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The Kalaburagi bench of the Karnataka High Court has said that the KSRTC Servants (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1971 is applicable to all the employees of the RTCs, including KSRTC, North East as well as the North West Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC and NWKRTC). Justice Suraj Govindaraj said this while disposing of a batch of petitions filed by transport employees.
The petitioners had challenged the disciplinary proceedings and the action initiated against them from 2010 to 2014. It was contended that the KSRTC Servants C&D Regulations cannot be made applicable to NEKRTC. They claimed that the Standing Orders Act would be applicable to all the industries and hence the same is applicable to the RTCs as well. According to them, the procedure under section 33(2)(b) of the Industrial Disputes Act was not followed. They stated that the enquiry proceedings should have been conducted by an officer of the RTC, who is vested with the authority.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj said that the orders issued under the Standing Orders Act ,which are applicable to industrial establishments, would not be applicable despite there being no specific notification under Section 13-B of the Standing Orders Act. The court further said that compliance of section 33 (2)(b) would be required only if punishment of discharge or dismissal is made and not in respect of other punishments.
Since prior permission was not obtained by the disciplinary authority before imposing the punishment of dismissal, the court has directed for reinstatement, with 40% backwages, of two petitioners, one a former driver and another a former driver-cum-conductor. The bench dismissed the petitions filed by the other employees, including traffic controllers, conductors and drivers.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj noted that in Muniswamy Gowda H vs Management of KSRTC and other cases, a division bench of the high court had already held that the C&D Regulation would apply to the KSRTC employees. “The NEKRTC and NWKRTC having been formed out of KSRTC and the employees of KSRTC having been transferred to NEKRTC and NWKRTC - and they having adopted the KSRTC (C&D) Regulations 1971, those regulations being one and the same for KSRTC, NEKRTC and NWKRTC - the decision on Muniswamy’s case would be equally applicable to NEKRTC and NWKRTC, and the declaration made therein would also apply to them,” the court said.
Insofar as conducting an enquiry, the court said that RTC can appoint retired Judges including Civil Judges, retired District Judges or former Public Prosecutors as Enquiry Officers and it will not fall foul of Regulation 23(2) of C & D Regulations, 1971.