ROSHAN PANDITA Vs. UNION BANK OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ALL the petitioners are the employees of Centaur Lake View Hotel Cheshma Shahi, Srinagar, and are holding different posts like Receiving Officers, Senior Front Office Cashiers, Accounts Assistants, Front Officers, Attendants, Supervisors, Captains, etc. etc. The Centaur Lake View Hotel Srinagar is an establishment of the Hotel Corporation of India which is a company incorporated under the Companies Act 1956. It is undisputed that the Hotel Corporation of India is fully owned and controlled by the Government of India and, therefore, is an authority within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India and is thus amenable to the writ jurisdiction of this Court, The main objective of the Hotel Corporation of India (H C I for short) is to operate hotels and flight kitchens in various cities of India on commercial lines and Hotel centaur Lake View at Srinagar, apart from one hotel in Delhi and two Hotels in Bombay, is the establishments of HCI. It is also undisputed that HCI is riot a regular government department and that in any case it has nothing to do whatever with the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, which has no connection or Control over this Company or any of its establishments,

(2.) IT has been almost two years now since the peace and tranquility of the beautiful Valley of Kashmir was ravaged because of the acts of terrorism and militancy. A Valley known for its beauty, calmness and tranquility started shaking with the tremors of bombs and bullets. The violence and its aftermath did not show any signs of let up and in fact because, there was a continuous increase and spurt in violence related activities, it was but natural that the peace loving people living in the valley started getting scared and thus commenced the mass exodus from there of the members of a particular community namely, Kashmiri Pandits. In the midst of the continuous violence, perhaps it was felt by the members of this community that it became unsafe for them to live in Kashmir and therefore they started leaving the Valley in hordes, for supposedly safer heavens in other parts of the country. The exodus of the members of this community of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley of Kashmir has become a controversial question even to the extent of assuming political overtones and I would therefore religiously refrain from passing any judgment about whether these people should or should net have left the Valley at that particular point of time or thereafter. Since the question has now assumed political overtones and has been a topic of hot discussion for quite sometime, I also refrain from passing any judgment or making any comments about whether these people should or should not return to their homes in Kashmir Valley.

(3.) IN this petition the petitioners say that they left Kashmir, Srinagar Town to be precise, because of the ensuing turmoil and because they felt that their lives were not safe there. The petitioners claim is that since they migrated to Jammu and other parts of the county, irrespective of their continued absence from the place of work, i.e. Centaur Lake View Hotel Srinagar, they should be paid their full wages on the parity of employees of the State Government and its various corporations etc. as also the Central Government and its corporations etc. The petitioners have also submitted that because of continuing violence and disturbances, they feel that they cannot safely return to any part of Kashmir Valley, precisely in Srinagar Town, where their place of work is situated and therefore they should not be compelled - to return to the Hotel to resume their duties and should continuously be paid their full wages in Jammu. The petitioners have also claimed that because of the disturbances in Kashmir, they are ready and willing to work and be absorbed in other establishments of HCI in other parts of the country.