# • ::-,>-···. L. ROBERT D'SOUZA v. THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER SOUTHERN RAILWAY & ANR - **Citation:** [1982] 3 S.C.R. 251 - **Court:** Supreme Court of India - **Decided:** 1982-02-16 - **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 1613 of 1979 - **Bench:** D.A. Desai, R.B. Misra - **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/l-robert-d-souza-v-the-executive-engineer-southern-railway-anr-8321 - **Pages:** 26 ## Headnote 251 Industrial Disputes Act, 19471 sections 2(oo) and 25F, scope of-"Termlnation of se~vice for any reason whatsoever'' in the definition "retrench.ient"· darified. Construction of Section_ 9A-Casuaf labour, termination of services QfRailway Establishme1u Code, Rules 2501 and 2505, explained. The appellant joined service as a gangm1-n in Southern Railway on July 1, 1948. In course of his service be was transferred to varioui places. While A 8 G he wa:s working as a Lascar at Ernakulam, he was transferred, some time in D March 1970 by way of punishment for his Union activities in the capacity of _General Secretary of the Southern Railway Construction Workers Union, Eroakulam, to Podannur in Tamil Nadu. However, bis transfer was cancelled and he joined duty on· 20-2-1971 at Ernakulam. The Ministry of Labour, Government of India, by its letter dated April 23, 1974 directed treatment of his entire period of absence from 8tb March, 1970 to 19th February, 1971 as duty. Later, the appellant approached the Labour Court for recovering some of his dues ll which remained pending fo[ a long time. As the appellctnt and thoie similarly situated were likely to reach the age of superannuation and by the unfair labour practice, namely, treating them only as 'daily rated labour', of the Railway Administration, they were likely ~o be denied the full retirement benefits, appellant and several others filed a writ petition in the High Court of Kerala, praying for a direction that they should be treated at least as temporary railway servant with attendant benefits. During the pendency of the matter, in connection, with the demand for a 11 the benefits granted by the Central Pay Commission being extended to the category of employees t-0 which the appellant belonged the appellant undertook a fast. but-broke the rsame on September 28, 1974 at the intervention of [the Assistant Labour Commissioner. Taking advantage of the appellant's absence, the .respondents termina.ted his service with retrospective effect, i.e., from 18~9-1974 on the gronnd of unauthorised absence. A learned single Judge having dismissed the liame, the Jmatter was taken. in appeal before the Division Bench. In the appe1l, it was coaten,ded that the terminatioti of service of the appellant in the circumstances wo.uld constitute retrenchment within the meaning. of section 2SF of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and, therefore:, the order ()f termination was invalid. , The matter was referred to the Full Bench which held that there ,was no retrencbme0t and cjismi$$ed the appeal: Hence, the appeal by special leave. Allowing the appeal, the Gou.rt, F G H A I! c D E F G 252 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1982) 3 s.CR. HELD : 1. The expression "termination of service for any reason whatsoever" in the definition "retrenchm~nt" in section 2(oo) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 covers every kind of termination of service except those not expressly included in section 25F or not expressly provided ior by other pro· visions of the Act such as sections 25FF and 25FFF. The excepted categories are (i) termination by way ·-or punishment inflicted pursuant to disciplinary action; (ii) voluntary retirement of the workman; (iii) retirement of the workman on reaching the age of superannuation if the contract of emplo}·ment between the employer and the workman concerned contains a _-stipulation in that behalf; (iv) or termination of the services on the ground of continued ill·health. _ Once the case does npt fall in any of the excepted categories, the termination of service even if it be according to automatic discharge from service under agreement would nonetheless be retrenchment within the meaning of ·expression in -section 2(oo) of the Act. It must as a corollary follow that if the name of the workman is struck off the roll, that itself would constitute retrenchment. - [259 B-C, 206 H, 261 A-B] . Delhi Cloth & General Mills Ltd. v. Shambhu Nath Mukherji, [1978] I 1,_ SCR 591, followed •. State Bank of ## Text _Characters 0–39,860 of 64,440. This is a partial read: ask again with offset=39860 