Dr. A. R. LAKSHMANAN, J. - (1.) The employees of Hotel Agra Ashok filed a writ petition being No. 41650 of 2001 in the Allahabad High Court questioning the action of the first respondent -India Tourism Development Corporation (hereinafter called the ITDC), New Delhi to sell Hotel Agra Ashok outrightly to a private party as arbitrary and illegal. According to them, Hotel Agra Ashok is one of the biggest hotels at Agra and is a five star hotel having 58 centrally air conditioned luxurious room and other facilities. It is also their case that non implementation of voluntary retirement scheme in respect of the employees of the Hotel Agra Ashok is totally discriminatory, arbitrary, unjust and without any rhyme or reason. It is further submitted that because the Government of India introduced a disinvestment plan with the object to sell the hotel to a private party which is liable to affect the employees very seriously including their service conditions.
(2.) The Government of India issued a press communique in the month of January, 2001 proposing to sell Hotel Agra Ashok for a sum of Rs. 2.36 crores which is wholly inadequate and amounts to a totally distress sale. The Government has devised a scheme of creating an artificial company i.e. Hotel Yamuna View Private Limited 4th respondent herein and the said company has been incorporated only for the purpose of selling the said hotel after the hotel is transferred to it. The employees have come to understand through press reports that the hotel is being sold out to one M/s. Mohan Singh respondent No. 5 and his bid was accepted by the Central Government in pursuance to the advertisement. It is further submitted that the entire Hotel Agra Ashok is being sold out only merely for a sum of Rs.3.90 crores whereas the valuation by the Agra Cantonment Board in the year 1999 of its land and buildings alone is more than Rs. 5.58 crores. According to the employees, its market price at present cannot be less than Rs. 20 crores. It is the contention of the employees that because of the change of ownership of the Hotel, the service conditions of the employees should not be changed by the private person and that the existing service conditions as originally agreed between the various employees of the Hotel and the new purchaser must be maintained. The prayer in the writ petition reads thus: "(a) a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus restraining the respondents from unilaterally changing the terms and conditions of all Class III and IV employees of the Hotel in view of the proposed sale of Hotel Agra Ashok, Agra, to respondent No. 5; (b) a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the parties concerned to maintain status quo in respect of the service conditions of the petitioners and also in respect of the proposed sale and transfer of Hotel Agra Ashok to respondent No. 5; (c) a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus commanding the respondents to enforce and implement and to apply Voluntary Retirement Scheme which has been made applicable only in respect of the employees of Ashok Travels and Tours and not in respect of the employees of Hotel Agra Ashok, Agra; (d) any other writ, order or direction as this Honble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case, and (e) award cost of the petition to be paid to the petitioners."
(3.) The above writ petition was transferred to this Court and is connected with other transferred cases.;