MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court dismissed a batch of petitions filed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) against orders passed by labour inspectors of various districts, granting permanent status to several contract workers working in TNEB in their respective districts.
It held that the Inspector of Labour is the competent authority under the Permanent Status Act to confer permanent status on the workers who have been engaged by an industrial establishment for more than 480 days.
Justice B Pugalendhi observed that the Permanent Status Act is a beneficial enactment introduced with the object of curbing unfair labour practice of employing workers continuously on a temporary basis to deny them of labour benefits. Section 3 of the Act has a non-obstante provision according to which, notwithstanding anything contained in any other act, eligible workers can be provided with permanent status, he added.
However, the TNEB refused to regularise several contract workers who were engaged in digging, laying power lines, attending breakdowns and also in maintenance works. Since the workers' application against the same was considered positively by the labour inspector, the Board moved the high court claiming that only the labour court can decide about conferment of permanent status to workers and the labour inspector cannot pass such orders.
Justice Pugalendhi noted that both the high court and the Supreme Court, in similar petitions, have recognised the labour inspector's right to confer permanent status on eligible employees. He therefore refused to interfere with the labour inspectors' orders and dismissed TNEB's petitions by directing the Board to implement the labour inspectors' orders within three months. The workmen should be provided with continuity of service and attendant benefits. However, they shall not be entitled to any back wages, the judge added.
Citing that he had disposed of similar petitions last year by setting aside the orders passed by the labour inspectors, the judge recalled those orders and directed the registry to list the matters as per roster.