Referred to Larger Bench XV: Gracious Compassion

Original Scheme – Appointment on Compassionate Grounds Substituted Scheme – Ex Gratia Payment ________ State Bank of India, (2010) 11 SCC 661 + MGB Gramin Bank, (2014) 13 SCC 583 Governing Scheme: Original Scheme or Substituted Scheme? Answer/Principle: ‘Inconsistent’, ‘Irreconcilable’. Canara Bank, (2015) 7 SCC 412 ________ “Bench of Appropriate Strength.” Hon’ble Justice U.U. Lalit […]

The Doctrine of Notional Extension

Daya Kishan Joshi, (2018) 11 SCC 642; Surendra Pandey, (2015) 13 SCC 625; Lord Denning. “He fell off the roof of the bus accidentally and died. Merely because the deceased was coming down the roof of the bus after having his meal, cannot be considered in isolation and interpreted so myopically to hold that he […]

Section 16 of The Hindu Marriage Act / Compassionate Appointment I

“The policy of compassionate appointment is premised on the death of an employee while in harness. The death of an employee is liable to render the family in a position of financial hardship and need. Compassionate appointment is intended to alleviate the hardship that the family of a deceased employee may face upon premature death […]

Principle of Parity II / The Revival of Ray XI

45 Years of E.P. Royappa Determination of Equation of Pay Scales: Government, Experts; Not Courts [SAIL, (2011) 11 SCC 122; S.C. Chandra, (2007) 8 SCC 27]. Determinative Factors in Equation of Posts: a) Prescribed Minimum Qualification; b) Nature and Duty [E.P. Royappa, (1974) 4 SCC 3]; c) Responsibility and Power; Salary [P.K. Roy, AIR 1968 SC […]

Principle of Parity I

“Equality means parity of treatment under parity of conditions. The rule of parity is the equal treatment of equals in equal circumstances.” – Chief Justice of India, Hon’ble Justice A.N. Ray, State of Kerala v. N.M. Thomas, AIR 1976 SC 490. “The imposition of a penalty in disciplinary proceeding lies in the sole domain of […]

Legal Aid

Several matters, every week, are considered for ‘legal aid’. I had briefly assisted Senior Advocate, Jaideep Gupta in this regard and had recommended aid for Ujwala Pandurang Toraskar v. Mormugao Port Trust [Diary No. 20112 of 2018]. Judgment of HC of Bombay at Goa [Writ Petition No. 279/2016], was challenged. On July 3, 2018 SC […]

Minimum Pay Scales for Temporary Employees

“The Appellants are daily rated workers employed in Group ‘D’ posts in the Forest Department in the State of Uttar Pradesh. They filed Writ Petitions before the High Court of Allahabad seeking regularization of their services, the minimum of the pay scales available to their counterparts working on regular posts and treating them as being […]

Suitable

“There is a chequered history in this case, which is getting curious with each round of litigation. In English parlance, the word ‘suitable’ is assigned the meaning as ‘appropriate, fitted for the purpose or acceptable’. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the word ‘suitable’ as ‘well fitted for the purpose; appropriate’. This ordinary meaning is to […]

Back Wages I

“In some cases, a Court may decline to award back wages in its entirety whereas in some cases, it may award partially. The questions, how a back wage is required to be decided, what are the factors to be taken into consideration, on whom the initial burden lies etc. were elaborately discussed in several cases […]

Consortium I

“In legal parlance, ‘consortium’ is a compendious term which encompasses ‘spousal consortium’, ‘parental consortium’ and ‘filial consortium’. The right to consortium would include company, care, help, comfort, guidance, solace and affection of deceased. With respect to a spouse, it would include sexual relations with deceased spouse; parental consortium is granted upon premature death of a […]

Moral Turpitude I

Dio non fa mai retromarcia con il suo amore Offences involving ‘moral turpitude’ were in discussion recently in Union Bank of India v. C.G. Ajay Babu, [Civil Appeal No. 8251 of 2018]. You may read Section 4(6)(b) of The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. ‘Moral turpitude’ describes conducts which are: inherently vile, depraved; immodest; shameful and wicked [Pawan Kumar, (1996) 4 SCC 17 and Sushil […]

The Mayo College, Ajmer

“The Mayo College, Ajmer is an educational institution founded in 1875 by Sir Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, who was also the Viceroy of India from 1868 to 1872. It is one of the oldest educational institutions which was set up as a public boarding school, offering admission to the then elite. This […]

The Writ of Quo Warranto I

“Writ of Quo Warranto cannot be issued on basis of assumptions, inferences or suspicion regarding factum of fulfillment of eligibility criteria. Being an extraordinary power, ordinarily such a Writ ought to be issued only on basis of indisputable facts leading to a singular conclusion – incumbent was in fact or in law disqualified to occupy […]

Misconduct

‘Misconduct’ has been defined in Black’s Law Dictionary (6th Edn.) at pg. 999: “A transgression of some established and definite rule of action, a forbidden act, a dereliction from duty, unlawful behaviour, wilful in character, improper or wrong behaviour, its synonyms are misdemeanour, misdeed, misbehaviour, delinquency, impropriety, mismanagement, offence, but not negligence or carelessness.” P. […]

Etymological Excursions in Bread & Butter Statutes

“Purposive interpretation in a social amelioration legislation is an imperative, irrespective of anything else. This is eloquently brought out in Atma Ram, (1988) 4 SCC 284. How labour legislations are to be interpreted has been stated and restated by this Court time and again. In Surendra Kumar, (1980) 4 SCC 443, this Court reminded, semantic […]

Tender Law III

“Recently, in Central Coalfields Ltd. v. SLL-SML (Joint Venture Consortium) it was held by this Court, relying on a host of decisions, the decision making process of the employer or owner of the project in accepting or rejecting the bid of a tenderer should not be interfered with. Interference is permissible only if the decision […]

Tender Law II

The party issuing a tender (employer) ‘has the right to punctiliously and rigidly’ enforce the terms of the tender. Here is a wholesome principle that the Courts have been following for a very long time and which was articulated in Nazir Ahmad v. King Emperor, (1979) 3 SCC 489: “Where a power is given to […]

The ‘Far Outweigh’ Standard in Recovery from Employees II

Clearly ignoring The ‘Far Outweigh’ Standard in Recovery from Employees, SC has ruled recently in High Court of Punjab & Haryana v. Jagdev Singh, [Civil Appeal No. 3500 of 2006], even though recovery from retired employees, or employees who are due to retire within one year of the order of recovery, is impermissible, the “principle […]

Pension Cuts under Proviso (a), Rule 10(1) of The West Bengal Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefit) Rules, 1971

Justices A.K. Goel and A.M. Khanwilkar have allowed State of West Bengal v. Aswini Kumar Mahato, [Civil Appeal No. 4689 of 2011] against a Calcutta High Court order in which it was held, once an employee retires on attaining age of superannuation, concerned authority has no jurisdiction to pass an order in a disciplinary proceeding […]

Able Disable All People Together I

“Since the inception of mankind, many lacs have suffered from different types of physical handicaps (today about 600 million people suffer from such handicaps). But, many of them overcame all kinds of handicaps and achieved distinctions in various fields. Sarah Bernhardt – French actress was disabled by a knee injury. Her leg was amputated in […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others

Labour Law