- (1.) A well reasoned award delivered by a learned judge of the First Industrial Tribunal, Kolkata, dated 30th May, 2014, is the subject matter of challenge in the present writ proceeding.
(2.) The writ petitioners, in the instant case, are the company and one of its Directors. The genesis of the matter lies in a letter dated 13th August, 2010 2 issued by the "CFO" of the company terminating the service of the respondent no.3, who had served the company since 14th May, 1997 in the capacity of a 'Receptionist-cum-Telephone Operator'. The letter of termination dated 13th August, 2010 is reproduced in its entirety hereinbelow:- "Date: 13.08.2010 To Mrs. Susmita Sengupta 16A, Sengarden Flat No.5 (Nandi Bagan) P.O. Haltu, Kolkata-700078 Sub: Termination of employment with CCAP Limited Ref: Letter No. CCAP:SKD:DK:726 Dear Mrs. Susmita Sengupta, Please refer appointment letter dated 14.05.1997 for the position of "Receptionist cum Telephone Operator" in our organisation. This action is based on your deficiencies in performance. Your failure to adhere to the requirements of your job on an ongoing basis and serious complaints regarding your performance from the different departments has serious impact on the operations of the various departments of our organisation. As a consequence, your service is no longer required by the company and that your position with CCAP Limited will be terminated with effect from 13.08.2010. We sincerely regret this action, and can assure you that we have only done so after monitoring your behavior at work for several days. We shall be paying off the ninety days (90) notice period from 13.08.2010. All your dues will be cleared from Accounts Department. As per your Employment Contract, you are required to clear your IOU, advance if any and do a proper handover of all passwords, files, instruction manuals, confidential documents, stationeries, keys and all other properties belonging to the Company to your Manager/Supervisor which were made available to you previously (the "Said Clearance") to be completed on 13.08.2010. 3 We thank you for your valued contributions thus far to CCAP Ltd. and wish you well in your future endeavors. Sincerely, (Anjan Ghosh) CFO"
(3.) Upon being terminated from her service, she wrote a letter dated 4th October, 2010 appealing to the company to withdraw the letter of termination and allow her to resume her duty. The company did not respond to the said letter dated 4th October, 2010 which prompted her to approach to the Labour Department, Government of West Bengal. An attempt at conciliation failed due to adamant and non-cooperation attitude of the company. The Labour Department, Government of West Bengal, thereafter, referred the dispute before the Industrial Tribunal, Kolkata, for adjudication of two issues, which are as follows: "1. Whether the termination of service of Smt. Susmita Sengupta, the workman w.e.f. 13.08.2010 is justified? 2. What relief, if any, is she entitled to?";