workmen without backwages but with continuity of service from the date of their termination i. e. 18. 5. 1993. It is only challenging the said Common Award of the Labour Court, the Management has come forward to file all the above writ petitions.