Service Law – Claim for parity with regular employees – When justified – Workers/employees employed by appellant-Port Trust provided with the facility of canteen – Respondent No.1-Association of employees working in the canteen filed writ petition in High Court for direction to appellant to treat the employees working in the Canteen as the regular employees working in appellant-Port Trust and accordingly pay them all attendant and monetary benefits at par with the regular employees – Writ petition allowed by Single Judge – Order upheld by Division Bench – On appeal, held: In view of identical facts involved in Indian Petrochemicals’s case wherein Supreme Court issued a writ of mandamus against the main employer in relation to employees working in the canteen, Division Bench rightly relied upon the said decision in granting relief to the members of the respondent-Association – No fault in the findings recorded by Division Bench recorded on the basis of undisputed facts and documents on record – Constitution of India – Art.226.
Dismissing the appeal, the Court
HELD: 1.1 The Division Bench rightly relied upon the decision of Supreme Court in Indian Petrochemicals case and compared the facts of the above case with that of the case at hand and found great similarities in both for granting relief to the members of the respondent (Association). The Division Bench took note of 20 factors of this case, which were found identical to the facts involved in Indian Petrochemicals’s case wherein Supreme Court had issued a writ of mandamus against the main employer in relation to such employees working in the canteen run for the benefit of the employer. [Paras 13, 14] [641-A-C]
1.2 No fault is found in the said findings recorded by the Division Bench as these findings were recorded on the basis of undisputed facts and documents on record of the case. That apart, these findings were recorded keeping in view the facts involved and law laid down by Supreme Court in the case of Indian Petrochemicals. [Para 15] [644-C]
1.3 The approach and the reasoning of the two Courts below (Writ Court and Division Bench) while deciding the writ petition and the appeal arising out of the writ petition keeping in view the law laid down by Supreme Court in the case of Indian Petrochemicals is just, proper and legal. In other words, if on the undisputed facts, Supreme Court has granted benefit to the canteen workers in the case of Indian Petrochemicals then there is no reason that on the same set of undisputed facts arising in this case, the Court should not grant the benefit to the employees/workers in this case. It is more so when no distinguishable facts are pointed out in this case qua Indian Petrochemical’s case. [Paras 17, 18] [644-E-G] Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. and Anr. v. Shramik Sena & Ors. (1999) 6 SCC 439 : [1999] 1 Suppl. SCR 47 – relied on.
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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