Point in Issue :
Whether in the facts termination of service of respondent proper and sustainable.

K.M. Thaker, J.—By this petition, the petitioner, Savarkundla Nagarpalika, has brought under challenge award dated 30.5.2008 passed by the learned Labour Court, Amreli in Reference (LCA) No. 3 of 2006 (Old No. 144 of 2001) whereby, the learned Labour Court has directed the petitioner Nagarpalika to reinstate the respondent and to pay him 20% back wages.

2. The respondent herein raised industrial dispute against his termination. The said dispute culminated into aforesaid reference proceeding. In the reference proceeding, the respondent herein filed statement of claim alleging, inter alia, that he was engaged as a Clerk in the Land & Building Department of the petitioner Nagarpalika and was illegal terminated w.e.f. 31.8.1999. He also alleged that at the material point of time, he was drawing salary of Rs. 1350/- and aggrieved by his illegal termination he served notice dated 2.9.1999 claiming reinstatement and consequential benefits. He also claimed in the statement of claim that his notice was not responded and therefore, he had approached the learned Labour Court with a prayer for reinstatement with consequential benefits.

3. Initially, the petitioner Nagarpalika, as usual, showed complete negligence towards the proceedings and neither did it file its written statement nor anybody attended the proceeding. Hence, the proceedings were conducted ex-parte. The learned Labour Court passed award dated 3.8.2005. Subsequently, the petitioner Nagarpalika preferred Misc. Application No. 5 of 2005 praying for restoration of the said proceeding. By order dated 14.2.2006, the said Misc. Application was allowed and the reference proceedings were restored. After the restoration of the proceedings, the petitioner Nagarpalika filed its reply claiming that though it was true that the respondent was working as a Clerk, it was not true that he was entitled for relief prayed for. The petitioner Nagarpalika also disputed the averments in the statement of claim and claimed that the respondent was engaged on ad hoc and daily wages basis and that he had not completed work of 240 days. It is pertinent to note at this stage that except filing the written statement to the aforesaid effect, the petitioner Nagarpalika did not take any other step to defend the proceedings and/or to substantiate its case and even the assertions made in the written statement were also not substantiated and proved.

4. During the proceedings, the deposition / oral evidence of the respondent herein was recorded, however, as recorded by the learned Labour Court in the award, the petitioner Nagarpalika could not dislodge the respondent herein from his assertions made during his examination in chief and could not get anything disputed or controverted or could not bring out any contradiction by / through cross examination.

5. Again, the petitioner Nagarpalika showed total negligence and disinclination to defend the proceedings and did not examine and witness on its behalf nor did it try to produce any documentary evidence and/or substantiate the assertions made in the written statement.

6. The Nagarpalika also did not comply with respondent’s request, made by application Exh.8, for production of documents.

7. Though the petitioner Nagarpalika claimed in the written statement that the respondent had not put in work for 240 days in the preceeding 12 months, the said aspect was not even asserted much less established by the Nagarpalika by its evidence before the learned Labour Court. Under the circumstances, the said averments remain merely a reply, but an unsubstantiated one.

8. The learned Labour Court has recorded that the petitioner Nagarpalika could not disprove the case made out by the workman nor could it establish its own case. In such circumstances, more particularly in absence of any evidence on the part of the petitioner Nagarpalika, the learned Labour Court came to the conclusion that the respondent had, by his evidence, established that his service was terminated a