Termination Without Notice Declared Illegal | HC

Case Details: Sagar Rolling Mills (P.) Ltd. vs. Ravindrakumar Sadhusharan Patel - [2025] 178 taxmann.com 534 (HC - Gujarat)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Mrs M.K. Thakker, J.
• I.G. Joshi for the Petitioner

Facts of the Case

In the instant case, Respondent-workman stated that he worked as a regular Operator in the Rolling Department of petitioner-employer for about 12-14 years, drawing wages of about Rs. 0.15 lakhs per month, and that he was terminated on 26.08.2016 without notice or retrenchment compensation, alleging violations of sections 25F, 25G and 25H of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

The petitioner contended that no specific averment had been made regarding completion of 240 days of service. The Labour Court allowed reference and awarded lump sum compensation of Rs. 2 lakhs in lieu of reinstatement and other benefits.

It was noted that for attracting section 25F of the Act, it is sufficient if workman is in a continuous service for not less than one year under an employer, and this can be established either by showing uninterrupted service under section 25B(1) or by fulfilling criteria under section 25B(2)(a), i.e., 240 days of work in 12 months.

High Court Held

The High Court held that since the petitioner-employer had admitted in its written statement that the respondent was in continuous service from 01.02.2005 to 26.08.2016, the respondent satisfied the requirement of continuous service under section 25B(1) and, therefore, the Labour Court erred in shifting the burden of proof on the workman to establish completion of 240 days of service.

Thus, no question arose for adducing evidence to prove facts, which were admitted by the employer. Therefore, the order of the Labour Court was to be upheld.

List of Cases Reviewed

• Regional Manager, S.B.I. v. Rakesh Kumar Tewari 2006 taxmann.com 2341 (SC)/(2006) 1 SCC 530 (para 8.1)
• Kanubhai Khodabhai Parmar (Civil and Electric Contractor) v. Makwana Mohanbhai Motibhai [R/Special Civil Application No. 4121 of 2019, dated 18-7-2022] (para 13) distinguishedAward of Labour Court
• Ahmedabad in Reference (L.C.A.) No.108 of 2017 dated 24.10.2024 (para 14) affirmed

List of Cases Referred to

• Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd. v. Mohammed Rafi 2009 taxmann.com 1709 (SC) (para 4.3)
• Range Forest Officer v. S.T. Hadimani 2002 taxmann.com 3759 (SC) (para 4.3)
• Regional Manager, S.B.I. v. Rakesh Kumar Tewari 2006 taxmann.com 2341 (SC) (para 4.3)
• Kanubhai Khodabhai Parmar (Civil and Electric Contractor) v. Makwana Mohanbhai Motibhai [R/Special Civil Application No. 4121 of 2019, dated 18-7-2022] (para 4.3).