Kerala High Court Quashes Order Of Managements To Freeze The IDA Of CPSU Workers
Kerala High Court quashed the order released by FACT Management on 25-11-2020 to freeze the DA. Despite this order, the order released by Union Govt and FACT management to freeze the DA of Non Unionized Supervisors will get continued.
The Judgement by Justice Anil K Narendran had been delivered on a writ petition filed by FACT Workers’ Organaisation General Secretary George Thomas.(26423/2020). This Union is lead by N.K. Premachandran, M.P.
On 19-11-2020, DPE had issued a circular declaring the freeze of DA . Based on this FACT management had released a circular on 25-11-2020, by applying the DA freeze to workers also from 01-07-2020 to 30-06-2021.
Main argument placed by the union is that as per the existing rules and regulations prevailing in our country, the deserving DA increase which is part of a tripartite agreement signed between Workers and Management in the presence of labour department, cannot be denied unilaterally by Union Govt or the management. In addition they have argued that the Union Govt didn’t intend to freeze the DA of workers.
During the hearing the Court has asked the stand of Union Govt in this matter and it was conveyed by the Addl Solicitor General that Union Govt doesn’t have any intension to freeze the DA of workers. Hence the court observed that the action of FACT management to freeze the DA is unilateral and illegal too and ordered to quash it.
It was also decided to leave the matter of modalities of payment of denied DA increase for the month of October and November to the decision of Regional Labour Commissioner’s conciliation meeting scheduled on 21-12-2020. By this verdict increased DA will get restored for about 1100 Permanent and casual workers of FACT.
