DHARAM PAL Vs. LABOUR COURT-CUM-INDUSTRIAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The first round of litigation between the employee and the management ended on September 22, 2009 when this Court dismissed the cross petition and upheld the award dated February 15, 2000 passed by the Presiding Officer, Labour Court- I, Gurgaon to the extent of award of 50% back wages but reinstatement granted by the Labour Court was modified since the workman had reached the age of superannuation. The operative part of the common judgment passed in CWP No.7576 of 2000 filed by the management and CWP No.16653 of 2000 filed by the workman reads as follows:-

(2.) In implementation of the orders passed by this Court, the management sent a cheque for Rs. 46068/- on November 23, 2009 to the petitioner.

(3.) Dissatisfied with the amount as not representing the monetary benefits accruing from the directions of this Court in the aforesaid writ petitions the petitioner filed an application under section under section 33-C (2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 ("the Act") to compute the money due under the award as modified by this Court. The petitioner claimed that the terminal benefits have to be calculated from the date he was removed from service on June 01, 1991 as though he had not been lawfully removed from service. Fifty percent back wages had to be calculated from 1991 up to date when he would normally have superannuated from service. In the application, the workman calculated wages in a graded manner up to January 04, 2004 representing 25 different periods of wages drawn by those who continued to serve under the management as were gradually increased at the rate of wages fixed from time to time. He halved the amount of arrears of wages totalling a sum of Rs.1,19,459/- in terms of the modified award. In addition, he claimed bonus for the years June 06, 1991 to January 04, 2004 in a sum of Rs.19991/- and gratuity for the same period totalling Rs.23304/-. An amount of Rs.2,09,082/- was claimed from which the amount already received i.e. Rs.46,068/- had to be deducted. The prayer was for seeking an order to the management to pay the petitioner-applicant a sum of Rs.1,63,044/- along with 9% interest as awarded. It turned down that during the pendency of the writ petition, the workman was paid last drawn wages for a period of 3 years 6 months and 29 days under section 17-B of the Act. In the application, it was claimed that this amount could not be deducted from the arrears of 50% back wages up to the date of superannuation as they represented irrecoverable subsistence allowance resulting from stay of the operation of the award by this Court in the aforesaid writ petition filed by the management.