Allowed

(O&M) Goga Textiles, etc. v. Authority Under the Payment of Wages Act, Panipat etc.

Punjab & Haryana HC8 Jan 2013CR/5240/1996

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The court allowed the revision and remitted the matter, holding that without acknowledgment, service of notice is presumed only if addressee denies receipt due to a different address. Jurisdictional issues warrant merits hearing despite the delay.

What did the court decide?

Impugned order set aside; matter remitted for disposal allowing management to contest.

(O&M) Goga Textiles, etc. Vs… — Pension and Retirement Benefits | Punjab & Haryana HC (2013)

¶1

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

¶2

Civil Revision No.5240 of 1996 (O&M) Date of decision:08.01.2013

¶3

Goga Textiles, Mahavir Colony, Panipat and another ...Petitioners

¶4

versus

¶5

Authority under the Payment of Wages Act, Panipat and another. ....Respondents

¶6

CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN

¶7

Present: Mr. Pawan Kumar Mutneja, Advocate, for the petitioners.

¶8

Mr. Kartar Singh, DAG, Haryana.

¶9

K.Kannan, J. (Oral)

¶10

The revision petition is against the order dismissing an application filed by the management refusing to set aside an ex parte order passed by the Payment of Wages Authority admitting a claim by a workman that the wages had not been paid for 2 months and for other claims. The petitioners contended that the notice had been taken to an address where the factory was not located and produced proof through certificate of registration of a small scale at Mahavir Colony, Panipat, while the summons were sent to Khanna Road, Faridkot side, GT Road, Panipat. The Court reasoned that two registered notices had been sent and drew a presumption that the registered notices must have been received.

¶11

Civil Revision No.5240 of 1996 (O&M) - 2 -

¶12

There is no presumption that a registered notice is received unless acknowledgment of receipt is produced. This is more so in a situation where addressee denied the receipt and he could not be expected to prove a negative fact otherwise than by showing that the address was different and that he had not received and the onus will be on the person asserting service of such notice that it was indeed served.

¶13

In this case, the notice in revision has been served on the workman, but he has not appeared. I deliberated on the point of whether the case would be worthwhile reopening at this length of time for considering the issue of whether wages are required to be paid or not. There is a jurisdictional issue as well raised by the management that even as per the showing of the petitioner he was earning 1,800/- per month, while at the relevant time when the petition was instituted on 16.01.1991 and when the order was passed on 21.02.1992 and still later when the impugned order was passed on 13.03.1995, the wages which a workman could have earned to attract the provisions of the Act ought to have been not more than 1,600/- in terms of Section 1(6) of the Payment of Wages Act. When an issue of jurisdiction was also involved, it was only appropriate that the management had an opportunity to contest the case on merits.

¶14

Civil Revision No.5240 of 1996 (O&M) - 3 -

¶15

The impugned order is set aside and the civil revision is allowed. The matter is remitted for disposal in the manner referred to above. Needless to state that the Payment of Wages Authority will issue notice to the parties setting down a date of hearing and allowing for objections to be given by the Management and deal with the matter in accordance with law.

¶16

(K.KANNAN) JUDGE 08.01.2013 sanjeev

(O&M) Goga Textiles, etc. v. Authority Under the Payment of Wages Act, Panipat etc.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

(O&M) Goga Textiles, etc. v. Authority Under the Payment of Wages Act, Panipat etc.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Suresh Chander Vs Prem Nath etc.

(O&M) Ajmer Singh Vs Amar Singh etc.

Ram Partap Vs Kanwar Singh

Jagtar Singh Vs National Insurance Company Ltd.

(O&M) Gian Chand Vs Union of India & Anothers

(O&M) New India Assurance Company Ltd. Vs Sulakhan Singh and Ors.