Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 28: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has taken a serious note of causal approach of the officers in handling of litigation against the Government and the State.
While dismissing the petition filed by PHE Department against the award passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Tribunal/Labour Court, Jammu, Justice Rahul Bharti, after hearing AAG RS Jamwal for the UT whereas Advocate Aseem Sawhney for the respondents (casual labourers), observed, “stitch in time saves nine is a mantra which perhaps for the Government officials and administrators is more a matter of precept rather than practice which they habitually miss in applying in handling of litigation against the Government and the State”.
“The mindset with which the officials and authorities of the Government departments conduct themselves in handling litigation for and against the Government is dereliction and default prone taking it as given that the court/s or the tribunal/s will carry the baton for the Government authority/department involved in the litigation”, Justice Bharti said.
A litigation which originated in 1992 but left uncared in the course of its making has come to bother the Public Health Engineering Department with a liability of payment of Rs 93,150 along with recurring interest to each of the eight respondents in the present petition from escaping which the present writ petition, filed in the year 2003, was and is a poor legal effort which was destined to fail from the very first day of its institution and that inevitable is happening through the medium of this judgment, High Court said.
“This court is at loss to appreciate the situation as to how in the original writ petition without ever questioning the industrial award dated 16.09.1998 of the Jammu & Kashmir Industrial Tribunal passed in favour of the respondents and against the petitioner, the petitioner could be said and heard to have any grievance against the impugned judgment/ award dated 14.05.2002, which did nothing except to compute the amount of the back wages due and payable in favour of the respondents from the petitioner’s end in the light of the industrial award dated 16.09.1998 of the Jammu &Kashmir Industrial Tribunal”, Justice Bharti said.
While dismissing the petition, Justice Rahul Bharti observed, “there is a tendency to take with non-seriousness the cases filed by the employees/workmen against the Government departments before the Industrial Tribunal/Labour Court under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 as if the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 is not meant for the consumption of the Government Department of the UT of J&K and Ladakh and, as such, when the consequences come into picture from the proceedings originating from the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, then the Government Department/s are found resorting to shadow chasing to relieve itself/themselves from the situation of its/their own acts of omission and commission”.
Accordingly, High Court advised the Public Health Engineering Department, Doda to honor the compliance of the judgment/award dated 14.05.2002 of the Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Tribunal/Labour Court.
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