Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Mar 24: The Division Bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Puneet Gupta held that the Army does not fall within the definition of an ‘Industry’ and set aside the labour court judgment directing for reinstatement of Army porters.
The Labour Court, had ruled in favour of the writ petitioner-porters in the Indian Army, by directing their reinstatement with full back wages. “Indian Army’s core function of national security is a sovereign function which cannot be categorized as ‘Industry’,” the bench said.
The aggrieved persons were engaged as casual porters for rendering services to the appellant-Army on need basis from April, 2010 till December, 2012. They were thrown out of service after December, 2012 on the ground that there was no work with the appellant-Army available for them.
In the application filed by them before the Labour Court, they prayed for setting aside of their disengagement and reinstatement in service. On being put on notice, the Army appeared and filed their written statement. The stand of the Army before the Labour Court was that they were only casual porters engaged on need basis and, therefore, they can neither be reinstated nor they can be permanently absorbed.
“The Army, as a unit, has the sole purpose of protecting the borders from external aggression, and the porters engaged as labourers for activities like carrying rations and ammunition to inaccessible and difficult terrains definitely contribute immensely to the duties that the Army is required to perform in the exercise of its sovereign functions”, DB recorded.
The court said that the Labour Court lacked jurisdiction because the appropriate Government for Army-related disputes is the Central Government, not the J&K Government. It added that the petitioners had wrongly approached the J&K Labour Court, as they needed to seek redress from a tribunal constituted by the Central Government.
The court ruled that the Army does not fall within the definition of an ‘Industry’ and thus, the Labour Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the case. However, the court advised the Indian Army to adopt a more compassionate approach toward porters, given their continuous service needs. It observed that it would not be in the fitness of things to permit the Army to follow an archaic practice of “hire and fire.”
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