PALWINDER SINGH Vs. POLC AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Challenge in the present writ petition, filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, is to the order dtd. 7/5/2010 (Annexure P-1), whereby the reference of the petitioner was dismissed by the Labour Court-I, Gurugram, on the ground that the petitioner was involved in the selection process and doing supervisory work, on account of his signatures at point-A, regarding the selection of one Vijay Kumar Saraswat and Man Singh Sharma, Electricians.

(2.) It was held that the petitioner failed to prove that he was covered under the definition of 'workman', onus of which was upon him and the Management had been able to prove the same by leading oral as well as documentary evidence. Resultantly, it was held that he was doing supervisory and managerial work and getting salary of more than Rs.1600.00 per month and he had admitted that he was not having any evidence that he used to do manual work and was, therefore, not covered under the definition of workman. It was further held that it was a case of abandonment from service by the workman as he had failed to depose as to who had stopped him from performing his duties since 13/10/2003 and he had made the complaint only on 18/2/2004 and therefore, it was held that his services were not terminated in illegal manner and reference made to the judgment passed in S.N.Goswami Vs. Presiding Officer, Labour court-II and another 2009 (4) SCT 28.

(3.) Counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the burden would be on the person claiming that he was a workman and the evidence that he would adduce. Similarly, reliance has been placed upon Harish Kumar Gupta Vs. Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal, Haryana, Faridabad and another 2004 (3) RSJ 659, that in the absence of any issuance of material by the Management that he was issuing gate passes and recommending for leaves, the onus would be upon the Management and merely because he was the team-leader, as such, would not go on to show that he was performing supervisory duties and the gloss had to be removed to see the reality.