Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Limited vs The General Secretary, Mysore and Sri S. Krishnamurthy

Ram Mohan Reddy, J.—Petitioners/Employer, aggrieved by the award dated 28.02.2006 in Reference No. 70/1999 of the Labour Court, Mysore, Annexure-E directing reinstatement of respondent No. 2 with 50% backwages from 13.02.1997 till the date of his re-instatement and reserving liberty to the petitioners to comply with Section 25-F of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (''the Act'' for short), have filed this petition.

Even according to the learned counsel, respondent No. 2 worked as a daily wager from 15.05.1987 to 30.06.1988 without any interruption and had completed 240 days of continuous service in 12 calendar months immediately preceding the termination on 30.06.1988. If that is so, then the petitioners were entitled to terminate the engagement of respondent No. 2 on daily wage after paying compensation u/s 25-F of the Act. Having not done so, no exception can be taken to the award of the Labour Court setting aside the order of termination.

There is force in the submission of the learned counsel for petitioners that respondent No. 2 engaged as a daily wager is not entitled to re-instatement, but would be entitled to being listed as a daily wager and assigned work on such days when work is available. So also, there is force in the submission of the learned counsel that the Labour Court was not justified in directing payment of 50% backwages from 13.02.1997, since there can be no backwages for a daily wager.

The law is well settled that daily wager does not hold a substantive post which is vacant and therefore, no pay scale is attached to daily wages. In that view of the matter, there is a need to interfere with the award impugned.

Learned counsel for petitioners submits that the respondent No. 2 has since been absorbed into a backlog vacancy after the impugned award was passed, hence there is no necessity to interfere with the order declaring the termination as invalid w.e.f. 30.06.1988 of the respondent No. 2.

In the result, this petition is allowed in part. The impugned award is modified disentitling the respondent No. 2 to reinstatement and payment of 50% backwage and in all other respects, remains unaltered.