Gwalior Development Authority vs Shiv Kumar Paliya

Headnote AI-drafted · Reviewed and approved

The petitioner, Gwalior Development Authority, challenged an award of Labour Court No. 1, Gwalior, which held the termination of the respondent, a daily wage worker, to be illegal and directed his reinstatement. The petitioner contended that the respondent had not completed 240 days of service in a calendar year and that reinstatement was not automatic in cases of termination of daily wage employees, with monetary compensation being the appropriate remedy.

The High Court upheld the finding of the Labour Court that the termination was illegal, noting that the petitioner, being the employer and in possession of all relevant documents, failed to produce evidence to rebut the respondent's claim of having worked for more than 240 days. Applying the well-established principle that adverse inference may be drawn against a party who withholds the best evidence, the Court affirmed the finding on illegality of termination.

Relying on the Supreme Court decisions in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited v. Bhurumal (2014) 7 SCC 177, Jayant Vasantrao Hiwarkar v. Anoop Ganaptrao Bobde (2017) 11 SCC 244, and Hari Nandan Prasad v. Food Corporation of India (2014) 7 SCC 190, the Court held that reinstatement with back wages is not automatic when the termination of a daily wage worker is set aside for procedural violation of Section 25-F of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and that monetary compensation in lieu of reinstatement would meet the ends of justice.

Catchwords: daily wage worker · termination · 240 days · reinstatement · monetary compensation · Industrial Disputes Act · Section 25-F · adverse inference · best evidence · Labour Court · Article 227 · Gwalior Development Authority