PREEN NARAIN Vs. ASST. PERSONNEL OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By means of this petition, the petitioners who were monthly rated casual labour working in the Transhipment Shed and Parcel office, Central Railway, Jhansi under the Senior Divisional Commercial Superintendent, Jhansi, Challenge the orders terminating their services. Prior to the filing of this petition, the Union sponsored the cause of 160 monthly rates casual labour including the petitioner before the Assistant Labour Commissioner (Central) Agra. Before the Assistant Labour Commissioner, the respondents No.1 and 2 agreed to take back those monthly rated casual labour who had put in continuous service of 800 days and for the rest who have rendered less than 800 days of continuous service and more than one year's service were offered work on daily wages basis besides payment of retrenchment compensation. The petitioners claim that they never authorised their representative to enter into any such compromise.

(2.) The learned counsel for the petitioners contended that the orders terminating the services of the petitioners are in fact orders of retrenchment and since pre-conditions for valid retrenchment had not been complied with, the orders of termination are bad.

(3.) We are not inclined to undertake the exercise for finding out as to whether the order of termination is retrenchment as this matter stands concluded by decisions of Supreme Court in the cases of State Bank of India Vs. N. Sundra Money , (1) The Hindustan Steel Ltd. Vs. The Presiding officer Labour Court, Orissa . (2) Santosh Gupta Vs. State Bank of Patiala (3) Delhi Cloth and General Mills Ltd. Vs. Shambhu Nath Mukherji , (4) and L. Robert Disouza Vs. The Executive Engineer, Southern Railway , (5). In these cases the Supreme Court repeatedly held that if the termination of services of a workman is brought to an end for any reasons whatsoever, it would be retrenchment except if the case falls within any of the excepted categories i.e. (i) termination by way of punishment inflicted pursuant to the disciplinary action, (ii) voluntary retirement of workmen, (iii) retirement of workmen on reaching the age of superannuation if the contract of employment between the employer and workman concerned contains a stipulation n that behalf and (iv) termination of service of a workman on the ground of ill health and once the case does not come in any of the categories termination of service would be retrenchment within the meaning of the expression under Sec. 2 (00) of the Industrial Disputes Act.