BANGALORE: Coming to the rescue of employees of Mysore Lamps Works Ltd., Karnataka High Court on Friday quashed the state government order to close the company.
The court also suggested to the state to review the decision.
The Mysore Lamps Works Ltd. is a state-owned public sector enterprise that was identified as a loss-making unit.
While allowing a batch of petitions filed by Workmen of Mysore Lamps Works Ltd and SC/ST employees Union, Justice N Kumar quashed the state government orders issued on January 4, 2002, and August 30, 2002, closing operations of the company.
The state government took the decision to shut down the company following recommendations by the Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (AAIFR) and the Board of Industries and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in 2002.
The state government passed the closure order under section 25-O of the Industries Act.
The employees then challenged the order.
The court remanded the entire matter back to the state government for fresh consideration under section 25-O of the Act.
“Company court is better suited to go into the legality of the orders passed by the AAIFR and the BIFR, and also to find out whether the company could be revived or any other scheme could be accepted,” observed Justice Kumar.
The court has given the liberty to the petitioner to approach company court to challenge the AAIFR and the BIFR order recommending closure of the company.