An unmarried sister of a deceased coal miner cannot be considered a 'dependant' under the National Coal Wage Agreement-VI, as the definition of 'dependant' in the agreement does not include unmarried sisters.

Sufficient grounds have been made out as to why the petitioner was not represented on January 14, 2015 when W.P. 27699 (W) of 2014 was dismissed for default.

2. The order dated January 14, 2015 is recalled and W.P. 27699 (W) of 2014 is restored to the file.

3. The restoration application, C.A.N. 813 of 2015, is allowed as above without any order as to costs.

4. Since the parties are represented and affidavits have been completed, the petition is taken up for immediate consideration.

5. At first blush, the case made out by the petitioner appears to be so convincing that it leaves no room to accommodate any contrary view. Indeed, by the order dated September 25, 2014 by which the petition was received, it was recorded that, prima facie, the petitioner being denied the benefits under the National Coal Wage Agreement-VI only on the ground of her being the unmarried sister of a deceased coal miner was “irrational and illogical”.

6. However, a closer scrutiny of the matter may require a different view to be taken.

7. The undisputed facts are that one Somenath Mondal, a miner employed by Eastern Coalfields Limited, died on June 3, 2012 while he was still in service and, as per the said Agreement, his dependants became entitled to the benefits in terms of such Agreement. The petitioner claims to have been dependant on the deceased miner at the time of his death, being an unmarried sister who had not crossed the age of 45 either at the time of the relevant workman’s death or as at the date when she applied for an appointment to be given to her on compassionate grounds under the said Agreement. The petitioner’s application for employment, and the built-in alternative prayer for compensation therein, have been turned down merely on the ground that the petitioner could not be regarded as a dependant within the meaning of the word as defined in the said Agreement.

8. It is necessary, first, to appreciate the circumstances in which the National Coal Wage agreement-VI came into being. A look at the genesis of such documents is imperative since a distinction has to be made between the manner of interpretation of the clauses of an agreement that is born out of negotiations between the representatives of employees and the employer and the clauses contained in a set of unilateral rules imposed or introduced by the employer. The said Agreement, in its preamble, refers to the previous agreement of June 30, 1996. The terms of the previous agreement were sought to be modified upon a joint bipartite committee for the coal industry being reconstituted. Clause 0.2 of the preamble to the National Coal Wage Agreement-VI of December 23, 2000 records, inter alia, as follows:

“0.2 … Further, the deliberation continued in the Core group set up by the JBCCI (joint bipartite committee for the coal industry) to arrive at an amicable settlement on wage structure & allowances. The composition of the re-constituted JBCCI to negotiate and arrive at NCWA-VI consisted of representatives of Management & Central TUs …”.

9. The names of the major trade unions, most of them affiliated to political parties as is the fashion of the day, involved are referred to in the preamble. The ultimate agreement was a culmination of the charter of demands submitted by the several unions, the negotiations thereupon and the agreement by the parties to the deliberations.

10. Chapter IX of the said Agreement deals with social security and covers insurance schemes and workmen’s compensation benefits and the like. Clause 9.3.0 of the chapter deals with compassionate employment and compensation for dependants of deceased or incapacitated workmen. Several clauses of such provision are relevant for the present purpose but, for reasons of convenience, the following may only be noticed in full:

“9.3.0. Provision of Employment to Dependants

9.3.1 Employment would be provided to one dependant of workers who are disabled permanently and also those who die while in service. The provision will be imple