PWD Temporary Employees Fall Within Domain Of Kalelkar Award; Entitled To Get Benefits Of Public Holidays And 2nd & 4th Saturdays Off: SC
|The Supreme Court held that the employees of Public Works Department (PWD) working in the Converted Temporary Establishment fall within the domain of Kalelkar Award and are entitled to get the benefits of public holidays as well as 2nd and 4th Saturdays off each month.
The Court held thus in a civil appeal preferred by the Secretary, PWD challenging the judgment of the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench by which it dismissed the writ petition of the employer and upheld the Industrial Court’s order.
The two-Judge Bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice R. Mahadevan observed, “It is thus clear that except the daily-wage employees, all other categories of employees are entitled to get such public holidays as are sanctioned by the Government for these categories of employees. The respondent-employees in the present factual matrix fall under the category of temporary employees and not as daily-wage employees. As of 27th February 2004, they have been placed on the Converted Temporary Establishment in accordance with the Kalelkar Award. Therefore, the respondent-employees are entitled to all the holiday benefits and other emoluments stipulated under the Kalelkar Award.”
Advocate Siddharth Dharmadhikari represented the appellants while AOR Ansar Ahmad Chaudhary represented the respondents.
In this case, the respondents/employees were appointed on the positions of Mailmujar and Mali between 1982 and 1997 under the Executive Engineer, PWD and Sub-Divisional Officer, PWD. In 2004, they were placed on the Converted Temporary Establishment in accordance with the Kalelkar Award which came into effect in 1967, determining the service conditions of the workers working in PWD at various places/districts under different projects. Under the Kalelkar Award, the PWD workers or the staff are entitled to get the benefits of public holidays as well as holidays on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month.
In 1974, the Maharashtra Government issued a Government Resolution wherein the benefits of public holidays as well as holidays on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month, were purported to be withdrawn as far as the field staff is concerned. Being aggrieved, the respondents approached the Industrial Court which allowed their complaint and upheld their claim for entitlement of holidays on 2nd and 4th Saturdays and for payment of salary equal to one and a half times salary for the work done by them on 2nd and 4th Saturdays as per the Kalelkar Award. Challenging this, the appellants filed a writ petition before the High Court which dismissed the same and upheld the Industrial Court’s order. Hence, the appeal was filed before the Apex Court.
The Supreme Court after hearing the contentions of the counsel, noted, “The fundamental issue before us is whether the respondent-employees who are working in Public Works Department as a Converted Temporary Establishment and fall within the domain of Kalelkar Award, are entitled to get the benefits of public holidays as well as holidays on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month.”
The Court said that the contention advanced by the counsel for the appellants-employer that the respondent-employees are not eligible for Government holidays, including the 2nd and 4th Saturdays, based on the Circular issued by the Government, is fundamentally flawed.
“The Circular, as referred to by the learned counsel for the appellants-employer, pertains specifically to the issues involved in disposed of cases and those pending before the Industrial Court in Bombay. The instructions in this Circular were related to the cancellation of facilities and concessions granted through interim orders in those particular cases. However, the above stated Circular does not govern the employees who were shifted to the Converted Temporary Establishment under the Kalelkar Award, neither it stated that the said employees would be ineligible for the benefits outlined in the Award, such as Government holidays and overtime allowances”, it added.
The Court further observed that the provisions of the Kalelkar Award explicitly state that all employees, except those on daily wages, are entitled to such benefits and that the appellants-employer’s reliance on the Circular to deny the complainants their rightful entitlements is misguided and does not withstand scrutiny when compared to more specific and comprehensive provisions of the Kalelkar Award.
“Consequently, the Circular does not negate the eligibility of the respondent-employees for Government holidays and overtime allowances, and they were rightly granted the relief sought for by the Industrial Court and affirmed by the High Court. … The Industrial Court assigned strong unassailable reasons while granting relief sought for by the respondent-employees in terms of the Kalelkar award”, it concluded.
Accordingly, the Apex Court dismissed the appeal, upheld the impugned judgment, and directed the employer to comply with the Industrial Court’s order within eight weeks.
Cause Title- The Secretary, Public Works Department & Ors. v. Tukaram Pandurang Saraf & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 703)
Appearance:
Appellants: Advocate Siddharth Dharmadhikari, AOR Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, Advocates Bharat Bagla, Sourav Singh, Aditya Krishna, Aadarsh Dubey, Preet S. Phanse, and Yamini Singh.
Respondents: AOR Ansar Ahmad Chaudhary, Advocates Md. Anas Chaudhary, Mohd. Sharyab Ali, Shehla Chaudhary, Iduddin, and Altamash Ahmad.