24 years full back wages - Illegal termination of service of a DTC conductor - Violation of Section 33 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 – Workman is entitled to full back wages from the date of termination till the date of superannuation – Letters Patent Appeal (LPA), filed by DTC, dismissed with costs of Rs. 25,000/- by Delhi High Court (Division Bench)

07.03.2025

Delhi High Court (DB)

 

24 years full back wages - Illegal termination of service of a DTC conductor - Violation of Section 33 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 – Workman is entitled to full back wages from the date of termination till the date of superannuation – Letters Patent Appeal (LPA), filed by DTC, dismissed with costs of Rs. 25,000/- by Delhi High Court (Division Bench)

 

Directive paragraphs of the order dated 07.03.2025, passed by the division bench of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court in LPA No. 690/2018, titled ‘DTC Vs. Ram’, reads as under: -

 

“22. There is the further argument of the Appellant in respect of Article 311 and its non-application insofar as the Appellant is concerned. Once the termination has already been held to be illegal on grounds of Section 33 of the Act and the lack of an enquiry, there arises no need for us to enter into that arena.

 

23. In view of our discussion above, while affirming the Judgment of the learned Single Judge, we are of the considered view that there is no merit in the present Appeals and the same are, consequently, dismissed.

 

24. While parting however, we would like to express our extreme displeasure at the manner in which the Appellant, who, for at least three decades, if not more, has constrained a former employee, a conductor at the time of his termination, to continue litigating for his rights. This is all the more striking in view of the fact that all similarly placed persons had already been given the benefits by the Hon’ble Supreme Court way back in 2017 itself. Despite the same, the present Appeal came to be filed sometime in 2018.

 

25. We believe that such rote filing of appeals should be discouraged and accordingly direct that the Appellant shall, within a period of three weeks, disburse to the workman, all the benefits he would be entitled to, as a consequence of the present Judgment. The Appellant shall, in addition to the costs awarded vide orders dated 10.12.2018 [in LPA 690/2018] and 12.12.2018 [in LPA 707/2018], within three weeks, pay the Respondent a further sum of Rs. 25,000/- (Twenty-Five Thousand Only) for the protracted litigation that it has forced the workman to endure.

 

26. The present appeals and all pending applications, if any, are disposed of in the above terms.”

 

[DTC Vs. Ram, LPA No. 690/2018, DOD – 07.03.2025, Delhi High Court (DB)]

 

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Anuj Aggarwal

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