SUNIL KUMAR Vs. F.C.I.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This judgment of ours would dispose of all the above mentioned writ petitioners, however, the facts are being taken from Civil Writ Petition No. 4695 of 1999 titled as Sunil Kumar and others Versus Food Corporation of India and others.

(2.) 60 petitioners, who are working as watchmen at various godowns of Food Corporation of India in District Sangrur, hereinafter referred to as the Corporation, have approached this Court under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India for issuance of an appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the respondent-Corporation to treat the petitioners as its regular employees and further for a direction that their salaries be released with effect from January, 1990. Interim prayer for restraining the respondents from terminating their services has also been made in the petition.

(3.) The respondent-Corporation is a statutory body. All the petitioners are shown as employees of respondent No. 3 Delta Protective Systems, a private party, but they were working right from the days of their initial appointment in the godowns of the respondent-Corporation. All the petitioners joined the employment from February, 1992 to February, 1998. All of them were working in different godowns in District Sangrur, Punjab. Respondent-Corporation had executed an agreement on 29.7.1998, copy of which has been annexed to the writ petition by the petitioners as Annexure P/2. Under this agreement respondent No. 3 was to supply security guards and the responsibility for payment of salaries etc. was of respondent No. 3, of course, respondent No. 1 was to pay the contracted amount as per terms of the agreement afore-referred. Letters of appointment were issued and one of such letters dated 29.11.1998 issued by respondent No. 3 to one Shri Jaspal Singh has been placed on record as Annexure P/3 to the writ petition. According to the petitioners, the contractors have changed right from 1992 onwards, but they have been working continuously under the effective control of the respondent-Corporation. Even in the selection process, respondent-Corporation's representatives participate and the agreement is stated to be just a facet. The Central Government enacted law with regard to prohibition of contractual labour under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, hereinafter referred to as the Act, came into force and on 9.12.1976 the Central Government issued a notification under Section 10 of the Act, prohibiting engagement of contractual labour for watching of buildings in respect of the establishments to which the Central Government was the appropriate Government. Copy of the notification is annexed to the writ petition as Annexure P/4.