P.B.BAJANTHRI, J. - (1.) Petitioner - Nagar Council, Mandi Gobindgarh, through its Executive Officer, presented the above petition in which order dated 22.8.2014 (Annexure P-3) of the Industrial Tribunal, Patiala, is under challenge.
(2.) The respondents are all in the cadre of Tubewell Operator, Assistant Pump Driver, Beldar, Plumber, Fitter, Sewerman and Sevadar. Some of them have already retired from service. They have submitted application under Section 33-C (2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (for short hereinafter referred to 'I.D. Act, 1947'), for commutation on their claims for having discharged their duties of the post on Saturdays during the period from 1.1.1999 to 31.12.2007 along with interest @ 18%. The Labour Court directed the petitioner to calculate the total amount of extra wages of the respondents by taking into consideration salary of each of the applicant during the relevant period and number of total Saturdays on which each applicant actually worked, during the relevant period and release the amount to the respondents within three months from the date of passing of the order failing which the respondents shall also be entitled to the interest @ 6% per annum on the ordered amount, from the date of passing of the order till actual realisation.
(3.) Before adverting to the contentions of the petitioners, as well as, respondents, it is relevant to take note of various factual aspects which were dealt earlier in some of the litigations relating to payment of extra wages towards working on Saturdays. In the year 1993-94, Punjab State Government issued a policy decision relating to the office staff working in the Punjab State Government offices are entitled to holiday on Saturday and Sunday. The employees who are working in the fields, they are entitled to only Sunday as holiday. Clerical staff who are all working in the office had a grievance that for some time their services were drafted to octroi checkpost/barriers. Therefore, the clerical staff or peons who were supposed to work in the Municipal office and whose services have been drafted to octroi check-post/barriers were compelled to work on Saturdays and Sundays and other Gazetted/general holidays. In view of these facts and circumstances, such of those clerical staff demanded that they are entitled for additional wages on Saturdays since the clerical staff who were colleagues in the cadre would get holiday on Saturday if they are working in office. The said issue was the subject matter before the Supreme Court in Civil Appeal Nos. 8434 with 8435-8440 of 1997 and connected matters, Municipal Employees Union and others v. State of Punjab and others, 2000 (9) SCC 432. Para 7, 8 and 14 reads as under:- "7. We may mention at the outset certain well established and not disputable facts pertaining to the service conditions of the appellants. 8. The appellants are employees of the respondent-Municipal Committees being peons belonging to Class-IV service and clerks belonging to Class-III service. It is also well established on record that there is a common seniority of clerks and peons maintained by the concerned Municipal Committees and their pay scales are also the same. It is now found by the High Court and for which there cannot be any controversy that the octroi staff could be rotated vis-a-vis the staff in the offices of the concerned Municipal Committees. Therefore, the only grievance is that when the clerks and peons are require to work at the octroi check-posts and barriers they are not given the benefit of closed Saturdays, which according to them, results in discrimination or denial of their right which accrues to all the staff members similarly situated and who have the common employer, namely, the concerned Municipal Committees. XXX XXX XXX 14. In our view, in the facts of the present case and in the light of the order which we propose to pass in the present proceedings it is strictly not necessary to examine this question finally. We may assume for the present discussion that Rule 3 of general rules may not cover this question. But even on this assumption the moot question remains as to whether the employees belonging to Class-III and Class-IV service of the respondent- Municipal Committees who have common employer and who have common seniority list and also common pay scales, when required to work either at the octroi check-post or in exigencies of service in committees, can have an equal right to enjoy Saturdays as holidays and whether the right available to their entire cadre as such to enjoy such weekly holidays be denied only to a limited category of octroi staff, who, due to exigencies of service may, at a given point of time, be required to work not only in the offices but by rotation in the octroi check-posts or barriers." ;