Karnataka HC Upholds Reinstatement And Full Back Wages For NWKRTC Mechanic Dismissed After Paralysis-Linked Absence

The workman joined NWKRTC in 1978 and was employed as a mechanic. He was charged with unauthorised absence from 17 October 2007 to 1 July 2008.

He claimed that he had fallen unconscious at work and thereafter suffered serious illnesses, including paralysis, which prevented him from reporting for duty and participating in the disciplinary inquiry.

The Corporation dismissed him. The Labour Court set aside the dismissal, ordered reinstatement with consequential benefits and full backwages, and directed that benefits under Section 47 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 be extended to him.

The Corporation challenged the award under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution. The workman died after the award and was represented in the writ petition by his legal representatives.

The Court considered the Labour Court’s award in the exercise of its supervisory jurisdiction under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution.

It also considered Section 47 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, which the Labour Court had invoked in directing that the workman receive benefits under that provision.

The judgment cites no precedent and does not set out a broader legal test; its stated basis was whether the award could be considered erroneous in light of the material on record.

The Court accepted that the workman had suffered serious health problems, including paralysis, and had produced medical documents before the Labour Court.

Although the Corporation argued that the medical certificates were from 2009 and therefore did not establish the reason for absence in 2007–08, the Court found that the workman’s account of falling unconscious at work and subsequently suffering illness had not been denied by the Corporation through objections or an affidavit, and that the Corporation had led no evidence before the Labour Court.

The Court also noted the workman’s 30 years of service and the unchallenged assertion of a clear service record, and found no basis to disturb the Labour Court’s disability-related directions.

It upheld the award in KID No. 18/2011, including its directions concerning reinstatement, consequential benefits, full backwages and Section 47 benefits, with no order as to costs.