The Supreme Court of India allowed the appeal of the Executive Union of workers against the management of Food Corporation of India (FCI). The case originated from an industrial dispute raised by the Executive Staff Union of FCI in 1996, involving 21 casual workers, including Sh. Shashi Shankar and others.

The Central Government Tribunal in Dhanbad later held that the retrenchment of these workers was invalid since they were not given notice or compensation. The tribunal directed the FCI management to reinstate the workers and regularize their services in Class IV posts, along with paying 75% of back wages.

Aggrieved by the award, the FCI management filed a writ petition before the Jharkhand High Court, where an interim stay was granted on the condition that they continue to pay last drawn wages to the workers. Subsequently, the workers filed a contempt petition seeking compliance with the orders. In the year 2000, the management decided to implement the award and absorbed the workers into regular services, pending the outcome of their writ petition.

In 2018, the single judge of the High Court opined that while the casual employees were entitled to regularization under Section 25F of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, they could not be granted regularisation in service. Nevertheless, due to the management's compliance with the award for 18 years, the judge held that changing the position at that stage would cause great hardship to the workers.

The management appealed this decision before a division bench of the Jharkhand High Court in 2019. The bench modified the order by not allowing regularization of service but maintained the direction to pay 75% back wages.

The recent judgment by the Supreme Court, delivered by a bench comprising of Justices Krishna Murari and Sanjay Kumar, upheld the award and ruled in favor of the workers. The court emphasized that the management had voluntarily chosen to implement the award during the pendency of the writ petition, allowing the workmen to be in regular service for over two decades. As a result, the management could not now challenge the award and seek to turn back the clock, as it had altered the workers' positions by absorbing them into regular services.

The court referred to the doctrine of "approbate and reprobate," stating that the management cannot enjoy the benefits of an instrument while simultaneously questioning its validity. Therefore, the Supreme Court rejected the management's appeal, allowing the workers of FCI to retain the benefits of the award.

Case title: FCI Executive Staff Union v. Employer, Management of FCI Civil Appeal No.: 4152 of 2023 (Special Leave Petition (C) No. 3656 of 2021)

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