SMT. KANTA KUMARI BANAFAL AND ORS. AND VIJAY PRAKASH AND ANR. Vs. RAJ. STATE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT CORPORATION LTD. AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE three appeals are interlinked as the point involved revolves around the scope and ambit of absorption of retrenched employees of Watch Assembly Unit, Ajmer of the Rajasthan State Industrial Development & Investment Corporation Ltd. (for short 'RIICO'). Learned Single Bench in the impugned order held that Mukesh Kumar (respondent in Appeal No. 981/2001, preferred by RIICO) be allowed to continue as Sr. Assistant, whereas Smt. Kanta Kumari Banafal, Anand Prakash Sharma and Smt. Sukhmani Lakhan (appellants in Appeal No. 215/2001) were treated differently and relief sought by them in the writ petition was declined.

(2.) THE undisputed facts common to all these cases may be noticed. Anand Prakash Sharma, who is deaf and dumb by birth, was initially appointed on August 21, 1984, whereas Smt. Kanta Kumar Banafal and Smt. Sukhmani Lakhan (members of Scheduled Caste) were appointed on December 13, 1989. RIICO asked them to discharge the duties of watch technician in Watch Assembly Unit, Ajmer. Condition No. 4, incorporated in their appointment letters, reads as under:

(3.) CONSEQUENT upon a decision taken by Board of Directors of RIICO in their meeting held on December 27, 2000 to close down Assembly Unit Ajmer, with effect from March 20, 2001 and also to continue the scheme of Voluntary Retirement simultaneously for its employees, notices were served by RIICO to its employees and their services were retrenched from March 20, 2001 due to closure of Watch Assembly Unit and they were directed to collect the compensation amount on account of their retrenchment.