KRISHNA DEVI Vs. STATE OF H P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner has prayed a direction to the Respondents to continue engaging the Petitioner as Clerk and to pay her wages equivalent to regularly deployed Clerk with a further direction to the Respondents to treat the Petitioner on duty from 23.2.1989 without any break and pay her wages for the period from 23.2.1989 till the date of appointment with interest accrued thereupon. A prayer has also been made seeking a direction to the Respondents for bringing the Petitioner on work charged strength of the Respondents and to declare the act /order of the Respondents dated 23.2.1989 in discontinuing the engagement of the Petitioner illegal, void and without jurisdiction.

(2.) The facts, in brief, are that the Petitioner had passed her matriculation examination, she obtained diploma in stenography. The Petitioner was engaged as daily rated helper (Clerk) on 13.2.1985 in the office of the Land Acquisition Officer, B.S.L. Project, Mandi. The Petitioner continuously worked as Clerk-cum-Steno-typist in Hindi and English from 13.2.1985 to 23.2.1989. It has been alleged that many Clerks were engaged on daily wage basis in the Circle. After the engagement of the Petitioner, one Smt. Vidya was also engaged in the same Division in the office of Executive Engineer, Baggi, Division No. 1 (I and PH).

(3.) The Petitioner had put in 240 days continuous service, her services could not have been dispensed with otherwise in due course of law. On 23.2.1989 the services of the Petitioner had been discontinued without any prior notice and without following due process of law. No reasons have been assigned as to why the services of the Petitioner had been dis-engaged. The disengagement of the Petitioner amounts to retrenchment under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (for short 'Act').