Review cases for speedy disposal before tribunal, says HC

The Madras High Court has on its own directed the Union Labour Ministry to conduct a review for speedy disposal of cases pending before the labour appellate tribunal and ensure that their objectives and purpose are fulfilled.

The court gave this directive while emphasising on quick disposal of cases which was also a right of an aggrieved person, more specifically in labour issues.

Justice SM Subramaniam passed the order after a section of the bar raised a concern that they were unable to get disposal of their cases pending before labour appellate tribunals and that some matters listed in October 2019 were adjourned to 2020.

A large number of cases are pending, and the rights of the parties are also affected. The poor working classes are unable to get their remedy and the long delay in deciding such cases would affect their livelihood and this apart, they may not get speedy remedy in the near future, they stated.

Under these circumstances, the members of the bar urged the court by stating that more number of tribunals are required for the purpose of speedy disposal of cases, as the number of cases are also consistently increasing.

At the outset, it is contended that the functioning of the tribunal is as such where the litigants are unable to get speedy justice and the parties are unnecessarily made to wait for years without any progress in the cases, the judge said.

Noting that labour law is meant for speedy disposal of cases as the employees or managements cannot afford to wait for long years to get their grievance addressed, the judge said, for instance, if there is a delay in redressing the grievances of an employee, he would lose his livelihood and also lose his rights and benefits under the labour laws.

Also, if there is a delay in deciding the cases filed by the management, it has to pay huge back wages as well as interest.

Thus, the long delay in deciding the cases would affect all the parties concerned and therefore, speedy disposal of the cases before the appellate tribunal is an imminent factor and is highly warranted, Justice Subramaniam said.