Judgment

D. A. DESAI, J. :- Vacillation on the part of a public sector undertaking has pushed this trivial dispute to the Apex Court adding to the anxiety and misery on the part of lowest grade workmen and wasteful expenditure on futile litigation.

2. Food Corporation of India (Corporation for short) was set up under an Act of Parliament being the Food Corporations Act, 1964 (Act for short) to provide, amongst other, for the establishment of Food Corporations for the purpose of trading in foodgrains and other foodstuffs and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. For performance of the functions statutorily prescribed under S. 13 of the Act namely, to undertake the purchase, storage, movement, transport, distribution and sale of foodgrains; and other foodstuffs, the Corporation has to set up godowns / depots and other storage facilities and to engage labour for handling foodgrains at the godowns or in transit. The Corporation adopted different methods at different places for employing labour for handling foodgranis. One such depot has been set up by the Corporation at Siliguri in West Bengal State. Number of workmen designated as handling Mazdoor were employed at Sili