Tags:
Journalism of Courage
AUGUST 24: The Bombay High Court has criticised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for indulging in avoidable litigation with its employees. Delivering a ruling in a case wherein a conductor was accused of charging less than the fare due to two commuters, allegedly his friends, Justice R M Lodha came down heavily on the civic body for not responding to 8220;reasonable and fair compromise proposals of workmen or their unions.8221;
BEST bus conductor Vishnu Laxman Bombare gave two tickets of one rupee each to passengers apparently travelling from Jijamata Udyan to Navy Nagar. The checking squad boarded the bus somewhere between this stretch and objected to the wrong fare charged by the conductor to the two passengers. A probe was subsequently instituted, and the inquiry committee was told that the conductor was on friendly terms with the passengers. However, the Trying Officer could not record the passengers8217; versions, as they had left for their native place. When the matter came up before the Sixth Labour Court, the inquiry officer did not offer any reasonable explanation for non-availibity of the passengers at the time of inquiry. The conductor8217;s misconduct thus could not be proved either in the labour court or in the Industrial court, where the BMC later went in appeal.
Justice Lodha termed it a 8220;fair compromise,8221; which should be acceptable to the BMC. Accordingly, the lower courts8217; orders were partly modified, and the conductor awarded 50 per cent backwages. Advocate Neeta Karnik appeared for the respondents and S K Talsania for the municipality.
