THE SUNDH CO Vs. PRESIDING OFFICER INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) - The Sundh Cooperative Credit and Service Society Ltd., Sundh has filed the present Letters Patent Appeal against the judgment and order dated 23.7.2013 passed by the learned Single Judge in CWP No.14682 of 2010 whereby the petition filed by respondent No.2 - workman claiming reinstatement in service which had been declined by an award dated 28.04.2010 passed by the learned Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court-I, Gurgaon has been allowed.

(2.) The respondent No.2 - Dinesh, who is a workman, was engaged as a 'chowkidar' on temporary basis on payment of Rs. 1350.00 per month by the appellant Co-operative Society on 01.03.1998. He joined as such on the said date. His services were terminated in Feb. 2001. According to him, the termination of his service was without giving him one month's notice or payment of salary in lieu thereof. Besides, he was not paid any retrenchment compensation and there had been an infraction of the provisions of Sec. 25-F of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 ('Act' - for short). He made a request for his reinstatement in service with back wages. This request was not acceded to by the appellant-Cooperative Society; therefore, he raised an industrial dispute by serving a demand notice under Sec. 2-A of the Act on 15.03.2004. The matter was referred for conciliation. The conciliation proceedings, however, were unsuccessful. The dispute was accordingly referred under the Act to the learned Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court-I, Gurgaon on 17.08.2004.

(3.) The appellant - Cooperative Society appeared before the learned Labour Court and submitted its response. According to it the services of the respondent No.2 - workman had never been terminated and he himself had abandoned the job. It was, however, accepted by the appellant that the respondent No.2 - workman worked as a peon-cum- 'chowkidar' on temporary basis. An amount of Rs. 1350.00 per month was paid to him for the period he worked from 23.03.1998 till 25.01.2001. Thereafter, according to the appellant, he remained absent and his absence was unauthorized, besides, without giving any information to the appellant-Cooperative Society. The demand notice served by him was also false and barred by time as the same had been submitted after three years of his absence. It was also submitted that the appellant - Sundh Cooperative Credit and Service Society Ltd., Sundh, Tehsil Tauru, District Gurgaon, stood amalgamated and merged with the Tauru Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society.