SELVINTH GNANESH JOSHUA Vs. LABOUR OFFICER - III

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has filed the above writ petition to issue a writ of mandamus directing the 1st respondent to commence conciliation proceedings forthwith in respect of an Industrial Dispute raised by the petitioner in connection with the order of termination of his service dated 22.12.2014 issued by the 2nd respondent and consequently direct the 2nd respondent to await the resolution of the said Industrial Dispute before giving effect to the said order of termination.

(2.) Heard Mr.V.Prakash, learned Senior counsel for the petitioner, Mr.V.Subbiah, learned Special Government Pleader for the 1st respondent and Mr.Yashod Varadhan, learned Senior Counsel for the 2nd respondent.

(3.) 1. It is the case of the petitioner that he joined the service of the respondent Company on 15.09.2005 on the basis of merit. He was designated as Assistant System Engineer. In the year 2007, he was promoted as IT Analyst. Thereafter, in 2011, he was promoted as Assistant Consultant. According to the petitioner, he is a workman within the meaning of Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), since his main duties and responsibilities are technical in nature. At present, according to the petitioner, his job involves receiving information from the respondent's Company's clients in relation to the software servers to be built and maintained, analysing the requirements and maintaining and building software servers as per the company's client's needs. Further, the petitioner had contended that the 2nd respondent Company is an Industry within the meaning of Section 2(j) of the Act. That apart, according to the petitioner, the 2nd respondent's industrial activity being to develop software and applications as per their clients' business requirements and to provide support and maintenance services as well.