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2019 Supreme(SC) 1329
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
L. Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta, JJ.
Kandla Port Workers Union – Appellants
Versus
FCI & Ors. – Respondents
Civil Appeal Nos. 9217- 9218 of 2019
Decided on : 06-12-2019
For the Appellant(s) :Nikhil Goel, Naveen Goel, Dushyant Sarna, Advocates
For the Respondent(s):N.K. Kaul, Ajit Pudussery, Vijayan.K, ANS. Nadkarni, Suhasini Sen, Pratap Venugopal, Zoheb Hussain, Priya Mishra, Prashant Rawat, Nitansh Jaiswal, Prashant Rawat, Anil Katiyar, Raj Bahadur Yadav, Ajeet Singh Verma, Vikas Mehta, Advocates
IMPORTANT POINT
Regular and work charge employees being distinctly different cannot be treated equally.
Headnote:
Service law - Regular and work charge employees - Are distinctly different - No error in treating them differently. (Para 13, 14)
Facts of the case:
The Central Government transferred 15 employees who were working in the Vacuvator Division of the Kandla Port Trust to the Food Corporation of India with effect from 01.01.1973. Aggrieved by the benefit not being extended to the remaining 306 employees of the KPT who were transferred to FCI, the Appellant-Union filed Special Civil Application in the High Court. The application was allowed by a Single Judge and a direction was issued to the FCI, Respondent No.1-herein to issue an appropriate order clarifying that all the 321 employees who were working in the Vacuvator Division of the KPT should be treated to have been transferred under Section 12A of the Food Corporation of India Act, 1964 w.e.f. 01.01.1973. Respondent No.1 appealed to the Division Bench of the High Court. The judgment of the learned Single Judge was set aside and it was held by the Division Bench that 306 members of the Appellant-Union were not entitled to the benefits granted to 15 employees.
Finding of the Court:
Regular and work charge employees being distinctly different cannot be treated equally.
Result: Appeal dismissed.
JUDGMENT
L. Nageswara Rao, J.
By an order dated 09.05.1996, the Central Government transferred 15 employees who were working in the Vacuvator Division of the Kandla Port Trust (for short, 'KPT') to the Food Corporation of India (for short, 'FCI') with effect from 01.01.1973. Aggrieved by the benefit not being extended to the remaining 306 employees of the KPT who were transferred to FCI, the Appellant-Union filed Special Civil Application No. 6891 of 1996 in the High Court of Gujarat. The application was allowed by a learned Single Judge and a direction was issued to the FCI, Respondent No.1-herein to issue an appropriate order clarifying that all the 321 employees who were working in the Vacuvator Division of the KPT should be treated to have been transferred under Section 12A of the Food Corporation of India Act, 1964 ("the FCI Act, 1964" for short) w.e.f. 01.01.1973. Respondent No.1 appealed to the Division Bench of the High Court. The judgment of the learned Single Judge was set aside and it was held by the Division Bench, by order dated 09.05.1996, that 306 members of the Appellant-Union were not entitled to the benefits granted to 15 employees. The correctness of the judgment of the Division Bench is challenged by the Appellant by way of filing the above Appeals.
2. An agreement was entered into between the Government of India and the Trustees of the Port of Kandla (KPT) on 08.04.1965 by which the KPT accepted to act as an agent of the Government for the purpose of assembly, operation and maintenance of wheat discharging machines on behalf of the Government of India in connection with discharge of food grains from tankers/ vessels arriving at Kandla as and when required by the Government of India. According to the Agreement, the KPT was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the machines with a view to obtain the best possible performance therefrom and for the said purpose, KPT shall ensure adequate staff at various stages of operation and maintenance. It was further agreed that the Government shall, on conclusion of the Agreement, take over the staff engaged by the KPT.
3. An order was passed by the FCI on 18.09.1973 taking over the staff of the Vacuvator Division of the KPT w.e.f. 01.01.1973. By the said order, the regular employees of KPT were taken over as confirmed in the appropriate posts and they would be governed by the service conditions prescribed in the FCI (Staff) Regulations, 1971 ("the Regulations" for short). The work charge employees were taken over as regular employees w.e.f. 01.01.1973 and they would be governed by the service conditions in respect of leave, probation, disciplinary action, etc., according to the Regulations. The employees were made eligible to the pay as fixed and indicated in the Annexure to the said order w.e.f. 01.01.1973 in the FCI's scale of pay. The employees who were taken over would be governed by the Food Corporation of India CPF Regulations. All the employees who worked in the Vacuvator Division of KPT joined and continued to work in the FCI.
4. In the meanwhile, an industrial dispute was raised which was referred to the Industrial Tribunal. The terms of reference are as follows:
"1. Whether the action of the management of FCT, Adipur in not extending the Option to elect revised pay scales to 15 workmen of Vacuvator Division Switched over from Kandla port Trust to FCT, Adipur with effect from 1.1.1973 or from the subsequent date after drawing increments etc., is justified? If not, to what relief these workmen are entitled to and from what date?
2. Whether the action of the management of Food Corporation of India Adipur in not regularizing the CPF/ GRP subscription and contribution from 1965 to March, 1973 in respect of the workmen switched over from Kandla Port Trust to Food Corporation of India, Adipur from CPF to CPP scheme is justified if not, to what relief the concerned workmen are entitled and from which date?"
5. The reference was allowed and Respondent No.1 was di