for what follows._ • ::-,>-···. L. ROBERT D'SOUZA v. THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER SOUTHERN RAILWAY & ANR . February 16, 1982 (D.A. DESAI AND R.B. MISRA, JJ.] 251 Industrial Disputes Act, 19471 sections 2(oo) and 25F, scope of-"Termlnation of se~vice for any reason whatsoever'' in the definition "retrench.ient"· darified. Construction of Section_ 9A-Casuaf labour, termination of services QfRailway Establishme1u Code, Rules 2501 and 2505, explained. The appellant joined service as a gangm1-n in Southern Railway on July 1, 1948. In course of his service be was transferred to varioui places. While A 8 G he wa:s working as a Lascar at Ernakulam, he was transferred, some time in D March 1970 by way of punishment for his Union activities in the capacity of _General Secretary of the Southern Railway Construction Workers Union, Eroakulam, to Podannur in Tamil Nadu. However, bis transfer was cancelled and he joined duty on· 20-2-1971 at Ernakulam. The Ministry of Labour, Government of India, by its letter dated April 23, 1974 directed treatment of his entire period of absence from 8tb March, 1970 to 19th February, 1971 as duty. Later, the appellant approached the Labour Court for recovering some of his dues ll which remained pending fo[ a long time. As the appellctnt and thoie similarly situated were likely to reach the age of superannuation and by the unfair labour practice, namely, treating them only as 'daily rated labour', of the Railway Administration, they were likely ~o be denied the full retirement benefits, appellant and several others filed a writ petition in the High Court of Kerala, praying for a direction that they should be treated at least as temporary railway servant with attendant benefits. During the pendency of the matter, in connection, with the demand for a 11 the benefits granted by the Central Pay Commission being extended to the category of employees t-0 which the appellant belonged the appellant undertook a fast. but-broke the rsame on September 28, 1974 at the intervention of [the Assistant Labour Commissioner. Taking advantage of the appellant's absence, the .respondents termina.ted his service with retrospective effect, i.e., from 18~9-1974 on the gronnd of unauthorised absence. A learned single Judge having dismissed the liame, the Jmatter was taken. in appeal before the Division Bench. In the appe1l, it was coaten,ded that the terminatioti of service of the appellant in the circumstances wo.uld constitute retrenchment within the meaning. of section 2SF of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and, therefore:, the order ()f termination was invalid. , The matter was referred to the Full Bench which held that there ,was no retrencbme0t and cjismi$$ed the appeal: Hence, the appeal by special leave. Allowing the appeal, the Gou.rt, F G H A I! c D E F G 252 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1982) 3 s.CR. HELD : 1. The expression "termination of service for any reason whatsoever" in the definition "retrenchm~nt" in section 2(oo) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 covers every kind of termination of service except those not expressly included in section 25F or not expressly provided ior by other pro· visions of the Act such as sections 25FF and 25FFF. The excepted categories are (i) termination by way ·-or punishment inflicted pursuant to disciplinary action; (ii) voluntary retirement of the workman; (iii) retirement of the workman on reaching the age of superannuation if the contract of emplo}·ment between the employer and the workman concerned contains a _-stipulation in that behalf; (iv) or termination of the services on the ground of continued ill·health. _ Once the case does npt fall in any of the excepted categories, the termination of service even if it be according to automatic discharge from service under agreement would nonetheless be retrenchment within the meaning of ·expression in -section 2(oo) of the Act. It must as a corollary follow that if the name of the workman is struck off the roll, that itself would constitute retrenchment. - [259 B-C, 206 H, 261 A-B] . Delhi Cloth & General Mills Ltd. v. Shambhu Nath Mukherji, [1978] I 1,_ SCR 591, followed •. State Bank of India v. N. Sundera Money, [1976] 3 S.C. R. 160; Hindustan Steel Ltd. v. Presiding Officer, Labour Court, [1977] 1 S.C.R. 586; Santosh Gupta v, State Bank of Patia/a, [1980] 2 S.C.R 884 at 892; Mohan Lal v. Bharat Electronics Ltd., [1981] 3 S.C.C. 225, referred to. 1:2. There is neither apparent nor real conflict between the decision of the constitution· bench in Hariprasad Shivshanker Shukla v. A..D. Divikar, [1957] S.C.R. 121 and the later five decisions commencing from Sundera Money and ending with Mohan/al' s case. Re~ex:amining a contention over again so as to cover the familiar ground would, apart from giving a go bye to _the doctrine of stare decisis, would be a sheer waste of time and mere lengthening of the judgment. [260 C'D] Surendra Kumar Verma & Ors, v. Central Gover:nment Industrial-cum- · Labour Court, New Delhi & Anr., [1981] 4 S.C.C. 443, View of Pathak, J. held inapplicable.] 