- (1.) This group of appeals has been filed by various appellant-Associations questioning the correctness of the common impugned judgment and order dated 21.03.2007 passed in Letters Patent Appeal No. 690 of 2004 along with batch matters by the Delhi High Court in dismissing the appeals of the appellant/concerned workmen by issuing certain directions contained at para 20(a) of the said impugned judgment in affirming the judgment and order of learned single Judge in allowing the Writ Petitions filed by the respondent- Life Insurance Corporation of India (for short "the Corporation"). The appellant-Associations have filed these appeals urging various relevant facts and legal contentions with a prayer to restore the Award dated 18.06.2001 passed by the Central Government Industrial Tribunal, New Delhi (for short "the CGIT") in I.D. No.27 of 1991.
(2.) The facts of the case are stated here under for the purpose of appreciating the factual and rival legal contentions urged on behalf of the parties with a view to ascertain whether the appellants/concerned workmen are entitled to the relief as prayed for in these appeals:- The concerned workmen are the members of the appellant-Associations, Federation of Employees Association, Workers Association and other concerned individual workmen who were working in the branches of the Corporation at various places in the country have raised the existing industrial dispute between the concerned workmen and the management of the Corporation regarding their absorption as regular and permanent service employees in their respective posts of the Corporation. The concerned workmen in all these appeals have been working as temporary, badli and part- time workmen claiming that they have been appointed by the management of the Corporation on daily wage basis against the leave vacancies and other vacancies of its employees in Class III and IV posts in various branch offices and Divisions of the Corporation. Their claim for regularisation were based on two Awards passed of the National Industrial Tribunal (for short 'the NIT') (i) the Award passed by Justice R.D. Tulpule on 17.04.1986 with regard to absorption of similarly placed workmen by the Corporation who had been working on temporary/badli/part-time basis in Class III and IV category posts in their respective branches of the Corporation and (ii)the Award passed by Justice S.M. Jamdar dated 26.08.1988, in pursuant to the reference made by the Ministry of Labour, Government of India, under Section 36A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (for short 'the Act'), where the NIT clarified and affirmed the Award dated 17.04.1986 passed by Justice R. D. Tulpule. The present dispute that arose between the concerned workmen and the Corporation was referred to the CGIT by the Ministry of Labour, Central Government, in exercise of its statutory power under Section 10(1)(d) read with Section 2A of the Act vide Order No. L-17011/107/90-IR-B(II) dated 04.03.1991 on the basis of the report of the Conciliation Officer for its adjudication on the following question :- "Whether the action of the management of Life Insurance Corporation of India in not absorbing Badli/temporary and part time workmen employed in the establishment of LIC after 20.5.1985 is justified, if not, to what relief the workmen are entitled -
(3.) The said industrial dispute has been raised by the Associations, Federation of workmen and concerned workmen in their individual capacity which was supported by the Unions and Associations of these workmen of the divisions and zones of the Corporation across India and workmen who have represented their case on individual basis. Apart from the said Unions, Associations, Federation of some of the workmen from Tamilnadu Terminated Full Time Temporary LIC Employees Association and E. Prabhawati and Ors. had also been impleaded as parties in the dispute before the CGIT. E. Prabhawati and Ors. were impleaded vide order dated 01.12.1993 and The Tamil Nadu Terminated Temporary Full Time LIC Association was impleaded in the pending reference case vide order dated 06.04.1995.;