O.N.G.C. LTD. versus ENGINEERING MAZDOOR SANGH

Citation: [2009] 14 S.C.R. 645 · Decided: 17-09-2009 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: ALTAMAS KABIR · Disposal: Disposed off

Judgment (excerpt)

If 
[2009] 14 (ADDL.) S.C.R. 645 
O.N.G.C. LTD. 
v. 
ENGINEERING MAZDOOR SANGH 
I.A. NOS. 11 AND 12 OF 2009 
IN 
(Civil Appeal No. 6607 of 2005) 
SEPTEMBER 17,. 2009 
[ALTAMAS KABIR AND CYRIAC JOSEPH, JJ.] 
Labour Law: 
Regularisation of casual/contingent/temporary workmen 
A 
8 
c 
- ONGC engaging casual workers every year in a particular 
season for a specified period - Claim by such workers for o 
regularization- Industrial Tribunal directing ONGC to consider 
those workmen for regularization whose names were 
mentioned in the Schedule to the affidavit and who fulfilled 
the educational qualification and had put in 240 days of work 
in a year - When matter reached Supreme Court, it by order E 
dated 20. 11.2006 injuncted ONGC from making· any 
recruitment from outside till such time the specified workmen 
were absorbed against regular vacancies - IA by candidates 
seeking appointment on compassionate ground as also by 
remaining workmen seeking absorption on completion of two 
F 
years, for modification of order dated 20.11.2006 - Held: 
From the order dated 20. 11.2006 it was clear that intention of 
the Court was that till such time as the specified workmen wem 
not absorbed against regular vacancies in the category G 
concerned, nn recruitment could be made by ONGC - Similar 
provision was also made with regard to the workmen who were 
employed on seasonal basis - The prayer made by O.N. G. C. 
for leave to appoint candidates from the compassionate 
645 
H 
646 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 14 (ADDL.) S.C.R. 
A 
category group before all the workmen who were identified 
after the Award of the Tribunal to be eligible for appointment, 
-.\ 
are absorbed, cannot be granted, as that would not only go 
against the order passed by the Court on 20. 11.2006, but 
would also amount to modifying the same - However, it is 
B made clear that such rejection would not prevent ONGC from 
offering compensation package to persons belonging to the 
categories mentioned in the order - If such package is 
accepted by any of those candidates, both the ONGC as well 
as such candidate will be at liberty to act on the basis of such 
). 
c acceptance and shall not be fettered in any way by the 
directions given either by Tribunal or the Court on 20. 11. 2006. 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: I.A. Nos. 11and12' 
D of 2009. 
.., 
IN 
'l 
Civil Appeal No. 6607 of 2005. 
E 
Raju Ramaohandran, Ranjit Kumar, Aruna Mathur, Rakesh 
Sawhney, Vimal Dubey (for Arputham, Aruna & Co.) Abilash 
K. Clerk, P .K. Manohar, Sanjay Ghose, Anita Shenoy for the 
~ 
F Respondent. 
, 
.., 
The following Order of the Court was delivered by 
ORDER 
G 
ALTAMAS KABIR, J. 1. The Oil and Natural Gas 
A 
Corporation Ltd., (hereinafter referred to as 'the O.N.G.C.') is 
J: 
a public sector undertaking which carries out geological and 
H 
geophysical surveys for the exploration of petroleum. Such work 
O.N.GC. LTD. v. ENGINEERING MAZDOOR SANGH 647 
[ALTAMAS KABIR, J.] 
is seasonal and is confined to the period between November A 
>-
each year and the months of April or May of the following year. 
Every year, at the commencement of the new season, the 
O.N.G.C. starts recruiting casual/contingent/temporary workmen 
for specified periods and their services are terminated at the 
end of the field season. Having regard to the nature of the work 
B 
involved, such practice is said to have been in existence from 
1956 when the O.N.G.C. was incorporated. 
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2. With the increase in the workforce over the years, the c 
aforesaid practice came to be questioned by the Engineering 
Mazdoor Sangh, the respondent herein, on behalf of its 
members who had been employed as such casual/contingent 
or temporary workmen and an industrial dispute was raised in 
the form of a demarid for regularization of such workmen. The D 
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dispute was ultimately referred by the Government of India to 
the Industrial Tribunal (Central) at Vadodara by way of Reference 
(ITC) No.6 of 1991 to decide whether the demand of the 
Respondent-Sangh for regularisation of such employees and 
for other consequential benefits, was justified and if the answer E 
to the said question was yes, to what relief would the workmen 
be entitled . 
.. 
... 
3. The aforesaid Reference was answered in favour of the 
workmen though the Tribunal made it clear that the Reference F· 
was to be restricted to those workmen whose names appeared 
in the Schedule to the affidavit filed by the O.N.G.C. The Tribunal 
directed the O.N.G

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