Yesterday, in the matter of Creative Garments Ltd vs Kashiram Verma, the Supreme Court of India directed workers and employees who are involved in labour disputes to provide their permanent addresses in pleadings instead of merely providing the address of labour unions or authorised representatives
A division bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Justice Rajesh Bindal held that the address of labour unions or authorised representatives is not sufficient to serve Notice.
"Effective relief can be granted to a worker only if the permanent address of the workman is furnished in the pleadings ... In future all the cases to be filed and in all the pending cases, the parties shall be required to furnish their permanent address(es)."
The petitioner filed an appeal against an order of the division bench of the Bombay High Court, in 2010. In its orders, the Court upheld the verdicts of a single judge of a labour court directing reinstatement of the respondent with full back-wages with effect from December 1997.
Supreme Court noted that after the High Court order, the appellant had sent various communications by registered post to the respondent to convey the order to reinstate him but to no avail. Further, the workman had not reported back for duty to date, even after an assurance from his counsel to the High Court in 2007.
The top court noted that the same suggested that he must have been gainfully employed after leaving the job in question.
Therefore, the appeal was allowed and the labour court's award was set aside.
"The present appeal cannot be kept pending as the conduct of the respondent itself establishes that he is no more interested in employment what to talk of back-wages," the bench stated.
The directions were also issued in anticipation of the fact that the executive would soon enforce the four pending labour codes, which have consolidated several labour welfare legislations, namely:
1. Code on Wages, 2019;
2. Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020;
3. Industrial Relation Code, 2020;
4. Code on Social Security, 2020
"With the enforcement of 4 Labour Codes, we are hopeful that in future, when rules are framed, authorities will take care that parties to the dispute furnish their permanent addresses in the cases relating to labour law disputes," the Court observed.
Case details:-
Civil Appeal No 5758 of 2012
M/s. Creative Garments Ltd. …Appellant
Versus
Kashiram Verma …Respondent
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