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Meer Singh & Ors vs. Central Board of Irrigation & Power

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:8038Decided 16 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 6150/2008CNR: DLHC011210402008
Justice Amit Mahajan

Background

A group of employees formed a union in 1998 and, alleging harassment by management afterward, went on strike. They claimed that when the strike ended, management pressured them into signing a voluntary retirement agreement through fraud and coercion, even though they had already received and kept their severance dues. The Industrial Tribunal rejected their claim for reinstatement, finding the agreement was entered voluntarily and that the workers had never actually alleged they were underpaid or had accepted the money "under protest." They challenged this before the High Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Court agreed with the Tribunal that the workers' own conduct undercut their fraud claim: they never disputed how the agreement was signed at the time, they kept the settlement money without protest for years, and their own union secretary had even later requested character/experience certificates referencing that same settlement. The industrial dispute was also raised years after the 1998 agreement, further weakening the claim. Finding no perversity in the Tribunal's reasoning, the Court dismissed the petition.

Lesson Learnt

A long delay in raising a fraud claim, combined with having accepted and kept settlement money without any contemporaneous objection, will seriously undermine a later attempt to argue that a resignation or retirement agreement was signed under coercion.

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