2:1. Notice contemplated by clause (a) of section 25F would not be dispensed with, in.view of the provision contained in proviso (b) of section 9A, which is ~n independent provision having no co-relation with section 25F. [264 BJ 2:2. Section 9A imposes an otligation on the employer, who pro~·. ses to effect ·any change in the conditions of service applicable to any workman in respect of any matter specified in the F_ourth Schedule to give notice as therein provided and the employer is precluded from effecting the change without giving ·to the workman likely to be effected by such change, notice in the prescribed manner of the nature of the change proposed to be effected, and the change cannot be effected within 21 days of the giving of such notice. In order to attract .section 9A tbc; 1.;pange propose<;l must be.in tbe conditions of service applicable to ~·· I L.R. D'SOUZA V. EX ENG., S; RAILWAY 253 the workman in respect of any matters specified in. the Fourth Schedule. If the proposed.change falls in any of the matters specified in the Fourth Schedule the change· can be effected after giving notice in the prescribed manner and waiting for 21 days affer giving such notice. In order to attract section 9A the employer must be desirous of effecting a change in conditions of service in respect of any matter specified in Fourth Schedule. If the change proposed does not cover any matter in Fourth Schedale section 9A is not attracted and no notice is necessary. [262 E-0] Workmen of Sur Iron & Steel Co. (P) Ltd. v. Sur Iron & Steel Comppny (P) Ltd., [1971] LLJ 570; Tata Iron & Sttel Company Ltd. v. Workmen, [1973] I SCR 594; Assam Mot~h Co. Ltd. v. Bijoy Loi Sen, [1974] l SCR ll6, referred to. 2:3. Retrenchment to be valid must comply with three conditions set out in section 25F. They are, (a) subject to the proviSo to clause (a) one month's notice in writing specifyin.g the reasons for retrenchment or wages in lieu of notice: (b) compensation to l:!'e paid according to the measure provided in the clause, the payment to be simultaneous with the retrenchment; and (c) the notice in the prescribed manner to be served on the appropriate Government. It was obligatory upon the employer, who wants to l'retrench the workmen to give notice as contemplated by clause (a) of section 25. [262 C-E] 2:4. A careful reading of sections 9A and 25F makes it clear that when a workman is retrenched, no change in his conditions of service is effected. No item in Fourth Schedule which sets out the· conditions of service covers the case of retrenchment. In fact retrenchtnent is specifica1ly covered by item IO of the Third Schedule. If retrenchment which connotes termination of service, cannot constitute change in conditions of service in respect of any item mentioned in Fourth Schedule saction 9A would not be attracted. If section 9A is not attracted, the question of seeking exemption from it in the case falling under the ,_proviso would hardly arise. Ther~fore, neither seciion 9A nor the proviso is attracted •in this case. That apart, none of the other pre-conditions to a valid retrenchment have been tomplied with, because the very letter of termination of service shows that services were deemed to have been termitiated from a back date which clearly indicates no~notice being given~ no compensation being paid and no no~ice being given to. the prescribed authority. Therefore, termination of strvice, being retrenchment, for failttre to comply with section 25F, would be void ob initio. [263 D-11, H, 264 A, C-DJ . . 