2026:CGHC:10585 Digita lly signed by YOGESH YOGESH TIWARI AFR TIWARI Date:

2026.02.28

18:13:18 HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR +0530 Order Reserved on : 09.02.2026 Order Delivered on : 28.02.2026 WPS No. 8779 of 2023 Surendra Kumar S/o Keshri Singh, Aged About 31 Years R/o Village Dola, P.O. Ramnagar, Tehsil Kotma, District Anuppur (M.P.)

... Petitioner versus

1 - South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Through Chairman -Cum- Managing Director, South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Seepat Road, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh.

2 - General Manager, (Personnel/Man Power), South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Seepat Road, Bilsapur Chhattisgarh.

3 - Area General Manager, South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Hasdeo Area, P.O. South Jhagrakhand, District Korea Chhattisgarh.

4 - Sub Area Manager, South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Rajnagar OCM, P.O Rajnagar, District Anuppur (M.P.)

5 - Senior Manager (Personnel), South Eastern Coalfields Limited, Rajnagar OCM, P.O Rajnagar, District Anuppur (M.P.)

--- Respondents (Cause-title taken from Case Information System)

Hon'ble Shri Amitendra Kishore Prasad, Judge

CAV Order

1. Heard Mr. Chandresh Shrivastava, learned counsel for the petitioner as well as Mr. Sudhir Kumar Bajpai, learned counsel appearing for the respondents.

2. By filing the present petition, the petitioner assails the inaction of the respondent authorities in not considering and granting him employment as a dependant of his deceased mother under the Social Security Scheme framed in terms of the National Coal Wage Agreement (for short, ‘NCWA’), and seeks issuance of appropriate directions for grant of appointment with consequential benefits. The petitioner has sought for following reliefs:-

“10.1. The Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to call for the entire record pertaining to the case of the petitioner.

10.2. The Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct the respondent authorities to consider the case of petitioner and grant employment to the petitioner being dependant of his mother as per the Social Security Scheme as envisaged under the National Coal Wage Agreement.

10.3. The Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct the respondent Company to issue appointment order in favour of the petitioner as per the National Coal Wage Agreement.

10.4. The Hon'ble Court may kindly pleased to direct the respondent company to pay compensation to the petitioner for the reason that the petitioner's valuable right is unnecessarily being denied by the respondent company.

10.5. Any other relief, which this Hon'ble Court may deems fit and proper may also be awarded to the petitioner including the cost of the petition.”

3. Brief facts of the case in a nutshell are that the Government of India constituted the Joint Bipartite Committee for the Coal Industry (JBCCI) in the year 1973 for negotiating service conditions of non-executive employees in the coal sector, pursuant to which successive settlements known as the NCWA were executed from time to time, the latest being NCWA-XI (01.07.2021 to 30.06.2026). The NCWA is a binding settlement within the meaning of Section 2(p) read with Section 18(3) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and governs the service conditions of workmen in coal mines.

4. The petitioner's mother, Late Smt. Bhagwaniya, was employed as General Mazdoor at Rajnagar OCM and served till her demise on 07.05.2011. In the official service record maintained by the respondents, the petitioner was duly recorded as her dependant family member. After her death, the petitioner applied on 12.09.2011 seeking employment under the Social Security Scheme for dependant employment as envisaged under the NCWA, enclosing all requisite documents. However, by letter dated 20.04.2012, the respondents informed him that his case could not be considered, without assigning any cogent reason.

5. Despite repeated representations, the petitioner’s claim has neither been duly considered nor formally rejected by a reasoned order, thereby depriving him of his legitimate entitlement unde