JAGRIT MAZDOOR UNION (REGD.) & ORS. ETC. ETC.versusMAHANAGAR TELEPHONE NIGAM LTD. & ANR. ETC. ETC.

  JAGRIT MAZDOOR UNION (REGO.) & ORS. ETC. ETC.
                                                                            A
                       v.
    MAHANAGAR TELEPHONE NIGAM LTD. & ANR.
                   ETC. ETC.

                        NOVEMBER 29, 1989
                                                                            B
   [RANGANATH MISRA, P.B. SAWANT AND K. RAMAS-
                   WAMY, JJ.]

      Casual Labourers (Grant of Temporary Status) Regulation
Scheme, 1989: Reserve Trained Pool Telephone Operators-Regulari-
sation of-Directions by Court.
                                                                            c
       The Petitioners in first two Writ Petitions are Reserve Trained
Pool Telephone Operators (RTPI'OS) of Delhi and Bombay Mahanagar
Telephones who are seeking directions that after their absorption as
regular employees following the implemeiitation of the directions of this
Court dated 28.7.1986 in an earlier Writ Petition No. 11764 of 1985         D
filed by the All India Telegraph Engineering Employees Union Class III
of Bombay Telephones, they are _entitled to be brought on par with the
regular Staff for grant of all other service benefits as well since they
have been performing the same dnties 'as performed by regular
operators.
                                                                            E
       The other two P~titions pertain to the Department of Posts. One is
b.y the Reserve Trained. Pool Operators (RTPOS) and the other by the
Substitute Employees and Casual Labourers in that Department. While
the RTPOS have claimed relief of being placed' at par with regular,
permanent or temporary employees in the matte~ of service conditions,
the substitute employees and casual labourers claim that they be paid       F
the same emoluments as the regular employees.

      Disposing of the Petitions, this Court,

        HELD: The scheme known as Casual Labourers (Grant of
  Temporary Status in Regularisation) Scheme has been formulated and        G
  pnt into operation from 1.10.1989. Hence no further specific direction
  is necessary as regards applicants covered by the Telephone Nigams of
. Delhi and Bombay except calling npon the respondents to implement
  every term of the Scheme at an early date. [332E-F]

      As per existing recruitment rules, extra-departmental agents are      H

                                   329
    330        SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [ 1989] Supp. 2 S.C.R.

A   given preference in the matter of absorption as Group 'D' postmen.
    Directions have already been issued for their absorption against the
    vacancies. [333H]                            ,

          The ciaim to bonus may be ten to arbitration or for being dealt
    with by a Consultative Council. [334F]
B
                                                                         ~
          After rendering three years of continuous service with temporary
    status, the casual labourers shall be treated at par with temporary
    Grade 'D' employees of the Department of Posts and would thereby be
    entitled to such benefits as' are admissible to Group 'D' employees on
    regular basis. [335B]
                                                                             •
c
          CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition No. 1119
    of 1986 etc. etc.

           (Under Article 32 of the Constitution oflndia).
D         G. Ramaswamy, A.S.G., N.C. Sikri, N.S. Das Bahl, B.D.
    Sharma, Ms. Madhu Sikri, B.W. Vaidya, R.B. Misra, Ms. A.'
    Subhashini (not present) and Dalveer Bhandari for the appearing
    parties.

          The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
E
        RANGANATH MISRA, J. The first of these applications under
  Art. 32 of the Constitution is on behalf of the Delhi Reserve Trained
  Pool Telephone Operators (RTPTOs) asking for a direction to the
  Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited to treat all the telephorie
  operators at par after their absorption as regular employees. Three
F letters addressed to the learned Chief Justice of this Court have been
  treated as writ petitions and are the remaining one under Art. 32 of the
  Constitution. The first one ( 1276/86) is by the Reserve Trained Pool
  Telephone Operators of Bombay. They claim the self-same relief as
  asked for in the earlier case; the second one ( 1623/86) is on behalf of
  the Reserve Trained Pool Operators in the Department of Posts and
G they have claimed relief of being placed at par with regular, permanent
  or temporary employees in the matter of service conditions. The third
  one ( 1624/86) is on behalf of substitute employees and casual labou-
  rers in the Department of Posts. They have claimed that substitute
  employees and casual labourers be paid the same emoluments as regu-
H lar employees.
         JAGRIT MAZDOOR v. TELEPHONE NIGAM [MISRA, J.]                 331

      In an earlier Writ Petition No. 11764 of 1985 filed by the All
India Telegraph Engineering Employees Union Class III of Bombay               A
Telephone where the prayer for treating the Reserve Trained Pool
Telephone Operators at par with regular staff had also been asked for,
this Court made the following order on 1.5. 1986:

            "The matter is adjourned to 28. 7. 1986 to enable the newly-      B
            added respondent No. 3 to file counter-affidavit on or
            before 15. 7. 1986. Rejoinder, if any, will be filed within one
            week thereafter. Meanwhile, the respondent will pay to the
            operators drawn from the Reserve Trained Pool of the
            Telephone Operators from Bombay and Delhi Telephones
            © Rs.4.90 per hour provided. that the total salary of tlie
            Telephone Operators from the Reserve Trained Pool shall           c
            not exceed .the salary of regularly appointed Telephone
            Operators.''

