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Our Legal Correspondent

Payment of dues for leave period to station masters

Chennai , Dec. 21

The Madras High Court came down heavily on the Southern Railway for "frivolously" contesting the order of the Central Labour Court, and that too after six years, "wasting public money" and also for "dragging workmen unnecessarily" before this Court.

Mr Justice K. Chandru, while dismissing a batch of writ petitions from the Railways challenging order of Labour Court ordering payment of dues for leave period to respondents (station masters), directed the Railways not only to pay amounts claimed by them with 12 per cent interest within four weeks, but also directed to pay Rs 1,000 towards cost in each of writ petitions.

The case

In its petitions, the Southern Railway contended that claim petitions of respondents before Labour Court under Section 33(C)(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act were not maintainable as there was dispute about their entitlement. Also, though under the Payment of Wages Act, a limitation was prescribed, they (the station masters) ought to have proceeded under that Act and should not have gone to the Labour Court getting over the limitation.

The judge held that it had been held in a number of cases that workmen had option to avail themselves of both the ID Act and Payment of Wages Act, and each Act was not mutually exclusive of the other. As regards the sanction of leave, it was clear from evidence of two workmen that they had appeared before railway doctor and had received certificate for joining duty and that they had not been denied by the railways.

It was in the case of station masters that the Department was not having any defence to the contrary. Hence, impugned common order passed by Labour Court on April 4, 1994 was liable to be sustained.

The Labour Court's order that the railway department should pay claim amounts with 12 per cent interest was legally valid.

The judge said that the claim amounts were so trivial that the Department should not waste so much money in filing these writ petitions, as they would be spending more money than what was required to be paid to workmen.

As regards the contention of petitioners that a copy of impugned order was made available only in 1999, the judge pointed out that an application for copy of order itself was made by petitioners only on April 30, 1998. Even otherwise, when they had received order copy in 1998, there was no explanation as to why petitions were filed two years thereafter.

The judge dismissed all petitions of Southern Railway with a direction that they should pay the amounts as quantified by the Labour Court.

More Stories on : Railways | Courts/Legal Issues | Human Resources | Tamil Nadu

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