KARUNAIL SINGH Vs. PRESIDING OFFICER LABOUR COURT BHATINDA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition is filed by the workman challenging the award of the Labour Court dated November 3, 1999 vide which, the prayer of the petitioner for reinstatement with consequential benefits was rejected.

(2.) The case of the petitioner is that he served with respondents No. 2 and 3 as Gauge Reader for 232 days when his services were terminated on September 1, 1993 without notice and without following the procedure of Industrial Disputes Act (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"). The respondents in their written statement filed before the Labour Court repudiated the claim on facts and inter alia pleaded that he was never engaged as Gauge Reader but was engaged as Helper to Beldar, on daily wages and he only worked for 134 days only and he was engaged from time to time as per the requirement and had not served the Management continuously for 240 days. The Labour Court came to the conclusion that the petitioner had not served with the respondents for more than 240 days in a calendar year. It held that the management had not disputed the fact that the workman worked from October 20, 1992 upto December 31, 1992, March 1, 1993 to March 31, 1993, June 1, 1993 to June 30, 1993. It further held that the oral evidence led by the petitioner that he worked for 10 1/2 months cannot be taken into consideration in view of the documentary evidence available on record.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner has relied on the observations of the Labour Court that at the most the documents produced at Ex. W-2 to W-5 go to show that the petitioner had worked for the months of July, 1993 vide copy of the Gauge register Ex. W/2 and W/5 and also worked in the month of August, 1993 as per copy of Gauge register, Ex. W/3 and W/4. It is observed by the Labour Court that if the total number of working days of 134 are added with 62 days for the months of July and August, 1993, the total number of days comes to 196.