JUDGMENT

[WP(C) Nos.32886/2018, 32905/2018 and 32888/2018]

These three writ petitions have been filed by the employer questioning the findings rendered by the authority under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (for short, the “Act”) as confirmed by the appellate authority under the statute.

2. The short facts as culled out from W.P(C) No.32886 of 2018 are as under:

The petitioner is a Public Sector undertaking under the Government of Kerala. The 1st respondent was employed as a supplier in a canteen run by the petitioner with reference to the provisions of Section 46 of the Factories Act. The 1st respondent was absorbed in the regular service of the petitioner company pursuant to a memorandum of settlement arrived at between the petitioner company (employer) and the workmen. A perusal of Ext.P2 would show that the canteen was established in 1959 and was being managed by a committee consisting of two representatives of the company and the canteen workers union.

Pursuant to the settlement arrived at, the canteen workers were taken in the rolls of the petitioner company as seen from clause 1 of Ext.P2. Clauses 5 and 6 of Ext.P2 to the extent applicable herein read as under:

“5. For the pu