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"2. (i) Classification of workmen.
The contingent employees of the Commission shall hereafter be classified as :-
Temporary, and Casual
(ii) A workman who has been on the rolls of the Commission and has put in not less than 180 days of attendance in any period of 12 consecutive months shall be a temporary workman, provided that a temporary workman who has put in not less than 240 days of attendance in any period of 12 consecutive months and who possesses the minimum qualifications prescribed by Commission may be considered for conversion as regular employee.
(iii) A workman who is neither temporary nor regular shall be considered as casual workman."

The above emphasised portion of Clause 2(ii) of the Certified Standing Orders states that a temporary workman who has put in not less than 240 days of attendance in any calendar period of 12 consecutive months, which is actually contrary to the provision under Section 25B(2)a of the Act, which states that a workman shall be deemed to be in continuous service under an employer for a period of one year, if the workman, during a period of twelve calendar months preceding the date with reference to which calculation is to be made, has actually worked under the employer for not less than one hundred and ninety days in the case of a workman employed below ground in a mine and two hundred and forty days in any other case. In any case, it is clear that the concerned workmen have clearly completed more than 240 days of services subsequent to the memorandum of appointment issued by the Corporation in the year 1988 in a period of twelve calendar months, therefore, they are entitled for regularisation of their services into permanent posts of the Corporation as per the Act as well as the Certified Standing Orders of the Corporation.

The reliance placed upon these documents by the Corporation in justification of their claim that the concerned workmen are not entitled to be regularised in their services as permanent employees in their posts as per the award passed by the Tribunal is misplaced and wholly untenable in law. Therefore, the same cannot be accepted by this Court. Hence, the said contention is liable to be rejected and is accordingly rejected.

Further, it was contended by the learned senior counsel that the Certified Standing Orders of the Corporation do not apply to the concerned workmen to claim regularisation in their posts as regular employees as provided under Clause 2(ii) of the Certified Standing Orders of the Corporation. The said contention is wholly untenable in law as the Standing Orders of the Corporation certainly apply to the concerned workmen as they have been rendering their services in the Corporation even prior to the year 1985, being appointed through contractors, the Co-operative Society and directly thereafter vide memorandum of appointment in the year 1988 by issuing appointment orders on different dates during that year on the condition that the Certified Standing Orders of the ONGC will not be applicable to them. Such a condition incorporated in the appointment orders issued to the concerned workmen is not valid in law and the same is void for the reason that they are workmen for the purpose of the Certified Standing Orders and therefore, the above said condition has to be ignored. When the concerned workmen were appointed by issuing the memorandum of appointment to work in the posts of the Corporation, providing them with monthly salaries, it cannot arbitrarily and unilaterally state that the Certified Standing Orders of the Corporation are not applicable to the concerned workmen. The concerned workmen cannot be denied their legitimate, statutory and fundamental right to be regularised in their posts as provided under Clause 2 (ii) of the Certified Standing Orders on the basis of the above said contention urged on their behalf and also because the Corporation did not follow the due procedure as provided under the Appointment and Recruitment Rules for appointment of the concerned workmen in the Corporation. The said contention urged by the learned senior counsel on behalf of the Corporation is an afterthought to justify their irregular act of appointing them as temporary workmen and continuing them as such for a number of years though they are entitled for regularisation under Clause 2(ii) of the Standing Orders of the Corporation, which action of it amounts to an unfair labour practice as defined under Section 2(ra) of the Act, read with the provisions of Sections 25T and 25U of the Act, which prohibits such employment in the Corporation. It would be unjust and unfair to deny them regularisation in their posts for the error committed by the Corporation in the procedure to appoint them in the posts. Further, the Corporation cannot use the alleged "policy decision" as a veil to justify its action which included inaction on its part in not regularising the concerned workmen in their services under Clause 2(ii) of the Certified Standing Orders.

Further, it has been contended by the learned senior counsel on behalf of the Corporation that in the absence of any plea taken by the workmen in their claim statement regarding unfair labour practice being committed by the Corporation against the concerned workmen, the learned single Judge and the Division Bench ought not to have entertained the said plea as it is a well settled principle of law that such plea must be pleaded and established by a party who relies before the Tribunal. In support of the above contention reliance was placed by him on the decision of this Court in Siemens Limited & Anr. v. Siemens Employees Union & Anr.[13] The said contention of the learned senior counsel on behalf of the Corporation is wholly untenable in law and the reliance placed on the aforesaid case is misplaced for the reason that it is an undisputed fact that the workmen have been appointed on term basis vide memorandum of appointment issued to each one of the concerned workmen in the year 1988 by the Corporation who continued their services for several years. Thereafter, they were denied their legitimate right to be regularised in the permanent posts of the Corporation. The said fact was duly noted by the High Court as per the contention urged on behalf of the Corporation and held on the basis of facts and evidence on record that the same attracts entry Item No.10 of Schedule V of the Act, in employing the concerned workmen as temporary employees against permanent posts who have been doing perennial nature of work and continuing them as such for number of years. We affirm the same as it is a clear case of an unfair labour practice on the part of the Corporation as defined under Section 2(ra) of the Act, which is statutorily prohibited under Section 25T of the Act and the said action of the Corporation warrants penalty to be imposed upon it under Section 25U of the Act. In fact, the said finding of fact has been recorded by both the learned single Judge and the Division Bench of the High Court in the impugned judgment on the ground urged on behalf of the Corporation. Even if, this Court eschews the said finding and reason recorded in the impugned judgment accepting the hyper technical plea urged on behalf of the Corporation that there is no plea of unfair labour practice made in the claim statement, this Court in this appeal cannot interfere with the award of the Tribunal and the impugned judgment and order of the High Court for the other reasons assigned by them for granting relief to the concerned workmen. Even in the absence of plea of an act of unfair labour practice committed by the Corporation against the concerned workmen, the Labour Court/High Court have got the power to record the finding of fact on the basis of the record of the conciliation officer to ensure that there shall be effective adjudication of the industrial dispute to achieve industrial peace and harmony in the industry in the larger interest of public, which is the prime object and intendment of the Industrial Disputes Act. This principle of law has been well established in a catena of cases of this Court. In the instant case, the commission of an unfair labour practice in relation to the concerned workmen by the Corporation is ex-facie clear from the facts pleaded by both the parties and therefore, the courts have the power to adjudicate the same effectively to resolve the dispute between the parties even in the absence of plea with regard to such an aspect of the case.