IMPORTANT POINT
When a plea is not supported by documentary evidence court will be right in drawing adverse inference.

Judgment

V. GOPALA GOWDA, J.

Delay condoned. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is directed against the impugned judgment and order dated 4.4.2014 passed by the High Court of Judicature of Rajasthan at Jodhpur in D.B. Civil Special Appeal (Writ) No. 54 of 2014, wherein the High Court declined to interfere with the order dated 18.11.2013 of the learned single Judge passed in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 4253 of 2002 wherein the learned single Judge proceeded to consider the writ petition filed by the respondent-Department against the award dated 28.6.2001 of the Labour Court, Bikaner in Labour Dispute Case NO. 94 of 1994 whereby the Labour Court after adjudication of the points of dispute held that the retrenchment of the appellant-workman (for short “the workman”) from his services with effect from 1.4.1992 is improper and invalid and directed the employer for the reinstatement of the workman in his post.

3. Brief resume of facts are stated hereunder for the purpose of appreciating the rival legal contentions to examine whether the impugned judgment and orders passed by the Division Bench of the High Court and the learned single Judge warrant interference by this Court in exercise of its appellate jurisdiction.

4. The workman was working in the respondent-Forest Department, Chattargarh, District Bikaner at Rajasthan State (for short ‘the respondent-Department’). It is the case of the workman that he was appointed against the permanent and sanctioned post with effect from 1.1.1987 till his services came to be retrenched, i.e. on 1.4.1992 and has rendered service of more than 240 days in every calendar year and has received salary from the respondent-Department each month. The workman aggrieved by the order of retrenchment passed by the respondent-Department has raised an industrial dispute questioning the correctness of the order in removing him from his service inter alia contending that the same is in violation of Sections 25F Clauses (a) and (b), 25G and 25H of the Industrial Disputes Act, (for short “the Act”), therefore, the retrenchment of the workman from his service is void ab initio in law and prayed for setting aside the same. The State Government in exercise of its power referred the industrial dispute between the workman and the respondent-department to the Labour Court, Bikaner vide Notification No. P.1(1) [2234] Shrm Ni/93 dated 28.1.1994 for adjudication of the following points of dispute:-

“Whether removal of workman Gauri Shankar son of Bhairuan (who has been represented by the General Secretary, Forest Labour Union, Tyagi Vatika Jailwell, Bikaner) by the Employer, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Chhattargarh, Bikaner is just and legal? If no, to what relief and amount the workman is entitled to?”

5. On receipt of the reference, both the parties filed their respective claim statements in justification of their respective cases. It is the case of the workman before the Labour Court that he has been appointed as a permanent workman in the permanent post of the respondent-Department and that he has worked from 1.1.1987 till his termination from 1.4.1992 and he has been paid his salary on daily wage basis every month mentioning his name as a daily wage earner in the muster roll. The service of the workman was retrenched by the respondent-Department allegedly because he did not agree to join the new Union as per the recommendation of the respondent-Department. It is contended on behalf of the workman that his removal from service by the respondent-Department is otherwise misconduct on the part of the respondent-Department and therefore, it amounts to retrenchment as defined under Section 2(oo) of the Act. Before removing the workman from his services the respondent-Department neither published any seniority list nor followed the rule of first come last go and thereby there is a blatant violation of Rules 77-78 of Rajasthan Industrial Disputes Rules, 1958. It is also further stated that before removing him from the services, the r