ALL INDIA RAILWAY INSTITUTE EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIATION THROUGH THE GENERAL SECRETARY versus UNION OF INDIA THROUGH THE CHAIRMAN

Citation: [1990] 1 S.C.R. 594 · Decided: 27-02-1990 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: RANGANATH MISRA · Disposal: Dismissed
Cited by 1 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this case
Judgment (excerpt)

A 
B 
ALL INDIA RAILWAY INSTITUTE EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIA-
TION THROUGH THE GENERAL SECRETARY 
v. 
UNION OF INDIA THROUGH THE CHAIRMAN 
FEBRUARY 27, 1990 
[RANGANATH MISRA, P.B. SAWANT AND 
K. RAMASWAMY, JJ.] 
Railway Institutes and Clubs-Employees-Whether entitled to be 
treated on par with employees in Statutory Canteens run by Railway 
C Administration. 
This petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India has 
been filed by an Association of about 2,000 employees working in 500 
Railway Institutes and Clubs in various parts of the country claiming 
that they should be treated on the same par as the employees in the 
D 
Statutory Canteens run by the Railway Administration. In support of 
their claim the petitioners while enumerating the range of activities 
handled by them, they have attempted to draw a parallel with the 
regular employees contending inter alia that not only they receive 
grants-in-aid and a number of facilities from the Govt., the Railway 
Board has always treated these institutes and clubs as an integral part 
E 
of the Railways. 
The Respondents resisted the petition stoutly and contended that 
the Institutes and Clubs are managed by a Committee representing its 
membership which engages stich staff as is required and meets the cost 
of their wages and allowances etc., that the Railways are not the princi-
F 
pal employers of their staff, that they are not paid directly from the 
Consolidated Fund of India and whatever facilities are provided to 
them they are confined to the wholetime staff as a special case and not 
on account of any obligation under any law. On consideration of respec-
tive contentions and documents on record while dismissing the petition, 
this Court, 
G 
HELD: There is a material difference between the canteens run in 
the Railway establishments and the Institutes and Clubs. The Institutes/ 
Clubs have to run on the membership fees and fixed grants received 
from the Staff Benefit Fund. The fund consists of receipts from the 
forfeited provident fund and bonus, and of fines. The grant is made as 
H 
pointed out by the Respondents, to each Institute/Club at the rate of 
594 
y 
-
' ,_ .. 
-
; 
RAILWAY EMP. ASSCN. '· U.0.l. [SAWANT, J.[ 
595 
Rs.14 per capita of the non-gazetted staff employed at the relevant 
establishment. Out of this contribution, only Rs.4 per capita are spent 
on the activities of the education, relief in case of distress and sickness. 
sports, scouts activities and for other miscellaneous purposes. There is 
further no dispute that the wages and .allowances of the Staff of the 
Institutes/Clubs are paid by the Institutes/Clubs themselves and they 
are not subsidised by the Railway Administration as in the case of the 
statutory and non-statutory recognised canteens. [600H] [601E-F & G] 
On the facts, it cannot be held that there is a relationship of' 
employer-employee between the Railway Administration and the 
employees engaged in the Institutes and Clubs. Neither law nor facts 
spell out such relationship. If the present service conditions of these 
e_mployees are unsatisfactory, the remedy lies elsewhere. [603B-C] 
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition No. 1389 
of 1987. 
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India). 
G. Ramaswamy, Additional Solicitor General, M.K. Rama-
murthy, Mrs. Shyamala Pappu, K."K. Venugopal, Gobind M.ukhoty, 
M.A. Krishnamurthy, Ms. Chandan Ramamurthy, Dalveer Bhandari, 
C. Ramesh, G.D. Gupta, L.K. Gupta, G. Venkatesh Rao, Ms. A 
Subhashini, Ms. Susma Suri, C.V.S. Rao, P. Parmeshwaran, Mrs. 
Urmila Kapoor, Krishna Pra_sad,}n_dra f'.!"ckwanaancl S.K. Jain, for 
the Appearing Parties. 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
A 
B 
c 
D 
E 
SAW ANT, J. This petition is filed as stated in the petition by an 
F 
Association of about 2,000 employees working in 500 Railway Insti-
tutes and Clubs in various parts of the country. Their grievance, as in 
the case of the petitioners in the matters pertaining the Railway Can-
teens, is that they are not treated as railway employees. It is their case 
that although the Institutes/Clubs in which they work are non-statu-
tory, they are on par with the employees in the statutory canteens run 
G 
-----<( 
in the Railway establishments proper. According to them, the Railway 
Institutes and Clubs were set up to provide recreational facilities to the 
railway employees. They are managed by Committees consisting of 
representatives of all the members of the Institutes/Clubs elect
Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.