HYDERABAD: In a relief to two RTC employees, the High Court has set aside the order of the labour court denying them back wages without showing any reasons and even after declaring their removal from service by APSRTC as illegal. Justice P Naveen Rao recently allowed the petitions filed separately in 2011 by Ch Suresh Babu and K Narasaiah, employees of APSRTC, against the order of the labour court.Suresh was removed from service as part of disciplinary proceedings on the ground that he was “unauthorisedly absent” for some days in 2002. He moved the labour court which ruled in his favour by declaring his removal from service as illegal. It, however, denied him back wages. He then approached the HC. Based on the award passed by the labour court, he was reinstated into service and later retired on attaining age of superannuation.
As for the case of Narasaiah, a driver, the corporation removed him from service following an accident due to alleged rash and negligent driving resulting in the death of two staff members. He approached the labour court against his removal from service. Meanwhile, he was acquitted by a trial court in the crime registered against him in the case. Having regard to the order of acquittal, the labour court declared his removal from service as illegal by pointing out that the corporation had not produced sufficient material to prove that the petitioner drove the bus in a rash and negligent manner.
He was then reinstated into service. When the labour court denied him the back wages and increment, he moved the HC. The petitioners’ counsels submitted that there was no justification to deny them back wages once the order of removal was set aside.
RTC’s standing counsel submitted that as the petitioners were not entitled to relief granted by the labour court per se, the order of denying them back wages cannot be said as illegal. Justice Naveen Rao pointed out that in the award passed by the labour court there was no discussion as to why the back wages were denied in both the cases and why the punishment of withholding of increments was ordered in one of them. The judge allowed the two petitions by ordering that they were entitled to the entire back wages from the date of their removal from service till reinstatement.