Labour Laws:
Continuity of service – Grant of – Propriety – Termination of service of workman, after holding disciplinary proceedings – In departmental review order for re-engagement/re-employment of the workman – Thereafter workman filed writ petition before High Court seeking continuity of his service – Petition allowed by Single Judge of High Court directing continuity of service from the date of termination till the date of re-employment – Division Bench of High court affirmed the order of Single Judge – On appeal, held: Once fresh appointment was given and neither the termination order nor the fresh employment was challenged, grant of continuity of service by the High Court was manifestly misconceived – Seniority of the workman shall be counted with effect from the date of his fresh appointment.
Disposing of the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1. In the present case, the workman did not choose to assail either the termination of his services following the enquiry or the fresh appointment. Continuity can be granted when an order of termination is set aside, to ensure that there is no hiatus in service. All that was sought was that he should have the benefit of continuity of service from the date of the earlier termination until re-engagement. Unless the order of termination and of the fresh appointment were challenged and adjudicated upon, seniority would necessarily have to count with effect from the date of the fresh appointment. [Para 10, 11][1221-B-D]]
2. The appellant has recruited personnel like the present respondent on contract after a regular process of selection. Eventually, the contract employees are to be regularised. Granting continuity of service to a person such as the respondent, who was found to have committed misconduct, would place him on the same footing as other contractual employees who have a record without blemish. Hence, once a fresh appointment was given to the respondent and neither the termination nor the fresh engagement was placed in issue, the grant of continuity of service by the High Court was manifestly misconceived. The seniority of the respondent workman shall be counted with effect from the date of his fresh appointment in the service of the Corporation. [Paras 12 and 15][1221-D-F; 1222-B-C]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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