3:1: The test provided is that for the putpose of determining the eligi- ,bih~ of casual labour to be treated as temporary, the criterion shoo Id be the penod of continuous work put in by each individuai labour on . the same type of work and not the period put in collectively by any particular gang or group of labourers. It is thus abundantly clea; that if a person belonging to the category of casual labour employed in construction work other than workcharge~ projects renders six months' contiriuous service without a break, by the operation of statutory rule the nerson would be treated as temporary railway servant after the expiry of six months of continuous .. employment. It is equally true of even seasonal labour. Qnce the pe~on acquir~d the statua·_of tem~orar¥ A c D E F G H A B c D E F G H 254 SUPREME COURT REPORTS fl982] 3 s.c.R. railway servant by operatlon of ;law, the conditions of his service wout~ be governed as set out in Chapter XXIII. The ser~ice of a temporary railway servant may be termined only as provided in Rule 2301. [266 H, 267 A-B, El 3:2. The underlying intendment of the Rule 2501(~) (i) & (ii~) and note below Rule 2505 is that a casual labour who bas rendered six months conqnuous service would-be-placed in the categ'ory of temporary ra.ilway servant ~nless he is employed on work-charged project. Rule 250l(b) (1) clearly. provides that even where staff is paid from contingencies, they would acquire !he st~tus of temporary railway servants after expiry of six months of continuous employment. [271 E-H] • In the instant case : (i) tbe appellant acquired the status of ten1porary railway servant Jong before the termination Of his service and, therefore, his service could not have been terminated under Rule 2505; (ii) he nevet worked on projects but on a construction Unit. Construction Unit is a regular Unit anti cannot be equated to Project. Every construction work does not imply Project. Project is correlated to planned projects in wli.ich the workman is treated as work-Charged. Persons belonging to casual Jabour category cannot be transferred but the appellant was transferred ·on innumerable occassions; (iii) as a result of the appellant and others filing a writ petition, three co-appellants were informed that they were treated as on regular employments and ceased to belong to the category of casual labour. But for impugned termination orders the appellant also would have been treated as temporary and therefore1 the iappellant received discriminatory treatment offending Article 14 & 16 of the Constitution; and (iv) section 25F of the Industrial Disputes- Act provides that no workman employed in any industry who has been in continuous service for not less than one year under an employer shall be retrenched by that employer until the conditions set out in Act are satisfied. The appellant would be a workman within the meaning of that ex:pression in section 2(s) of the Act. 'He has rendered continuous service for a period over twenty years. Therefore, the first condition of section 25F that appe11ant is a workman who has rendered service for not Jess than one year under the Railway administration, an employer carrying on an industry, is satisfied. His service is terminated which for the reasons hereinbefore given would .co~stitute ~etrenchment. It is immaterial that he. is a daily 1'ated worker. He ts either doing manual or technical work and hiS salary was Jess than Rs. 500 and the termination of his service does not faJJ ·in any of the excepte9 categories. The~efore, assuming that he was a daily ra1ed worker once he has rendered continuous uninterrupted service for a p~riod of one yea; or more, within the meaning of section 25B of the Act and his service is terminated for any reason whatsoever and. the case doe<; not fall in any of the excepted categories, notwithstanding the fact that Rule 2505 would be attracted, it would have to be read subject to the provisions of the Act. Accordingly the termination of service in this case would constitute retrenchment and for not complying with pre-conditions to valid retrenchment the order of termination would be illegal and invalid. [271 D, 272 A, G, 275 D-G] . 3:3. Absence without leave constitutes misconduct and it is' not open to the employer to terminate service without notice and inquiry or at any rate wit~out complyiμg with tile minimum principle of natural justice. Further~ -~ ' . ' \ LP. D1SOUZA v. BX. ENG., s. RAILWAY (Desai, J.) 25) Rule, 2302 clearly prescribes the mode, manner and 'methodology of terminating service of a temporary railway servant and admittedly the procedure therein prescribed having not been carried out, the termination is void and invalid; Accordingly, the same conclusion would Qe reached even while accepting for the purpose of the facts of this case simultaneously rejecting it in· law that the termination does not constitute retrenchment yet nonetheless it would be void and inoperative. [273 A-CJ OBSERVATION: Rule 2501 which permits a man serving for 10, 20, 30 years at a stretch without break being treated as daily rated servant, is thl"¥1ugJily opposed to the notions of socio-economic justice