Karnataka High Court gives relief to 84 workmen retrenched from service 17 years ago

Key points

• In a relief to 84 workmen retrenched from service nearly 17 years ago, the High Court of Karnataka has directed a private pharmaceutical company to pay a lump sum compensation of ₹3 lakh to each of the retrenched workmen for terminating them from service without seeking permission from the State government as per the provisions of the Industrial Disputes (ID) Act, 1947. A Division Bench comprising Justice D.K.
• Singh and Justice S.
• Rachaiah passed the order while allowing an appeal filed by retrenched workmen of Karnataka Malladi Biotics Ltd., (also known as Embio Ltd.), Mandya.
• The Bench ruled that the company had illegally bypassed mandatory provisions of the ID Act by failing to seek prior government permission before laying off and retrenching 84 workers in 2009, wrongly claiming it employed fewer than 100 persons and was thus exempt from seeking such permission.
• Both the industrial tribunal and a single judge...