ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF, E-IN-C BRANCH GHQ vs DADAN KHAN
This matter involves petitions for leave to appeal against a Service Tribunal order concerning the termination of employees hired by the Frontier Works Organisation on a work-charge basis. The respondents, whose services were terminated, sought reinstatement before the Service Tribunal. Although the department maintained that work-charge employees could be removed based on project exigencies, the Tribunal held that the respondents were entitled to benefits admissible to temporary civil servants, specifically granting pensionary benefits due to their ten-year service duration. The petitioner challenges this, arguing that work-charge employees are not civil servants and are ineligible for such benefits. The core legal question is whether the Service Tribunal was justified in granting pensionary benefits to work-charge employees when they failed to produce evidence establishing their status as civil servants, and when such relief was not explicitly claimed in their appeals. The Supreme Court granted leave to consider the propriety of the Tribunal's decision to grant relief not sought by the parties and the underlying legal status of work-charge employees regarding pensionary entitlements.
- Are employees hired on a work-charge basis entitled to pensionary benefits admissible to civil servants?
- Is a Service Tribunal justified in granting relief that was not specifically claimed by the appellants in their appeals?
- Does the burden of proof lie with the employee to establish their status as a civil servant before the Service Tribunal?
ORDER
' These petitions for leave to appeal have been filed to challenge the order passed by the learned Tribunal disposing of a number of appeals by a common judgment.
2. Facts of the case are that the respondents in these cases were employed with Frontier Works Organisation as temporary employees on work-charge basis. Subsequently, the services of the respondents were terminated as they were no longer required by the said department. The respondents after failing to succeed in their respective departmental representations, filed appeal before the Service. Tribunal seeking their reinstatement in service. Although, the department declined to reinstate the respondents in service holding that they could be removed from service whenever the exigencies of the work assigned to them so required, nevertheless the Tribunal held that the respondents were entitled to all the benefits as admissible to a temporary civil servant and since the respondents had served for more than 10 years with the said organisation, they were held to be entitled to pensionery benefits according to their length of service in each case.
3. Leave has been sought on the ground that the respondents had been employed purely on work- charge basis, and therefore, they were not entitled to any benefit admissible to a civil servant.
Evidently, no evidence was produced by the respondents before the learned Tribunal to support their claim that they were civil servants. It has been pointed out that since the respondents had moved the Service Tribunal for redress, it was incumbent upon them to lead such evidence before the learned Tribunal. However, the order passed by the Tribunal itself shows that no such evidence had been produced by the respondents before the Tribunal.
4. Leave is, therefore, granted to consider whether the Tribunal was justified in granting partial relief to the respondents holding that they were entitled to pensionery benefits when no such claim had been made by the respondents themselves in their respective appeals before the Tribunal.