Kagajkal Mazdoor Sangh 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 Nagaon 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 Page No.# 3/4 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 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 Page No.# 4/4 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.#o1/4 GAHC010206892019 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6446/2019o KAGAJKALoMAZDOORoSANGHoANDoANR. REPRESENTEDoBYoITSoGENERALoSECRETARY oSHRIoGANESHoKUMARoSINGH oHINDUSTANoPAPERoCORPORATIONoLIMITED oP.O.-oKAGAJNAGAR oDISTRICT-oMORIGAON oASSAM oPIN-o782413. 2:oGANESHoKUMARoSINGH SENIORoTECHNICIANo(MECHANICAL) oHINDUSTANoPAPERoCORPORATIONoLIMITED oNAGAONoPAPERoMILL oP.O.-oKAGAJNAGAR oDIST-oMORIGAON oASSAM oPIN-o782413. oVERSUS THEoUNIONoOFoINDIAoANDo3oORS. REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARY oMINISTRYoOFoHEAVYoINDUSTRIESoANDoPUBLICoENTERPRISES oDEPARTMENToOFoHEAVYoINDUSTRY oUDYOGoBHAWAN oNEWoDELHI-o110001. 2:HINDUSTANoPAPERoCORPORATIONoLIMITED AoCOMPANYoREGISTEREDoUNDERoTHEoCOMPANIESoACT o1956o(oAoGOVT.oOFoINDIAoENTERPRISE)oHAVINGoITSoCORPORATEoOFFICEoAT HPCoHOUSINGoCOMPLEX oHCoBLOCK oSECTOR-III oSALToLAKEoCITY Page No.# 2/4 KOLKATA- 700106 WEST BENGAL. 3:NAGAON PAPER MILL HINDUSTAN PAPER CORPORATION LIMITED PO- KAGAJNAGAR DISTRICT- MORIGAON ASSAM PIN- 782413. 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. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN DEV CHOUDHURY