SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, TAMIL NADU ELECTRICITY BOARD (NOW KNOWN AS TAMIL NADU GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION CORPORATION LIMITED) Vs. PRESIDING OFFICER (FAC), ADDITIONAL LABOUR COURT, VELLORE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The order passed by the first respondent dated 09.12.2014 in C.P.No.253 of 2013 is under challenge in the present writ petition.

(2.) The writ petitioner is the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, filed the present writ petition on the ground that the claim petition was allowed based on the orders of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board issued in memo dated 13.12.1996. The benefit of ex-gratia payment granted to the contract labourers are not based on the settlement. Contrarily, the 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:

(3.) The learned counsel for the writ petitioner states that there is no pre-existing right in respect of the 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, the contract labourer was not the direct employee of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and there was no employer-employee relationship existed in respect of this contract labourer. Thus, the memo issued by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board cannot have direct implications in respect of the payment of ex-gratia benefit to the contract labourers.