Deputy Excise & Taxation Commissioner (Excise) Vs Mange Ram and another (Punjab & Haryana High Court)
Nine-Year Silence & New Employment End Reinstatement: P&H High Court Substitutes ₹2 Lakh Compensation
Relevant facts
In Deputy Excise & Taxation Commissioner (Excise), Jagadhri v. Mange Ram, decided on 17 August 2026, the Punjab & Haryana High Court considered whether reinstatement should continue to be granted to a contractual workman whose services had been illegally terminated, but who raised his industrial dispute after nearly nine years & had already obtained employment elsewhere.
The workman was appointed as a Sweeper-cum-Chowkidar on 3 November 1999 in the office of the Deputy Excise & Taxation Commissioner, Jagadhri. His name had been sponsored through the employment exchange. Though initially appointed contractually for 89 days, his engagement was extended periodically until his services came to an end on 31 March 2004.
The workman served a demand notice only on 13 March 2013. He claimed that he had worked for more than 240 days during the preceding 12 months & that his termination amounted to retrenchment without compliance with Section 25F of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Since neither statutory notice nor retrenchment compensation had been provided, he sought reinstatement with continuity of service & consequential benefits.
