Shivani Gadhavi
Published On: January 30, 2022 at 17:09 IST
The Chhattisgarh High Court on January 25, 2022 gave a Judgment regarding a Petition which Challenged Clause 9.5.0(iii) of the National Coal Wage Agreement-VI, which is a Settlement arrived at in terms of Section 18 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
The High Court Bench was comprising of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice N K Chandravanshi. The Petitioner stated that she is the daughter of a man who used to work at Belt Khalasi. As the father of the Petitioner died due to a snake bite while he was working, the Petitioner’s mother filed an Application under the NCWA-VI for Dependent Employment.
In this regard, the Petitioner (daughter) wanted the Respondents to consider her for appointment under scheme of Dependent Employment. However, the Respondents denied to consider her for the appointment as her name was not recorded in service records. Nevertheless, she was entitled for Monetary Compensation.
The Petitioner in this regard got a Declaration from a Family Court in order to prove point of her being the daughter of the deceased. The Petitioner again applied for the Dependent Employment but got rejected. The Petitioner’s application was rejected under Clause 9.5.0(iii) of the National Coal Wage Agreement-VI.
Under this Clause, the Petitioner was not entitled for the Dependent Employment as she was 14 years, three months and 22 days old. According to the Clause, only Male Dependents of the deceased are kept for consideration if the Male Dependent is 12 years or above and till the age 18 years.
The Petitioner in light of all the facts, challenged the Clause on the basis of it being Discriminatory in nature. The Court pertaining to the Petition observed, “Clause 9.5.0(iii) of the NCWA-IV is clearly Violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India because Discrimination is made on the basis of gender.”
The High Court Bench while allowing the Plea stated that “it is provided that Clause 9.5.0 (iii) of the NCWA-VI shall be read in a manner to also include a Female Dependent who is 12 years of age and above for keeping the same in a live roster till she attains the age of 18 years when her case would be considered for compassionate appointment commensurate with her skill and qualifications.”