MARIKUKKALA RAMULTI Vs. THE CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, SINGARENI COLLIERIES COMPANY LIMITED AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners are employed by the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as "?the SCCL'). Claiming that they were not keeping good health, they applied to subject them to medical examination to test their fitness to continue in the employment. Accordingly, petitioners were examined by the Corporate Medical Board (the Board) of the SCCL. The Board found that petitioners are not fit to work in the job held by them, for most of them in the underground mine. However, the Board declared them fit to work on the surface instead of underground/another surface job. Accepting the report of the Board, the petitioners were declared as medically unfit to continue in the job held by them at the time of medical examination and provided alternative job on the surface. Petitioners are not satisfied with the course adopted by the SCCL management and instituted these writ petitions. Petitioner claim that having declared them unfit to hold the present job, they should be retired on medical grounds and their dependent should be provided employment.

(2.) In this batch of writ petitions, based on the prayers sought, they can be grouped into three categories. For convenience, in each category prayer in one writ petition is extracted, i.e., W.P No. 42417 of 2018 (Category I), W.P No. 10757 of 2019 (Category II) and W.P. No. 17245 of 2019 (Category III).

(3.) As the issues for consideration in all these writ petitions are same, they are taken up together, heard learned counsel and decided by this common order.