VASAPU L. KUMAR Vs. ONGC FIELD OPERATORS UNION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Aggrieved by a common order passed by the learned Judge directing the management of ONGC to regularize the services of persons, who had completed 240 days of service in a period of 12 months, after their appointments on tenure basis in the year 2008, together with notional benefits, the management of ONGC has come up with 24 writ appeals. The 25th writ appeal (W.A.No.285/2017) is filed by an individual, who applied for appointment to a post in ONGC, pursuant to the recruitment notification issued in September, 2014. His dream is that if hundreds of workers are deprived of the benefit of regularization, he will get appointment. Apart from these 25 writ appeals, there are 4 writ petitions, which were left out of the batch of cases disposed of by the learned Judge and hence they are also tagged along with the writ appeals.

(2.) Heard Mr. B. Adinarayana Rao, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant/management in 24 writ appeals Mr. K.R.K.V. Prasad, learned Counsel appearing for the appellant in one writ appeal and Mr. C.V. Mohan Reddy, learned Senior Counsel, Mr. Vedula Venkata Ramana, learned Senior Counsel and Mr. A. Satyaprasad, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the respondents. We have also heard Mr. Dasari S.V.V.S.V. Prasad and Mr. Rama Mohan Palanki, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners in the writ petitions.

(3.) The respondents in the writ appeals, filed by the management, were originally engaged as Field Operators through private contractors on contract basis from the year 1994/1995 or so. Raising certain demands on behalf of these contract labourers, the ONGC Contract Workers Union served a strike notice on 06-11- 1996. Subsequently, three more strike notices were issued on 16-07-1997, 03-10-1997 and 20-10-1997, demanding the recognition of the contract workers as the employees of the ONGC.