SHEIKH JAHANGIR ALI Vs. CALCUTTA PORT TRUST

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The writ petitioners claim to have been appointed by the respondent No. 6, M/s. Chanda Vulcanisers Pvt., Ltd., over different periods of time, as Vulcanisers for maintenance and repair of conveyer belts at the coal berth of the Haldia Dock Complex, Calcutta Port Trust. According to the petitioners, they have been performing such duties for about the last 12 to 15 years without break.

(2.) Appearing in support of the writ petition, Mr. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya firstly urged that the duties being performed by the petitioners were of a continuous and perennial nature which entailed employment of regular employees, but to avoid employing the petitioners on a regular basis, the Calcutta Port Trust employed the petitioners through the respondent No. 6.

(3.) Mr. Bahattacharya submitted that, in fact, having regard to the nature of the work which the petitioners were required to perform, they had to work in three shifts, which clearly indicate that the said work was of a continuous and perennial nature and without the work being performed by the petitioners the work in the port would come to a standstill. Mr. Bhattacharya submitted that although the writ petitioners were engaged to perform their duties through a contractor, the Calcutta Port Trust is their principal employer and though they have been working continuously they have been deprived of the benefit of a regular scale of pay and other service benefits which were being given to other regular employees of the establishment.