SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER Vs. PRESIDING OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The order of the Labour Court dated 08.07.2004 passed in C.P.No.623 of 2003, is under challenge in the present writ petition.

(2.) The writ petitioner is the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and filed the present writ petition on the ground that there is no pre-existing right in respect of benefit of ex-gratia payment. Ex-gratia payment does not fall under the terms and conditions of the 12(3) Settlement. This being the factum, an adjudication is mandatory. This apart, the contract labourers were engaged by the Private Contractors with whom the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board entered into an agreement. Thus, these contract labourers were not the direct employees of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and there was no employer-employee relationship existed in respect of these contract labourers. Thus the memo issued by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board cannot have direct implications in respect of payment of ex-gratia benefit to the contract labourers.

(3.) Ex-gratia payments were granted based on the request made by the Union. While extending the benefit of ex-gratia payment, certain conditions were imposed and paragraph-4 of the memo dated 13.12.1996 reads as under: