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Deputy Executive Engineer v. Kuberbhai Kanjibhai

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 19Decided 7 Jan 2019
Civil Appeal No. 5810 of 2009
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Indu Malhotra

Background

A worker who claimed to have served as a daily wager in the State's Roads & Buildings Department for 18 years was terminated without following the legally required procedure. He raised a dispute before the Labour Court nearly 15 years after his termination, and the Labour Court ordered his reinstatement (but no back wages). The Gujarat High Court upheld that award, and the State appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found that the worker had, on the State's version, worked only intermittently for about two years, had no legal right to regularization or to continue as a daily wager, and had waited roughly 15 years before even raising the dispute. Applying its own precedent in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. v. Bhurumal, the Court held that reinstatement is not an automatic remedy for daily-wage workers whose termination is found merely procedurally defective: monetary compensation is often more appropriate, especially after such a long gap. It therefore modified the lower orders, substituting reinstatement with a one-time lump sum payment of Rs. 1,00,000 to be paid within three months, in full and final settlement of the worker's claim.

Lesson Learnt

A daily-wage employee whose termination is found to be illegal is not automatically entitled to get their job back, particularly after a long delay in raising the claim: courts can instead award a fair one-time monetary payment as complete compensation.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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