and it is high time that Railway administration brings this part of the provision of the Manual, antequarian and antidiluvian, in conformity with the Directive Principles of State Policy as enunciated in Part IV of the Constitution. ·It is high time that these utterly unf~ir (provisions wholly den:Ying socio-economic juStice are properly modified and brought in conformity with the modern concepi of justice and faieplay to the lowest and the lowliest in Railway administration. [273 C-D, 274 A-BJ CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 1613 of 1979. Appeal by special leave from the Judgment and Order dated the 9th January, 1979 _of the Kerala High Court in O.P. No. 4401 of 1974. K.R.R. Pillai for the Appellant. P.A. Francis and Miss A. Subhashini for the Respondents. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by DESAI, J. Appellant L. Robert D'Souza joined service as a gangman at Mangalapuram in. Southern Railway on July !, 1948. In course of his service he was transferred to various places. When he was last working as Lascar at Ernakulam, on October 8, 1974 the Executive Engineer (Construction), Erna:kulam intimated to him that his services were deemed to have been terminated from September 18, 1974, from which date the appellant was _said to have absented himself from duty. This letter has an important bearing on the issues raised in this appeal, and, therefore, relevant portion may be extracted here : "You have absented yourself unauthorisedly from 18.9.1974 and hence your se1vices are deemed to have been terminated from the day you have absented yourself. Please note. A B c' E F G H / A B c D l!l F G H 256 SUPREME COURT REPORTS { 1982] 3 s.c.R. Since you are no longer on the rolls of this office yoa should vacate the quarters allotted to you i rnmediately failing which action will be taken to evict you". According to the appellant, up to the date of unauthorised and illegal termination of his service he had rendered coiitinuou• service for a period of 26 years yet the Railway administration wrongfully denied him the status of a temporary and/or regular workman and treated him a daily rated casual labourer. This treatment according to the appellant was so unfair that it prompted persons who were victims of this unfair treatment by the Railway administration to form a Union named Southern Railway Construction Workers Union, Ernakulam, of which the appellant was the General Secretary. The Union submitted a charter of demands which presumably irritated the authorities and chagrined by it, the appellant was transferred to Podannur in Tamil Nadu by way of punishment. As the late Shri A.K. Gopalan, who was a renowned trade union leader, espoused the cause of the appellant, his transfer was cancelled and he was reposted and allowed to continue at Ernakulam after paying the arrears of wages and granting continuity of service for the period he did not join duty at the place of his transfer. This is quite evident from the Jetter of the Under Secretary, Ministry of Labour, dated April 23, 1974, which reads as under : "With reference to your letter dated the 28th May, 1973, on the above subject, I am directed to say that it has been reported by the Ministry of Railways that the Southern Railway Administration bas been advised that as you were transferred back to Ernaku!am on 19th March, 1971, you should be deemed to have been on duty for the intervening period from 8th March', 1970 to 19th February, 1971, and your wages paid accordingly". The local superiors of the appellant were annoyed by the success of the appellant and they were on a look out for settling the score with the appellant. In the meantime the appellant approached the Labour Court for rocovering some of his dues which remained pending for a long time. As the appellant and those similarly 'ituated were likely to reach the age of suptrannuation and by the unfair labour practice of the Railway administration they were likely to be denied the full retirement benefits, appellant and several others filed a writ petition in the High Court of Kerala .. According i..R. D;SOUZA v. EX. ENO., s. RAILWAY (Desai, J.) 257 to the appellant, for the various reawns stated in the petition, appellant and those similarly situated could not be treated as daily rated casual labour and under the relevant rules appellant and his co-workers would at least acquire the status of temporary railway servants and their services could not be terminated in the manner in which the appellant's service was terminated and that they woul.I be entitled to all the retiral benefits. The petition came up