ORISSA IRRIGATORS UNION Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, Orissa Irrigators Union has approached this Court with the following prayer:

(2.) It appears that earlier the present petitioner-Orissa Irrigators Union had approached this Court in O.J.C. No. 7141 of 1996 claiming regularisation of the services of the Irrigators with usual pay. Some of the individual irrigators also had filed Writ Petition bearing numbers O.J.C. Nos. 5185, 5530, 5584, 6927 and 6989 of 1996. But the Court on consideration had dismissed the Writ Petitions with the finding that the claim of the petitioners for regularisation cannot be entertained. The Court also found that the job required is seasonal only as per the latest decision of the Government and the petitioners having been engaged purely on temporary basis, a direction cannot be given to the opposite parties for regularisation of their services.

(3.) The present writ petitioner calls in question the order passed by the Government in Labour and Employment Department vide Office Memorandum No. II/1(B)-173/ 96-5404/LE, dated May 13, 1997 rejecting the prayer of the petitioner to refer the dispute for adjudication under sub-section (5) of Section 12 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. On going through the impugned order, we find that the Government was of the view that the matter with regard to withdrawal of the retrenchment order issued by the management and regularisation ot the services ot the irrigators were already concluded by the decision of this Court in O.J.C. No. 7141 of 1996 and others and, as such, the same need not be referred to for adjudication. The petitioner sought to raise a dispute with regard to preparation of State- level seniority list of all irrigators, payment of E.P.F. contribution by the management, payment of bonus to the irrigators, payment of double wages to the irrigators for working on national and festival holidays, preparation of service conditions for the irrigators and introduction of GIS and medical reimbursement. The Government on consideration found that these are not matters coming under the purview of the Industrial Disputes Act so as to be referred to for adjudication under sub- section (5) of Section 12 of the Industrial Disputes Act. As regards the claim of the petitioner for payment of daily wages to the irrigators as skilled labour and supply of uniform to all the irrigators the Government found that the irrigators could not substantiate their claim on these demands.