Cachar Paper Mill Officers and Supervisors Association and Anr v. The Union of India and 3 Ors

ORDER Date : 09-02-2024 Heard Mr. S Biswas learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard the learned counsel for the respondents. The petitioners are employees of Cachar Paper Mills under Hindusthan Paper Corporation Ltd. The petitioners are aggrieved by non-payment of salaries, wages and retirement dues. In the meantime, the Hindusthan Paper Ltd was put under the process of liquidation in terms of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

(IBC). It is submitted that during the process of liquidation arrears of salary and gratuity have been paid to the petitioner. However, the provident fund dues have not been paid till date. It is stated at the bar that the State of Assam has taken over the assets and liabilities of the aforesaid organization under liquidation. It is also brought into the notice of this court by Mr. S Biswas, learned counsel for the petitioner that in a meeting between all the unions of the Hindusthan Paper Corporation Limited (under liquidations) and the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Assam on 28.09.2021, a decision was taken for assessment of the quantum of relief to be given to the workers and employees including Provident Fund, dues. However, in a subsequent meeting held with the Hon'ble minister on

11.05.2020, it was decided that in view of the determination made by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Sunil Kr. Jain and Others Vs. Sundaresh Bhatt and others reported in (2022) 7 SCC 540, wherein Page No.# 5/5 it was held that gratuity will not be paid from the liquidated amount, there is a change in the modality of the relief package proposed by the Government earlier made on 28.09.2021. On a query posed by this court on 07.02.2024, Mr. P Chowdhury learned counsel representing the liquidators has submitted that the provident fund commissioner is in the session of the matter so far relating to payment dues to be made to the petitioner which accrued during their service. In view of the aforesaid, it is the considered opinion of this court, that when the Hindusthan Paper Corporation is already under liquidation and payments against arrears of salary and gratuity has already been made and at the same time statutory authority under the PF Act are looking into the matter of non-payment of statutory provident fund dues, nothing survives to be adjudicated in this writ petition. Accordingly, the present writ petition stands closed, however, while parting with the record it is made clear that the closure of this writ petition shall not be treated as any bar for the petitioner to claim their dues before the statutory authority or to approach any competent authority for redressal of their grievances. Accordingly, this writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010206892019 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6330/2019o CACHARoPAPERoMILLoOFFICERSoANDoSUPERVISORSoASSOCIATIONoANDo ANR.o REP.oBYoITSoGENERALoSECRETARY,oSRIoDIPAKoCHANDRAoNATH,o HIDUSTANoPAPERoCORPORATIONoLTD.,oP.O.oPANCHGRAM,oDIST.o HAILAKANDI,oASSAM,oPIN-788802. 2:oDIPAKoCHANDRAoNATH oSR.oFOREMANo(ELECTRICAL) oHINDUSTANoPAPERoCORPORATIONoLTD. oCACHARoPAPERoMILL oP.O.oPANCHGRAM oDIST.oHAILAKANDI oASSAM oPIN-788802o VERSUSo THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo3oORS.o REP.oBYoITSoSECRETARY,oMINISTRYoOFoHEAVYoINDUSTRIESoANDoPUBLICo ENTERPRISES,oDEPTT.oOFoHEAVYoINDUSTRY,oUDYOGoBHAWAN,oNEWo DELHI-110011. 2:HIDUSTANoPAPERoCORPORATIONoLTD. oAoCOMPANYoREGD.oUNDERoTHEoCOMPANIESoACT o1956o(oAGOVT.oOFoINDIAoENTERPRISE)oHAVINGoITSoCORPORATEoOFFICEo AToHPCoHOUSINGoCOMPLEX oHCoBLOCK oSECTOR-III oSALToLAKEoCITY oKOLKATA-700106. oWESToBENGAL. 3:CACHARoPAPERoMILL Page No.# 2/5 HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION LTD. P.O. PANCHGRAM DIST. HAILAKANDI ASSAM PIN-788802. 4:KULDEEP VERMA LIQUIDATOR FOR HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION LTD. B.B. GANGULY UNIT 501 KOLKATA-700012 WEST BENGAL Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. D. MOZUMDER Advocate for the Respondent : ASSTT.S.G.I. Linked Case : WP(C)/6468/2019 CACHAR PAPER PROJECT WORKERS AND EMPLOYEES UNION AND 3 ORS. REPRESENTED BY ITS GENERAL SECRETARY SHRI AZIZUR RAHMAN MAZUMDER HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION LIMITED P.O. PANCHGRAM DISTRICT- HAILAKANDI ASSAM PIN- 788802. 2: AZIZUR RAHMAN MAZUMDER SENIOR ASSISTANT HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION LIMITED CACHAR PAPER MILL P.O. PANCHGRAM DISTRICT- HAILAKANDI ASSAM PIN- 788802. 3: CACHAR PAPER MILL MAZDOOR SANGH (BMS) REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT SHRI UTPAL DUTTA CHAUDHURY HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION LIMITED P.O. PANCHGRAM DISTRICT- HAILAKANDI Page No.# 3/5 ASSAM PIN- 788802. 4: UTPAL DUTTA CHAUDHURY SENIOR ASSISTANT HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION LIMITED CACHAR PAPER MILL P.O.- PANCHGRAM DISTRICT- HAILAKANDI ASSAM PIN- 788802. VERSUS THE UNION OF INDIA AND 3 ORS. REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY MINISTRY OF HEAVY INDUSTRIES AND PUBLIC ENTERPRISES DEPARTMENT OF HEAVY INDUSTRY UDYOG BHAWAN NEW DELHI- 110011. 2:HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION LIMITED A COMPANY REGISTERED UNDER THE COMPANIES ACT 1956 ( A GOVT. OF INDIA ENTERPRISE) HAVING ITS CORPORATE OFFICE AT HPC HOUSING COMPLEX HC BLOCK SECTOR-III SALT LAKE CITY KOLKATA- 700106 WEST BENGAL. 3:CACHAR PAPER MILL HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION LIMITED P.O. PANCHGRAM DISTRICT- HAILAKANDI ASSAM PIN- 788802. 4:KULDEEP VERMA LIQUIDATOR FOR HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION LIMITED B.B. GANGULY UNIT 501 KOLKATA- 700012 WEST BENGAL. ------------ Advocate for : MR. D MOZUMDER Advocate for : ASSTT.S.G.I. appearing for THE UNION OF INDIA AND 3 ORS. Page No.# 4/5 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN DEV CHOUDHURY