Court rules no right to continued employment for temporary workers as J&K Cement Plant faces closure due to financial distress and environmental non-compliance.
In a significant ruling, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Srinagar Bench, upheld the disengagement of daily rated workers from the J&K Cement factory at Khrew. The decision came in response to an appeal by Ghulam Nabi Bhat and others, challenging their removal following the closure of the plant due to financial and environmental compliance issues.
The appellants, employed on a temporary basis since 2005, were disengaged when the plant was ordered to close by the Jammu and Kashmir State Pollution Control Board on December 29, 2018. The closure stemmed from the plant's inability to comply with environmental norms and the prohibitive cost of installing pollution control devices, estimated to exceed Rs. 300 Crores.
The court, led by Justices Mrs. Sindhu Sharma and Shahzad Azeem, emphasized that daily wagers or casual employees do not possess a legal right to claim continued employment or regularization. The judgment referenced the Supreme Court's decision in Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi (2006) 4 SCC 1, which clarified that temporary or casual workers cannot claim permanency without undergoing a regular recruitment process.
Despite the appellants' argument that other similarly situated workers were absorbed into government departments, the court highlighted that this deployment was specific to regular or permanent employees and did not apply to daily wagers. The court found no merit in claims of arbitrary treatment or violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.
Addressing the appellants' assertion of legitimate expectation, the court concluded that such a theory could not be applied to temporary engagements, especially in scenarios lacking a formal selection process. The judgment further noted that the company's financial difficulties, compounded by its lack of government budgetary support and inability to meet even the basic salary obligations, justified the disengagement.
In a concluding observation, the court remarked that, should the Khrew Plant be revived in the future, the former workers would be given priority for re-engagement, safeguarding their limited equitable interests.
This ruling reinforces the legal standing that temporary workers in public sector undertakings cannot claim parity with regular employees, particularly under circumstances of financial duress and operational shutdowns.
Bottom Line:
Daily rated workers engaged on temporary basis in a public sector undertaking cannot claim a right to continued employment or regularization, especially in cases where the undertaking faces financial distress and closure of operations.
Statutory provision(s): Article 14 of the Constitution of India
Ghulam Nabi Bhatand v. State of J&K, (Jammu And Kashmir)(Srinagar)(DB) : Law Finder Doc id # 2872204
