Beaten up, electrocuted and forced to resign

The Supreme Court, while dismissing the appeal of Atlas Cycle (Haryana) Ltd with costs, upheld the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order that directed the firm to reinstate its employee, who was allegedly beaten up, given electric shocks and forced to write his resignation letter.

In this case, Atlas Cycle (Haryana) Ltd vs Kitab Singh, the latter was charge-sheeted for committing theft. While Singh had resigned citing domestic circumstances, he had written to the Haryana chief minister complaining that he was beaten up by the management, given electric shock and forced to resign. However, these factors were not considered by the labour court on reference of dispute by the state government. On appeal, the high court passed the order of reinstatement with 25% back wages. The Supreme Court stated that since the labour court overlooked material evidence on record, the HC was justified in interfering with the finding of facts by the labour court.

The management argued that a direction for reinstatement of the workman in service was warranted, particularly when the management had completely lost confidence in the workman.

One-fourth deposit of purchase money mandatory in auctions

Dismissing the appeal of an auction purchaser in the case of CN Paramasivan vs Sunrise Plaza, the Supreme Court said that the provision for deposit of 25% of the purchase money in an auction sale under the Debt Recovery Act (DRT) is mandatory and such a relaxation cannot be given.

“The provisions

... contd.