The Pune Industrial Court had directed the workers to pay 50% wages till the disposal of the case.
The Pune Industrial Court had directed the workers to pay 50% wages till the disposal of the case.
A blow to General Motors India Pvt Ltd. Ltd., the Indian arm of American automobile major General Motors, in a recent order has been disposed of by the Supreme Court of the company’s plea to set aside a Pune Industrial Court order relating to payment of 50% monthly wages to 1,086 laid off workers from Pune. Cancellation requested. The matter will be settled by April.
In September, the Bombay High Court dismissed a writ petition by the auto major to set aside the Pune Industrial Court’s order passed in January. The employees of the company’s Talegaon unit had moved the Industrial Court soon after their layoffs in July 2021.
“While learned senior counsel for the petitioners argued vigorously with regard to the jurisdiction of the Industrial Court, we feel that this is an aspect which will ultimately be looked into by the Industrial Court,” said the order passed by Justice AS Bopanna. Pamighantam Shri Narasimha of SC.
“For the present, we note that the impugned order is an interim relief to the workers, and therefore, in that circumstance, we see no reason to interfere. However, keeping in view that such an interim The relief is payable to more than a thousand employees and the issue is, in any case, to be decided by the Industrial Court on the basis of jurisdiction and merit, we deem it appropriate in the instant case, the Industrial Court to treat the matter on its merits. Consider the matter at the earliest and settle the dispute within four months from the date of availability of the copy,” the judges said in the order.
Directing the parties to the trial to co-operate with the Industrial Court, the SC has asked them not to seek unnecessary adjournment.
“All the issues are left open to urging all the arguments of the parties at the appropriate level and will be considered by the competent court without being affected by the observations contained in the order passed by the Industrial Court as well as the High Court. Settling the issue,” the order added.
“With these observations/directions, the petition is disposed of. The pending applications, if any, shall be disposed of,” the order further stated.
Senior advocate Sanjay Singhvi, representing the General Motors Employees Union, said, “General Motors India Pvt Ltd has violated Section 25N of the Industrial Disputes Act. Permission of concerned as per rules [Maharashtra] The said labor cut by the government not taken before retrenchment is illegal and thus injustice has been done to the workers.”
Lawyer Nitin Kulkarni, representing the employees union in the Pune Industrial Court, said, “The law in India is very clear and it is clear from the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.”
Waiting for GM’s reply.