JYOTHY LABORATORIES LIMITED Vs. R.RAJENDIRAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two Writ Petitions are filed by the management, Jyothy Laboratories Limited, the second respondent before the Labour Court, challenging the award of the Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Puducherry, made in C.P.No.71 of 2013, dtd. 20/3/2018, and C.P.No.105 of 2014, dtd. 13/3/2019. In this judgment, the petitioner, Jyothy Laboratories Limited, is referred to as JLL. The first respondent before the Labour Court, i.e., the first respondent in W.P.No.21613 of 2019, Henkel India Limited, will be referred to as Henkel. The six workmen, R.Rajendiran, S.Devarajalu, V.Gurukumar, G.Agoramurthy, V.Jaganathan and S.Sarathirajan, who filed C.P.No.71 of 2013, and respondents 1 to 6 in W.P.No.29468 of 2018, shall be referred to as workmen Nos.1 to 6, respectively. T.Murugan, petitioner in C.P.No.105 of 2014 and second respondent in W.P.No.21613 of 2019, is referred to as workman No.7.

(2.) Workmen Nos.1 to 6 jointly filed C.P.No.71 of 2013, praying for computation of severance compensation and terminal benefits as per the settlement under Sec. 18(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, dtd. 28/7/2012, which was converted into a settlement under Sec. 12(3), dtd. 10/8/2012, and for directing the respondents, namely Henkel India Limited and Jyothy Laboratories Limited, to pay the amounts prayed for in respect of each of the petitioners. Workman No.7 filed C.P.No.105 of 2014 with the same prayer.

(3.) The case of the workmen is that they were appointed in various categories which fell within the definition of workmen during the year 1991-92 or thereafter, with Henkel at its Karaikal factory, and had been in regular service for about 20 years. Henkel, a multinational company, sold its assets, including the Karaikal factory, to JLL in the year 2011. However, JLL did not agree to any tripartite settlement, and after some litigation, Henkel entered into a settlement under Sec. 18(1) of the Act, which was later converted into a 12(3) settlement, under which it paid severance compensation to all the employees at the rate of 90 days' wages per year of service.