NIRPAT LAL BAGHEL Vs. HINDUSTAN COPPER LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition is filed by the petitioners, who were employees of Hindustan Copper Limited, Malajkhand Copper Project, District Balaghat. Petitioners after attaining the age of superannuation were offered contract employment. The terms and conditions of the order of contract employment were that they will be entitled to the monthly emoluments detailed in Table1/Table-2 or the last drawn basic pay, whichever is higher as is evident from Annexure P/2. Petitioners were given offer of appointment as contained in Annexure P/3 wherein it is mentioned that they will be paid a consolidated monthly emoluments of last drawn basic pay i.e.28,750+15% Conveyance Allowance as monthly remuneration during this contract period and no additional payment will be made as monthly remuneration. A settlement was arrived at between the Management and the Union and it was to be applicable to all the workmen, whose names were recorded in the attendance register of the Company as on 1/11/2012. Since the pay revision settlement was effected subsequently with effect from 1/11/2012 as is contained in Annexure P/4 and the memorandum of compromise is of the year 2016 but it has been applied retrospectively, therefore, the petitioners' contract salary also deserves to be revised in view of the fact that they were offered reemployment on contractual basis and were offered last drawn basic pay+15% Conveyance Allowance as salary.

(2.) It is submitted by learned counsel for the petitioners that in the first round of litigation, Petitioner No.2 Debangshu Samaddar had filed Writ Petition No.19519/2018, which came to be disposed of by a Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order dtd. 8/3/2019 directing the respondents/Director Personnel to decide the representation of the petitioners within eight weeks from the date on which certified copy of this Court's order is placed before it.

(3.) Shri S.M.Guru, learned counsel for the respondents opposes the prayer made by learned counsel for the petitioners and submits that once the terms and conditions of the contract were settled and it was directed that the petitioners will be entitled to a particular set of emoluments, which has been defined in the offer of appointment then there cannot be any going back in the terms and conditions of the contract and the petitioners are not entitled to claim any additional benefit.