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Krishan Kumar vs. The State Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Anr.

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:7406Decided 1 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 10586/2015CNR: DLHC015619142015
Justice Amit Mahajan

Background

The petitioner claimed he had worked as a Caretaker at a private school (D.A.V. Public School, Pusa Road) since 2002 and was illegally terminated in December 2009 while drawing Rs. 8,000 per month. The school denied he was ever its employee. The Labour Court, after examining witnesses on both sides, found the appointment letter and certificate relied on by the petitioner were not shown to have been issued by anyone with authority to do so, that his name did not appear in the school's provident fund records, and that even his own second witness admitted he had actually worked at a different, similarly-named school.

Decision Breakdown

The High Court, applying the settled principle that it does not sit as an appeal court over a Labour Court's factual findings and will interfere only if those findings are perverse or based on no evidence, held the Labour Court's conclusion was a plausible view properly supported by the record. It also noted that, independent of the employment dispute, the petitioner was already 62 years old, beyond the normal retirement age, at the time of his alleged termination in 2009, so reinstatement could not be granted in any event.

Lesson Learnt

In an industrial dispute, the burden is on the worker to prove there was a genuine employer-employee relationship with cogent documentary evidence (such as verified appointment records or PF entries): an appointment letter or certificate of uncertain authorship, without more, will not be enough to establish that relationship.

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