Jharkhand State Food & Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. v. Suresh Prasad Singh
2017-05-02
SHREE CHANDRASHEKHAR
body2017
DigiLaw.ai
JUDGMENT Chandrashekhar, J. The applicant Jharkhand State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited approached the Letters Patent Court against order dated 01.03.2013 passed in W.P.(S) No. 6550 of 2002, whereby the order of compulsory retirement of the writ petitioner was quashed. The Letters Patent Appeal being L.P.A. No. 54 of 2014 was withdrawn as not pressed, however, with liberty to the Corporation to prefer a review petition. This order was passed on 19.01.2015. The respondent no. 1 filed Cont. Case (Civil) No. 239 of 2015 on 20.04.2015. He had previously filed Cont. Case (Civil) No. 557 of 2013 which, in view of pendency of L.P.A. No. 54 of 2014 was closed with a liberty to him to approach this Court after disposal of the Letters Patent Appeal, if necessary. The instant review petition, however, has been filed on 20.08.2016. A review petition against an order passed by the Writ Court in exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is, in essence, also under Article 226 and, therefore, the period of 30 days for filing review petition in other cases cannot be made applicable in the present proceeding. But, the delay and laches in preferring the instant petition after seeking a liberty from Letters Patent Court on 14.01.2015 writ large on the face of record. I am of the opinion that the instant review petition is liable to be dismissed on this count alone, however, considering the plea raised by the applicant in the present proceeding, I am inclined to adjudicate this petition on merits. 2. Applicant has raised a plea that the liability which arose prior to its coming into existence and incorporation cannot be fastened on it. This is the only plea taken by the applicant for seeking review of order dated 01.03.2013 passed in W.P.(S) No. 6550 of 2002. 3. The applicant Corporation was created vide Resolution No. 1004 dated 06.06.2009 of the Government of Jharkhand. It was registered with the Registrar of Companies, Bihar and Jharkhand which has issued certificate of incorporation dated 18.06.2010. The applicant asserts that by virtue of Resolution No. 223 dated 31.01.2011 issued by the Government of Jharkhand, it can accept services of 352 employees only, and since name of respondent no.1 does not figure in the said list, liability on account of the order passed in W.P.(S) No. 6550 of 2002 cannot be owned by it. 4. Mr.
The applicant asserts that by virtue of Resolution No. 223 dated 31.01.2011 issued by the Government of Jharkhand, it can accept services of 352 employees only, and since name of respondent no.1 does not figure in the said list, liability on account of the order passed in W.P.(S) No. 6550 of 2002 cannot be owned by it. 4. Mr. Rahul Kumar, the learned counsel appears for respondent no. 1 and Mr. Jitendra S. Singh, the learned counsel appears on behalf of the respondent Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Limited. The learned counsel appearing for the contesting respondents has opposed the instant review petition contending that no plea akin to the grounds mentioned under Order 47, Rule 1 C.P.C. has been raised by the applicant in the instant review petition. Mr. Rahul Kumar, the learned counsel for respondent no. 1 submits that only to avoid implementation of order dated 01.03.2013 passed by the Writ Court, the applicant Corporation, which perhaps thinks litigation a luxury, has filed the instant review petition and while so, this petition warrants dismissal with exemplary costs. 5. At the outset, it needs to be recorded that none of the Resolutions referred to in the instant petition has been produced by the Corporation. Besides the above, the averments in the instant petition would indicate that it was the decision of the Government of Jharkhand to retain 352 employees under the service of the applicant Corporation; may be, the logic behind Resolution dated 31.01.2011 was to retain all such employees who were posted within the territory of the newly created State of Jharkhand. The applicant has not taken a stand that there were more employees working under the Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation within the territory now falling under the State of Jharkhand and, it, after assessing the suitability and eligibility of all the employees had taken a conscious decision to retain 352 persons only. In the context of the plea taken by the applicant-Corporation that name of the respondent no. 1 is not included in the said list, suffice would be to record that the respondent no. 1 by that time had compulsorily retired from service.
In the context of the plea taken by the applicant-Corporation that name of the respondent no. 1 is not included in the said list, suffice would be to record that the respondent no. 1 by that time had compulsorily retired from service. It is admitted by the applicant-Corporation that it is the liability of the applicant-Corporation to pay all post retiral dues of the employees serving under Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation, however, subject to the condition that they were serving within the territorial limits of the newly created State of Jharkhand. The respondent no. 1 has brought on record Resolution dated 04.02.2016 on this issue. Order dated 13.09.2004 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, where under assets and liabilities of the Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation have to be apportioned between State of Bihar and State of Jharkhand in the ratio 3:1, would only indicate that the applicant Corporation, in essence, is a successor to the Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation in the State of Jharkhand. In any case, the applicant-Corporation was impleaded as a party respondent before the Writ Court vide order dated 12.10.2011, and for enabling it to file counter affidavit the writ petition was adjourned for 12.12.2011. Thereafter, the matter was listed for hearing on five occasions but the applicant Corporation had chosen not to file its response. 6. In the circumstances, the applicant Corporation must own the liability of back wages which has to be paid to the respondent no. 1 in terms of order dated 01.03.2013 passed in W.P.(S) No. 6550 of 2002. 7. The instant civil review petition stands dismissed.