B.S. Chauhan, J. - (1.) The instant writ petition has been filed against the Award dated 1.9.2000 (Annx. 6), by which the claim of the petitioner-workman has been rejected.
(2.) The facts and circumstances giving rise to this case are that the petitioner claims that he had worked with the respondents from 25.7.1967 to 21.1.1982 when he went for Haz to Macca-Madina on a three months' leave, which was sanctioned to him vide order dated 25.1.82 and he was not allowed to join the service after coming from Haz and his application for medical leave was illegally rejected by the respondents. Petitioner raised an Industrial dispute and the Appropriate Government, vide order dated 4.12.89, made a reference to the Labour Court as to whether the removal of petitioner-workman by the respondent University was in accordance with law and if not, to what relief he was entitled for? The Labour Court considered the entire evidence led by the parties and their submissions and recorded the finding of fact that the petitioner over- stayed for more than five years in a foreign country without getting the leave sanctioned and disbelieved the case up it forward by the petitioner that he remained ill for such a long time and a disbelieved the medical certificate dated 17.2.87 in which petitioner had been shown ill with effect from 25.4.82. The Labour Court held that it was not a case of retrencement/termination rather it was a case of abandonment of service. Hence this petition.
(3.) In M/s. Jeewan Lal Ltd., Calcutta v. Its Workmen, AIR 1961 SC 1567 , the Apex Court held as under : " if an employee continues to be absent from duty without obtaining leave and in an unauthorised manner for such a long period of time that an inference may reasonably the drawn from such absence that by his absence he has abandoned service, then such long unauthorised absence may legitimately be held to cast a break in continuity of service We would like to make it clear that there would be the class of cases where long unauthorised absence may reasonably give rise to an inference that such service is intended to be abandoned by the employee.";