LI Network
Published on: November 19, 2023 at 15:58 IST
The Bombay High Court has affirmed the decision to terminate an employee, stating that the punishment cannot be considered “shockingly disproportionate” as the employee was found guilty of chronic absenteeism.
The court’s ruling came as it dismissed a petition filed by the employee challenging the judgment of the Industrial Court, Maharashtra, which had declined to intervene in the company’s decision to terminate his services.
Justice Milind N. Jadhav, presiding over a Single Bench, held that the termination was justified, and the grant of one-time compensation to the petitioner, who denied backwages, was an erroneous finding.
The court noted that the Industrial Court rightly interfered with the judgment of the Labour Court, dismissing the petitioner’s complaint.
The petitioner, a Technical Officer with the respondent company since 1988, faced a charge-sheet in 2001 for repeated and unauthorized absences from duty. Chronic absenteeism, amounting to 44.5 days in 1998, 63.5 days in 1999, and 144 days in 2000, was reflected in the charge-sheet.
The petitioner, engaged in a milk business during this period, refused back wages. The Labour Court awarded lumpsum compensation of Rs. 60,000, a decision challenged in Revision proceedings.
The High Court emphasized that the evidence showed chronic absenteeism, repeated warnings, and a lack of improvement in conduct despite oral and written notices.
The court deemed the awarding of lumpsum compensation as illegal and arbitrary, dismissing the writ petition and upholding the judgment of the Industrial Court in the case of Dattaprasad Narayan Kulkarni v. M/s. Auchtel Products Ltd.
