Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 25721 of 2014 (C.C. No. 13795 of 2014). Case: Shri Krishan Vs Union of India (UOI). Supreme Court

Judgment:

H.L. Dattu, J.

1. This special leave petition(s) is directed against the judgment and order passed by the High Court of Delhi in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3774 of 2011, dated 30.03.2012 and final judgment and the order passed by the High Court of Delhi in Second Review Petition No. 117 of 2014 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3774 of 2011, dated 09.05.2014.

2. The matter arose before the High Court of Delhi against order dated 21.09.2010 passed in O.A. No. 2341 of 2009 and against review order dated 16.11.2010 in R.A. No. 295 of 2010 in O.A. No. 2341 of 2009, passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (for short, "the Tribunal"), whereby the Tribunal dismissed the plea of the Petitioners-herein to be regularised in the services of the Respondents-herein.

3. The aforesaid writ petition was filed against the orders of the Tribunal by the Petitioners in the High Court of Delhi claiming regularization of their services as Railway Employees. The Division Bench of the High Court, by judgment and order dated 30.03.2012, dismissed the said writ petition, on the ground that there was no document placed on record to recognise the Mess, being run at the Signalling and Telecommunication Training Centre, Northern Railway, Ghaziabad (for short, "the S&T Training Centre''), as a non-statutory recognised canteen. The Court held that the said Mess was not sanctioned by the Railway Board, in accordance with Rule 2831 of the Railway Establishment Manual, in order to be classified as a non-statutory recognised canteen. Thereafter, the High Court of Delhi, by order dated 09.05.2014, found no merit in the review petition filed against its judgment and order dated 30.03.2012. The Petitioners, in the review petition before the High Court of Delhi, had additionally placed a letter dated 09.11.1976, an unsigned typed copy, to indicate that an advance had been sanctioned to the Mess Management Committee and that the said advance was approved by the Railway Board vide its letter dated 01.11.1976. However, the High Court was of the view that the mere payment of refundable advance would not lead to grant of proper sanction by the Railway Board and that the said letter cannot be considered, authorising the Mess in question as a non-statutory canteen.

4. The present special leave petition arises out of the issue pertaining to whether the canteen workers engaged by Mess/Canteen of the S&T Training Centre could be treated as Railway Employees. The Petitioners-herein are seeking permanent absorption as railway employees and regularization of their services, in conformity with the statutory provisions as are applicable to non-statutory canteens of the Railway administration.

5. The Petitioners-herein are working as cooks and helpers in the Mess/canteen of the S&T Training Centre. It is an admitted fact that the Mess/canteen has been running from 1992 to cater to the needs of trainee batches undergoing training in the S&T Training Centre. The Mess/canteen is under the supervision of a Management Committee chaired...