Delhi HC sets aside labour court's award reinstating IGL technician

New Delhi, Jul 10 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has set aside a labour court award directing the reinstatement of a technician who claimed to have been illegally terminated by Indraprastha Gas Limited in 2002, holding that he failed to establish the existence of an employer-employee relationship with the company. Justice Shail Jain allowed IGL's petition and quashed the labour court's February 19, 2011 award, which had directed Abdul Hafeez Khan's reinstatement after holding the termination to be in non-compliance with the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act. Advocate Raavi Birbal, appearing for IGL, argued that the workman was never directly employed by the company but was engaged through an independent contractor. She contended that the labour court ignored crucial documentary evidence and wrongly inferred the existence of an employer-employee relationship in the matter. Accepting the contention, the court held that the initial burden of proving a direct employer-employee relationship rested on the workman. It said the technician, in the present case, failed to produce any appointment letter, salary slips, provident fund or ESI records or any other material evidence to show that IGL had appointed him, paid his wages or exercised disciplinary or administrative control over him. The court further said that as more than two decades have elapsed since the termination and the technician failed to establish the "foundational facts" to prove a direct employer-employee relationship, remanding the matter for fresh consideration by the labour court would serve no useful purpose. Khan had claimed that he worked as a technician at an IGL-operated CNG station in Gazipur and that his services were illegally terminated on August 20, 2002. PTI ADS KSS KSS