ARASU POKKUVARATHU THOZHILALAR SANGAM; STATE TRANSPORT EMPLOYEES UNION Vs. TAMILNADU STATE TRANSPORT CORPORATION; METROPOLITAN TRANSPORT CORPORATION LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In all these cases the common point involved is as to whether the respondent Transport Corporations can be directed not to give the facility of "On duty" to any workman and not to pay salary and other benefits to any workman without allocating or extracting work for the category to which they belong to. The further question is, as to whether the direction can be issued to the concerned Transport Corporations not to provide light duty or other duty to workman other than the medically declared invalid persons.

(2.) The petitioners are employees Union of various Transport Corporations, viz., Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Madurai Division I) Ltd., formerly Pandian Roadways Corporation and Metropolitan Transport Corporation Ltd., Pallavan Salai, Chennai 2.

(3.) According to the petitioner Unions, the respondent Corporation have fixed duties and responsibilities to the workmen based on their category. The scale of pay and other conditions of services are governed by tripartite settlement signed from time to time. The complaint of the petitioners Union is that the workman belonging to the Ruling party Union, viz., Anna Thozhilalar Sangam Peravai, shortly A.T.P. are extended with "On duty" facility and they are paid salaries and other benefits without assigning or extracting any work. These workmen even though are not doing any work, they are given attendance for all the 30 days in a month and without extracting work by obtaining their signatures in the concerned registers as if they have worked. The petitioners Union have also categorised so many persons, who have been receiving such extra and illegal privileges. According to the petitioners Union these are unfair and arbitrary facilities given against the public interest. The petitioners Union has made a demand that such facility should be withdrawn. The said practice is questioned in these writ petitions.