Delhi: High Court orders striking AIIMS Nurses to resume work
26 April 2022: Justice Yashwant Varma of the Delhi High Court ordered the AIIMS Nurses’ Union to end their strike and resume their duties immediately while highlighting the essential nature of their work. The Nurses Union had embarked on an indefinite strike on the morning of 26 April 2022, demanding that management revoke its order suspending a Nursing Officer on trumped-up charges of “misbehaviour” for demanding better working conditions and regulated working hours for all nurses. The Court remained silent on the issue of suspension however, noted the rights of patients and the institution and ordered the nurses to resume work.
Anganwadi workers, helpers are full-time employees entitled to gratuity: Supreme Court
25 April 2022: A Supreme Court bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Abhay S Oka ruled that Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 applies to Anganwadi centres and therefore to Anganwadi workers and helpers. The Court rejected the plea of the Centre and state governments arguing that Aanganwadi workers are not full-time employees, and therefore not covered under the Act. The judgement puts an end to 16-year legal battle launched by five Anganwadi workers from Gujarat.
Uttar Pradesh: High Court rejects regularisation plea, directs state govt to look into hiking wages of MNREGA technical assistants and computer operators
23 April 2022: An Allahabad High Court bench of Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery rejected the regularisation plea filed by Junior Engineers or Technical Assistants and Computer Operators recruited on a contractual basis under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) by the Uttar Pradesh government. However, the court ordered the government to constitute a committee to look into their grievance regarding increasing monthly wages considering those of their counterparts in other states that pay much higher wages than the UP govt. The court rejected their regularisation plea on the grounds of non-inclusion of criteria proving work of similar nature, and followed the Supreme Court order stating that ‘equal pay for equal work’ is not a fundamental right of employees.
Gujarat: High Court holds oral termination of workman a violation of the ID Act, orders cooperative society to compensate worker
12 April 2022: Justice Vipul Pancholi of the Gujarat High Court ruled that oral termination of a workman violates Sections 25F and 25G of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Consequently, it ordered the employer, a cooperative society, to pay the aggrieved workman Rs. 2,50,000 as compensation in lieu of reinstatement with continuity of service and 20% back wages. The court was hearing a petition by the cooperative society challenging a Labour Court ruling that had also held the workman’s termination illegal under provisions of the ID Act, 1947.
