Canteen stores employees are govt servants -- SC

Canteen stores employees are govt servants -- SC
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, JAN 7: The Supreme Court has held that the employees of the 3,400 unit-run canteens of the defence services are government servants entitled to all the benefits.

``The canteen stores department forms a part of the ministry of defence and if their funds form a part of the consolidated fund of India and it is the said canteen stores department which provides funds as well as different articles through the retail outlets of unit-run canteens, then, the employees who discharge the duties of salesmen in such retail outlets must be held to be employees under the government'', the court observed.

The ruling was handed down by a division bench comprising Justice G B Pattnaik and Justice B N Agrawal while disposing of appeals by the Union of India and others.

The appeals were directed against the orders of the administrative tribunal benches of Bombay and Jodhpur, allowing petitions by M Aslam and other employees of the unit-run canteens claiming the status of government employees and the consequential benefits.

The appellants had assailed the tribunals' orders on the grounds that since the petitioners were not government employees, it had no jurisdiction to entertain them and grant reliefs.

The tribunals had taken the view that the unit-run canteens were part of the defence establshment and consequently the holder of a post in the management of such canteens must be held to be connected with the defence services. The supreme court, in its judgement, noted that the unit-run canteens under their respective commanding officers in the three services--army, navy and air force--got their merchandise from the wholesale outlets in the area depots of the canteen stores department.

While the CSDI served as the wholesale outlet, it is the unit-run canteens that served as retail outlet, the court noted.

``In view of these facts, it is difficult to conceive as to how the employees working in the unit-run canteens cannot be held to be government servants, when it has emerged that providing canteen facilities to the defence services personnel is obligatory on the part of the government,'' the judges observed.

The court said that the defence services officers had total control over the unit-run canteens as well as the employees. A regular set of rules had been framed determining the service conditions of the employees in these canteens.

The court held that these employees of the unit-run canteens would draw at the minimum of the regular scale of pay available to their counterparts in the CSDI.

It further directed the defence ministry to determine the service conditions of these employees at an early date, preferably within six months.