On 23. 7. 1986, this Court in that Writ Petition further ordered:
            "The order passed by the Court on 1.5.1986 shall be final.
            The wages shall be paid in accordance with the terms con-
            tained in that order. We, however, make it clear that if the
            Dearness Allowance and other allowances are varied here-
            after the workers concerned shall get D.A. and other allow-
            ances accordingly subject to the limit that the total ¢molu-
            ments would not exceed the salary of regularly appointed          E
            Telephone Operators. If the petitioners have any other
            grievance they are at liberty to agitate .. This order will
            apply to all RTPA employees who-are similarly situated."
      ~t is the stand of the respondents that that order of this Court has
been implemented with etlect from 28.7. 1986. After that was done,            F
               1
the RTPTOs of B?mbay and Delhi have in their respi;ctive Writ. Peti-
tions applied for futtrer reliefs as already indicated. According to the
petitioners in these two Writ Petitions, the RTPTOs are entitled to be
brought on par with the r~gular staff for grant of other service benefits
as they have been performing the same duties as performed by regular
operators.                                                                    G

       The two petitions have been opposed by the relevant Ministry by
filing counter-affidavits where the stand taken is that RTPTOs are a
special class by themselves with their own incidents of service and they
cannot be treated at par with rygular employees. The differences bet-
ween the two services have been highlighted in the couoNc-affidavits.         H
        332        SUPREME COURT REPORTS                [1989] Supp. 2 S.C.R.

        It is also the stand of the respondents that the order of this Coun
  ~ referred to above dated 28.7. 1986 finally disposed of the major claim
        raised in the two petitions of the employees of the two Telephone
        Nigams and fresh action was not appropriate. It is also pointed out that
        on 10th of February, 1986, there was an agreement of settlement and
        the present petition was an attempt to reopen the matter. On
  B      31.1.1989, when Writ Petition No. 1276 of 1986 came up for hearing
        before this Court, the following order was made:

                    "Learned counsel for the petitioners concedes that the
                    regularisation of 21,000 employees in the Department of
                    Telecommunications has been effected but complains that
                    no such proceeding has taken place in respect of the postal
,. c                employees. He states that there is pressing need for a parity
                    of serviCe conditions including pay' house rent allowance
                    and other allowances between the temporary employees
                    and the regular employees covered by this category. The
                    learned Additional Solicitor General of India assures us
 Q                  that the scheme will be finalised latest by first week of
                    April, 1989 and ·that complete position will be placed
                    before the Court at that stage ...... "

              The scheme known as Casual Labourers (Grant of Temporary
        Status in Regularisation) Scheme has been formulated and put into
        operation from 1. 10. 1989 and a copy thereof has been placed for our
        consideration. We find that the scheme is comprehensive and apart
        from provision for conferment of temporary status, it also specifies the
        benefits available on conferment of such status. Counsel for the
        respondent-Nigams have told us that the scheme will be given full
        effect and other benefits contemplated by the scheme shall be worked
        out. In these circumstances, no funher specific direction is necessary
        in the two applications relating to the two Nigams of Bombay and
        Delhi except calling upon the respondents to implement every term of
        the scheme at an early date.

           The two remaining writ petitions relate to the Department of
  <11Posts. Though an assurance had been held out by the learned Addi-
     tional Solicitor General that a separate scheme for the postal
     employees would be prepared and placed before the Court within a
     tiine frame, that has not been done. At the hearing, a npte containing
     tenrative p,roposals and a statement as to what has been ctone by way of
     improving the conditions of service have, however, been placed before
   H the Court. 11te statement relating to improvements brought about
        JAGRIT MAZDOOR v. TELEPHONE NIGAM [MISRA, J.]               333

indicates that after April, 1986, about seven thousand RTPs have been
                                                                           A
absorbed. Since the RTP category is no more expanding, only ab.out
2,900 of them remain.to be absorbed. We have been told by learned
counsel for the Department that equal number of justified and
supernumerary posts ·are· being created and the Ministry's proposal is
in the hands of the Ministry ~f Finance for approval and is expected to
be finalised soon. This has to be done within a time frame and we          B
direct the posts of both the categories to be created by the end of
January, 1990, and the process of absorption to be completed by
31.3.1990. With such absorption made, the RTPs will become regular
employees. All their claims would, thereafter, be regulated on the
basis of entitlement in accordance with extant rules.

