ONGC Loses Labour Case After 25 Years

After 25 years of litigation, the Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of ONGC Ltd in its fight with the Petroleum Coal Labour Union. The court directed the public sector undertaking to implement the order of the industrial tribunal passed in 1999 regularising temporary workers. The court found that they were working for several years and were therefore its workers under the standing orders of the company and industrial laws. Apart from regularisation in their posts, the court also asked the PSU to pay them back wages, monetary benefits including terminal benefits on the basis of periodical revision of pay scales. All this should be done in two months, or else nine per cent interest shall be paid. The court also wanted a compliance report from ONGC after two months.
Copy of Supreme Court order:
http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/img...filename=42616

How much resources did ONGC waste in the 25 years for denying justice to its own workmen must be investigated. This may not be an exception in fact. Every case that reaches the Supreme Court on flimsy ground may be just a reflection of the "litigation industry" beneath. Big lawyers are engaged to fight the case across say here between Chennai and New Delhi and the legal officers may have been shuttling between these places during the last 25 years. Unions also enjoy the litigation because it is a lucrative business and a means to exploit the poor workmen. There must be detailed inquiries in to the merits by which the litigation are getting pursued up to the Supreme Court.

Government and departments under them routinely fight long drawn battles in court.Big shot lawyers are beneficiaries in such legal battles.The long fight ensures those big lawyers -big amounts of fees -even when routinely dates are being given by Honble courts.

The end result of litigation industry is that justice gets denied to litigants who obviously cannot match the deep pockets of the government.(Tax Payers money)

Same thing happened in Defence Minstry-they fought for decades against implementation of Maj Dhnaplan case concerning wrong fixation of rank pay(exclusion of rank pay in pay fixation) and now over last 1 yar have paid the entitled beneficiaries.Had they done it in time the service men would have been happy.similar attitudinal problem with regard to OROP.

Hiring and keeping labour on temporary or casual status for long and treting them with all strictness,while closing eyes to overtime payments being made to permanent employees regardless of whether they work or not shows inability to be financially prudent or ability to maintain discipline.

All of us have read recent articles where in FCI some workers earn upto rs4L per month and these workers even hire their own labour for lifting food grain sacks.

OT being paid to drivers,select peons and watchmen in many PSUs would give you an indication of how favoured unionised workmen are treated.

Government should keep a committee to review all court cases and withdraw cases which do not ave any larger principle of law.

Litigation should be last resort.

After a certain stage, it becomes more of an ego problem.. Instead of wasting money and time and resources over 25 years and how much of expenditure and incidental expenses of copying documents, travelling, stay, TA, DA etc, the SC has quashed the case. To whose benefit ? To solve whose ego problem ? Instead they could have implemented and earned the goodwill of the people.. Waste of public money ultimately. Similarly hundreds of cases might be going on in various courts at different stages. Government should wake up and find out whether it is worth fighting frivolous cases !

Dear Sir,
I am also a contract workmen in reputed navratna oil company more than 10 years in skilled wages and also getting pf benefits & esic benefits etc. from different contractors from time to time frame. Can I apply to HQO with regarding help of this case to permanent me in their level or i have to wait and watch for the backlog recruitment if allow in future.
Regards,
Jitendra