Hon’ble Saumitra Dayal Singh, J.—This writ petition has been filed by the employer against the award of the Labour Court, Varanasi in Adjudication Case No. 147 of 2002 dated 30.1.2012 by which the respondent workman has been directed to be reinstated together with payment of 20,000/- towards compensation in lieu of back-wages.

2. It is the case of the petitioner that the respondent had worked in the Irrigation Department as ‘Beldar’ from 1988 onward. At any rate he claimed to have worked continuously from 1.3.1991 to 30.11.1991 during which period the said respondent further claimed to have worked for 275 days. Thereafter, he claimed to have been wrongly terminated w.e.f. 1.12.1991. While it appears that the Irrigation Department had got prepared a list of workman who were similarly placed as the respondents for consideration of their claims for regularization, it is a fact that the respondent was not regularized nor his engagement was continued beyond 1.12.1991.

3. It is in this background after ten years a conciliation proceeding is said to have been initiated in 2001 and, thereafter, a reference was made to the Labour Court, Varanasi in 2002 which has given rise to the a