      So far as the claim of earned .(eave is concerned, we find that      c
Telecommunications Regularisation Rules provide for leave entitle-
ment on pro-rate basis-one day for every ten days of work. The same
benefit would be admissible to the employees of the Department of
Posts as we find no reason to adopt a different basis.
                                                                           D
      In National Federation of P & T Employees & Anr. v. Union of
India & Anr., [ 1988] ISCC 122, this Court directed:

           "The Union of India and· other respondents are directed to
           pay wages to the workmen who are employed as casual
           labourers belongiµg to the several categories of employees      E
           in the Posts and Telegraphs Department at the rates equi-
           valent to the minimum pay in the pay scales of the regularly
           employed workers in the corresponding cadres but without
           any increments with effect from February 5, 1986 on which
           date the first of the above two petitions, namely, Writ Peti-
           tion No. 302 of 1986 was filed. The petitioners are entitled    f
           to corresponding dearness allowance and additional
           dearness allowance, if any, payable thereon. Whatever
           other benefits which are now being enjoyed by the casual
           labourers shall continue to be extended to them."

      It has been stated that in compliance with that direction the        G
Department has alredy formulated a scheme for absorption of casual
labourers and about a thousand justified posts are being created with
concurrence of the nodal Ministry. As per existing recruitment rules,
extra-departmental agents are given preference in the matter of
absorption as Group 'D' postmen. Directions have already been issued
for their absorption against the vacancies. It has been pointed out        H
    334         SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [ 1989] Supp. 2 S.C.R.

    again that casual labourers are being paid bonus while substitutes are
A   not entitled under the existing scheme.

          The other note placed before us at the hearing indicates:

           I. Justified (by necessity) posts in Groups 'C' and 'D' will be
B         created in the administrative and operative establishments as per
          the existing norms for creation of posts in consultation with the
          Finance Miistry;

          2. On creation of the posts, recruitment will be done following
          the existing recruitment rules giving preference to extra-depart-
          mental agents over casual labourers;
c
          3. If on the basis of established norms, casual labourers are in
          excess, their services shall be dispensed with in accordance with
          law; and

D         4. If any casual labourers cannot be retrenched straightaway,
          they shall be paid wages for three months at the existing rates.

          This tentative scheme does not take into account the several
    specific claims advanced by the petitioners in the two writ petitions.
    These are Ho11s~ Rent Allowance, City Compensatory Allowance,
E   Bonus and Earned Leave. There are also demands for weekly off day,
    postal holiday and maternity leave. Weekly off has now been given to
    RTPs, casual labourers and substitutes under order of t~is Court and
    the claim does not survive for adjudication. All these three categories
    in these two writ petitions are also being given three national Holi-
    days. For the remaining postal holidays, the claim has been pressed
F   but we are of the view that until absorption, they may not be granted.
    It has been agreed before us that the claim of bonus may be left to
    arbitration or for being dealt with by the Consultative Council.

         As regards House Rent Allowances, City Compensatory Allo-
   wance and Maternity Leave, we see no justification for treating the
G employees of the Posa! Department differently from those covered
   under the Regularisation Rules in the Telecommunications Depart-
   ment. Temporary status would be available to the casual labourers in
   the Postal Department on completion of one year of continuous
   service with at least 240 days of work (206 days in the case of officers
   observing five days' week) and on confermeilt of temporary status,
Ji House Rent Allowance and City Compensatory Allowance shall be
         JAGRIT MAZDOOR v. TELEPHONE NIGAM (MISRA, J.]               335

admissible. There would be no justification to withhold Maternity           A
Leave as that is an obligation of the employer under the law and the
State as an ideal employer fulfilling the Directive Principles of State
Policy envisaged in Part-IV of the Constitution should provide the
same. After rendering three years of continuous service with tem-
porary status, the casual labourers shall be treated at par with tempor-
ary Grade 'D' employees of the Department of Posts and would                B
thereby be entitled to such benefits as are admissible to Group 'D'
employees on regular basis.

      So far as the substitutes are concerned, it has been stated to us
that orders have been issued for considering their claims against
Group 'D' vacancies and a copy of the Department's letter has been          c
produced. We hope and trust that the direction shall be implemented
in its true spirit. The claim on behalf of substitutes ordinarily is not
entertainable but we have been told that there are substitutes who
work for long periods continuously. We are inclined to agree with counsel
for the petitioners that in such cases their claims should have been
appropriately considered by the Department.                                 D

     The writ petitions are disposed of with the aforesaid directions
without any order as to costs.

R.N.J.                                             Petitions disposed of.
                                                                            E



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