Point of Law: Courts cannot interfere in a matter after passage of a certain length of time.

JUDGMENT :

Sandeep Sharma, J.

Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with Award dated 28.11.2017, passed in Reference No. 74 of 2016 (Annexure P-2) passed by learned Presiding Judge, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, whereby reference petition under S.10 of the Industrial Disputes Act (hereinafter, ‘Act’) filed by the petitioner, came to be dismissed, on the ground of delay and laches, the petitioner has preferred the present writ petition, seeking therein quashing of the award passed by learned Tribunal below consequently allowing the reference petition.

2. Precisely, the facts of the case, as emerge from the record are that the petitioner was appointed as daily rated Class IV employee in 1980 with the respondents and worked as such, till 1981 and completed 240 days in each calendar year. It is claimed by the petitioner that his services were terminated in 1981 without any reason and his juniors were retained, which action of the respondents is against the provisions of Ss. 25-G and 25-H of the Act.

3. Respondents filed reply to the claim petition, thereby taking preliminary objections of maintainability, delay and laches and jurisdiction of the learned Tribunal below to adjudicate matters pertaining to the respondent-University. It is further averred in the reply that record of the Research Station for the period with effect from January 1974 to 28.10.1997 has been destroyed. On merit, it is contended by the respondent-University that the petitioner worked with it with effect from 29.1.1980 to 20.11.1980 and thereafter abandoned the job and never came back for work whereas, other persons appointed with the petitioner continued to perform their duties. Violation of Ss. 25-G and 25-H of the Act has been denied by the respondent-University.

4. Learned Tribunal below, vide impugned Award, dismissed the reference made to it by the appropriate Government under S.10 of the Act, mainly on the ground of delay and laches, resulting in petitioner approaching this Court in the instant proceedings, for quashment of the award passed by learned Tribunal below, consequently allowing the reference petition filed by him.

5. Having heard learned counsel representing the parties and perused material available on record, this Court finds that the claim petition was instituted on 8.8.2016, after an inordinate delay of 33 years. Services of the petitioner were allegedly terminated in the year 1981 but he approached learned Tribunal below in the year 2016 It is evident that the petitioner raised industrial dispute after around 33 years of his alleged illegal termination.

6. Learned counsel representing the petitioner, though vehemently argued before this Court that the cause of action arose in favour of the petitioner when juniors and fresh hands were retained/engaged but aforesaid argument of learned counsel for the petitioner is without any merit and accordingly deserves outright rejection.

7. Mr. Inder Sharma, learned counsel for the respondent-University, while refuting aforesaid submissions made on behalf of learned counsel for the petitioner argued that since petitioner failed to avail the legal remedy of raising industrial dispute within time, no illegality can be said to have been committed by the learned Tribunal below, while dismissing the reference petition. Besides this, Mr. Sharma argued that the petitioner had abandoned the job without any reason and he never came back for the job, as such, there is no illegality in the termination of the services of the petitioner and the award passed by learned Tribunal below.

8. Admittedly, in the case at hand, demand was raised by the petitioner under the Act after an inordinate delay of 33 years. Though learned Tribunal below held termination of the petitioner in violation of Ss. 25-F, 25-G and 25-H of the Act, but yet it did not direct reinstatement of the petitioner for the reason that dispute, if any, ceased to exist on account of inordinate delay.

9. Hon’ble Apex Court in Prabha