MUMBAI, August 1: After an Industrial Court for Mumbai judgement, today, one ought to think twice before sacking one's chauffer in a fit of rage. The message came loud and clear when with the ruling of the Industrial Court for Mumbai, directing a company to reinstate its driver with full benefits, after he was sacked. Judge P S Ghose directed the owners of Supertex (India) Corporation to allow Radheshyam K Pandey to report for duty and to pay his salary for the period he was terminated from work.

Pandey was fired by Ashok Shroff, director (administration) of the company, on October 22, 1994, on a whim it would seem. Shroff had ordered Pandey to pick up Prakash Shroff, one of the three directors of the company, from the Bandra railway station at 12.45 pm. Though Pandey was there on time, Prakash did not turn up till 2.45 pm. On his arrival there, he could neither locate Pandey, nor the company car, at the desired place. After seeking him out, he lost his cool with the chauffer. On reaching the office, Prakash narrated the incident to Ashok Shroff, whereupon, the latter tersely stated that they no longer required his services. The company flouted the industrial and labour law by sacking Pandey, without chargesheeting him or conducting an inquiry .

The Shroffs also ignored Pandey's plea to keep him on the job. He continued to visit the office, but was made to sit in a corner. A month later, Pandey was taken aback to find Rs 34,000 deposited in his account, in the Indian Overseas Bank, Worli branch. He approached advocate U K Shrivastava and filed a case. The defence advocate H H Madan argued that Pandey was issued memos repeatedly for inefficiency, and that the Bandra railway station incident was misleading.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.