Delhi District Court
Workman vs . Management on 4 January, 2012
Sh. Rakesh Rathi s. M/s. Pantaloon Retail (India Pvt. Ltd.) & Ors. DID No. 131/09
IN THE COURT OF DR. P S MALIK THE PRESIDING OFFICER
IN
LABOUR COURT XI, KARKARDOOMA COURTS, DELHI
ID No. 02402C0127472009
Type of Case Direct Industrial Dispute
Date of Institution 23.11.2009
Date of Award 04.01.2012
WORKMAN Vs. MANAGEMENT
Sh. Rakesh Rathi, S/o Sh. 1. M/s. Pantaloon Retail (India Pvt.
Raghuveer Rathi, R/o RZ - 3 / Ltd.) through its . Chairman, Big
350, Jaghdamba Vihar, New Delhi Bazar West Gate Mall, Plot No.
- 110 046. 456, Shivaji Palace, District
Centre, Raja Garden, New Delhi -
110 027.
2. M/s. Pantaloon Retail (India
Pvt. Ltd.) through its . Chairman,
Mayur Tosiwal, Managing
Director, Future Group, Plot No.
82, Sector - 32, Behind Ranbaxi,
Jharsaroad, Gurgaon (Haryana).
3. M/s. Pantaloon Retail (India
Pvt. Ltd.) through its . Chairman,
Kishore Biyani, Knowledge House,
Shyam Nagar, Off. Jogeshwari,
Vikhroli, Link Road, Jogeshwari
East, Mumbai - 400060.
PRESENT:
➔ None for the parties.
AWARD :
1. The workman namely Rakesh Rathi filed this direct industrial dispute before this
court U/S 10 (4A) of the Industrial Disputes Act.
2. As per his claim, the workman Rakesh Rathi was working with the
Management M/s. Pantaloon Retail (India Pvt. Ltd.) since 01.05.2005
AWARD Page 1 of 4
Sh. Rakesh Rathi s. M/s. Pantaloon Retail (India Pvt. Ltd.) & Ors. DID No. 131/09
as a Maintenance Coordinator. His last drawn salary was Rs.6532/ p.m. As per
workman he performed his duties upto the mark and to the full satisfaction of the
Management and he did not give any chance of complaint to the Management at any
point of time.
3. As per this workman Amar Singh, the Management provided him the legal
benefits such as appointment letter, attendance card, leave book, casual leave and
minimum wages etc. Initially on 21.04.2005 an appointment letter was issued by
Sh. Kripesh Hariharan, Sr. Manager HR of the Management. Then on 20.10.2005
a confirmation letter was issued by Sh. Prashant Paul, Store Manager of the
Management. Suddenly Sh. Ankit Kapoor Store Manager, with malafide intention,
stopped marking attendance of the workman and he was advised to meet Sh.
Chitban Bohara Zonal Manager and Sh. Narender Sharma HR Manager of the
Management. When the workman met both of them he was pressurized to tender his
resignation and was further threatened for his criminal intimidation. As per
workman Sh. Ankit Kapoor, Sh. Chitban Bohara and Sh. Narender Sharma in
collusion with each other, on 13.03.2009 terminated his services illegally. It is
alleged by the workman that the Management terminated his services without
following the due procedures of law as provided under the Industrial Disputes
Act.
4. All the Managements filed their joint reply / written statement to the claim of the
workman. The Managements took a specific plea in the written statement that the
claim is misdirected qua the respondents / Managements no. 2 and 3 as there was no
privily of contract between the claimant / workman and these respondents / Managements. The whole claim of the claimant was denied by the Management.
5. Based on the pleadings of the parties, this court vide its order dated 18.09.2010 framed the following issues : (1) Whether the workman had voluntarily abandoned his services with the Management? OPM.
(2) Whether the services of workman were terminated illegally or unjustifiably by the Management? OPW.
(3) Relief, if any.
AWARD Page 2 of 4
Sh. Rakesh Rathi s. M/s. Pantaloon Retail (India Pvt. Ltd.) & Ors. DID No. 131/09
6. Thereafter, the case was fixed for workman evidence for 14.12.2010 and thereafter for 08.03.2011. on 08.03.2011 the workman appeared in the court with his counsel and filed his evidence affidavit on record. Request for adjournment was made by the workman and accordingly the case was adjourned for 05.05.2011. On 05.05.2011 the workman did not appear in the court and the case was adjourned for 18.08.2011. On 18.08.02.2011 none appeared on behalf of the workman and the case was adjourned for 09.09.2011 the the claimant / workman was granted last opportunity to lead his evidence. On 09.09.2011 again the case was adjourned for 11.11.2011 on the request of the workman. Thereafter on 04.01.2012 neither the workman nor his counsel appeared in the court. Accordingly the opportunity of the workman to lead evidence in support of his claim was directed to be closed.
7. In the circumstances in which the workman evidence was directed to be closed, the Management's evidence was also not required and hence the same was also directed to be closed.
ISSUE NO. 1 :
8. In this issue this court has to adjudicate upon the factum if the workman had voluntarily abandoned his services with the Management.
9. The onus to prove this issue was upon the Management. But as stated above, the claimant / workman did not appear the court to lead evidence in support of his claim. In the absence of the any claimant / workman evidence, there was no need for the Managements to lead any evidence.
10. In these circumstances, this issue is held to be "Not Proved" and is decided accordingly.
ISSUE NO. 2 :
11. In this issue this court has to adjudicate upon as to whether the services of the claimant / workman were terminated illegally and / or unjustifiably by the Management.
12. In the absence of any workman evidence, this court is unable to give any findings on this issue. Hence this issue is also held to be "Not Proved" and is decided accordingly.
AWARD Page 3 of 4Sh. Rakesh Rathi s. M/s. Pantaloon Retail (India Pvt. Ltd.) & Ors. DID No. 131/09 RELIEF :
13. In view of the findings of this court on the issues no. 1 and 2, the claimant / workman is held to be not entitled for any relief.
14. A copy of this award be sent to the office of the Labour Commissioner for necessary action.
15. The original documents be returned back against acknowledgment to the parties which have filed them.
16. File be consigned to the Record Room after completing due formalities. ANNOUNCED IN THE OPEN COURT ON 04.01.2012.
Dr. P S MALIK POLC XI, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi AWARD Page 4 of 4