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Gurjant Singh & Ors. v. State of Punjab & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 5445 of 2016)Decided 1 Jul 2016
Civil Appeal No. 5445 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

The appellants, workmen, were aggrieved by a Punjab & Haryana High Court judgment that remitted their industrial-dispute references to the Labour Court/Industrial Tribunal, Patiala. Fearing termination while the references were pending, they obtained a Supreme Court interim order directing status quo on their service. The Tribunal initially stayed its hands because of that interim order, until a later Supreme Court order clarified the Tribunal could proceed despite the pending appeal.

Decision Breakdown

By the time this appeal came up, the Industrial Tribunal, Patiala had already decided the references and passed Awards directing reinstatement of all five appellant-workmen with continuity of service, though without back wages for the non-working period. Since the underlying dispute was already resolved by the Tribunal, the Supreme Court held it unnecessary to keep the appeal pending any further. It disposed of the appeal with no order as to costs, leaving it open to any party still aggrieved by the Tribunal's Awards to pursue separate remedies in accordance with law.

Lesson Learnt

An interim "status quo" order from a higher court is a temporary shield, not a final answer, once the body actually tasked with deciding the dispute (here, the Industrial Tribunal) rules on the merits, the appeal seeking only interim protection becomes redundant and is simply closed, with normal legal remedies remaining open against the fresh decision.

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

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