LexINDIAN AIRLINES OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION versus INDIAN AIRLINES LTD. & ORS.
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INDIAN AIRLINES OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION A v. INDIAN AIRLINES LID. & ORS. JULY 30, 2007 [H.K. SEMA AND V.S. SIRPURKAR, JJ.] B Service Law: Constitution of India, 1950; Article 14: c Service conditions-Scheme of merger of V ayudoot with Indian Airlines and Air India-Seniority and promotions of employees of Vayudoot in Indian Airlines vis-a-vis Air India-Discrimination-Held: Merger of Vayudoot and absorption of its employees in Indian Airlines and Air India were two completely independent processes commenced and ultimately certain decision D in connection thereof concerning seniority and promotion have been taken- Raising of demands by the employees of Vayudoot absorbed in Indian Airlines concerning promotion prospects but no such demands raised by the employees of V ayudoot absorbed in Air India-Besides, employees of V ayudoot absorbed as fresh appointee in Air India, however, in case of Indian Airlines they wer~ placed in the bottom of each grade/category of posts-Thus, Air India and E Indian Airlines are not comparable to each other so far as absorption of employees of V ayudoot in these two organizations is concerned-Merely because some employees of Indian Airlin~s would be affected adversely in terms of future chance of promotion, the whole Schefl!e of merger could not be rejected as discriminatory or arbitrary. Integration of employees of Vayudoot in Indian Airlines-Necessity of-Held: It was necessary in order to resolve the grievances of substantial number of employees of Vayudoot. Absorption of employees of Vayudoot in Indian Airlines and Air India without consulting them-Principles of Natural Justice-Violation of-Held: The Policy of merger formulated in conformity with the principles of law, functional similarity of the posts in two Organisations avoiding undue advantage to some and undue hardship to others-Merely because appellant-Union was not called upon for direct negotiations in the decision 655 F H 656 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007) 8 S.C.R. A making while formulating the Policy, it cannot be said that the Policy makers were not alive to the welfare ·of the employees-There is no arbitrariness in th~ Policy besides equities between the two Organisations have been properly balanced-This is not a case where the principles of natural justice could be brought in-Administrative Law-Principles of Natural Justice. B The Government of India took a policy decision to merge Vayudoot with · •ndian Airlines and Air India. Initially, a separate department was created in Indian Airlines called 'Short Haul Operations Department' (SHOD) for absorption of erstwhile Vayudoot employees in terms of certain conditions. Accordingly, the appointment orders were issued in favour of the Vayudoot C employees appointing them in SHOD. However, after their absorption in SHOD, the employees of Vayudoot' started raising demands for better promotional prospects. It was decided by the Central Government to merge them in Air India and Indian Airlines. A scheme of merger was formulated accordingly. However~ the employees of Vayudoot who opted for their absorption in Indian Airlines raised various demands concerning their service D conditions. A meeting was held at the instance of Secretary, Civil Aviation to resolve these demands. Thereafter, another meeting was held.between the y officers of Ministry of Civil Aviation and the representatives of Indian Airlines. It was decided that unless and until SHOD employees were merged in Indian Airlines, they would have no legal rights to raise demands, and E therefore, their merger was agreed as suggested in earlier meeting. It was also resolved that Indian Airlines should take necessary steps of merger of SHOD employees in the mainstream of Indian Airlines not only on individual basis but on the basis of various classes/categories of employees. Accordingly, the Ministry .advised Indian Airlines to take necessary action as per the minutes issued by the Ministry. However, the employees of Indian Airlines · F felt that though in the meeting, the decision taken was that SHOD employees 'r-' were to be adjusted at the "entry point" but the minutes reflected as if they were to have the "horizontal entry". Aggrieved by the decision of the Central Government they had challenged the decision of the Government by filing writ petitions. Another writ petition was filed by an individual who was working G as Deputy Manager in the Vayudoot Kar
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