before a learned single judge who dismissed the same. The matter was taken in appeal before the Division Bench. In the appeal it was contended that the termination of service of the appellant in the circumstances as set out earlier would constitute retrenchment within the meaning of section 25F of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 ('Act' for short), and therefore, the order of termination, Inter a/ia, is invalid The Division Bench found the question raised before it of such importance and magnitude that it referred the same to the Full Bench. In the meantime the appellant was actively pursuing his trade union activities. A demand was made that all the benefits granted by the Central Pay Commission be extended to the category of employees to which the appellant belonged and when these demands fell on deaf ears, it was resolved to give a strike notice. The matter was taken in conciliation which ultimately resulted ·in failure. The appellant approached the Ceritql Government to make a reference under s. IO of the Act in respect of the demands for adjudication by National Tribunal. As the Central Government was wobbling in its approach, the appellant declared his intention to go on fast unto death for redressal of the grievances suffered for decades by the lowest category of railway employees. At that stage the Assistant Labour Commfssioner intervened and persuaded the appellant not to precipitate the matter. The appellant accordingly broke his fast on Sepetember 28, 1974, in the hospital where he was confined during his fast. Taking advantage of his absence during the fast immediately the order of termination of his service was served and this led to the present proceedings which ha¥e culminated in this appeal. The appellant, inter alia, contended before the Full Bench of Kerala High Court that the termination of his service for the reasons and in the manner brought about is illegal and invalid, that it was victimisation for trade union activities; that it was unfair labour practice and that it was ma/a fide. It was also contended that in view of his long uninterrupted s~rvice admittedly over twenty years A B c D E F G H A ·C D E F H SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1982) 3 s.c.a. he was at the minimum a temporary railway servant and, therefore, his service cannot be terminated unless he was rendered surplus or by way of disciplinary measure after complying with Article 311 of the Crnstitution. The, legal submission put in the forefront was that in the circumstances herein mentioned the termination of service constituted 'retrenchment' within the meaning of s. 25F of the· Act and as the pre-condition to valid retrenchment having not been satisfied, the termination is illegal and invalid. The Full Bench answered the point referred to it against the appellant holding that there is no retrenchment as contended for, on behalf of the appellant and finally dismissed the petition. Hence this appeal by special leave. At the outset it must at once be pointed out that the construction· put by the Full Bench of the Kerala High Court on the expresssion 'retrenchment' in s. 2(oo) of the Act that it means only the discharge of surplus labour or staff by the employer for any reason whatsoever is no more good law and in fact the decision of the Full Bench of Kerala High Court in L. Robert D' Souza v. Executive Engineer, Southern Railway and Anr.,(') has been speci· fica]ly overruled by this Court in Santosh Gupta v. Stare Bank of Patia/a.(2) This Court has consistently held in State Bank 'of India v. N. Sundera Money,( 3) Hindustan Steel Ltd. v. Presiding Officer, Labour Court,(') and Delhi Cloth & General Mills Ltd. v. Shambhu Nath Mukherji,(5) that the expression 'termination of service for irny reason whatsoever' now covers every kind of termination of service except those not expressly included in s. 25F or not expressly provided for by other provisions of th.e Act such as ss. 25FF and 25FFF. It was attempted to be urged that in view of the decision of this Court in Pipraich Sugar Mills Ltd. v. Pipraich Sugar Mills Mazdoor Union,(6) the ratio of which was re-affirmed by_ a Constitution Bench of this Court in Hariprasad Shivshanker Shukla v. A.D. Divikar,(') all the later decisions run counter to the Constitution Bench and must be treated per in curium. This contention need not detain us because first in Hindustan Steel Ltd. case, then (I) [1979] llLLJ. 2111. (2) (1980] 2 S.C.R. 884]at 892 (3) [1976] 3 S.C.R. 160. (4) (1971] 1 S.C.R. 586. (5) (1978] I S.C.R. 591. <6l [1956J s.c.R. sn. (7) [1957) s.c.R. 121. ' ...,_ ' . . - ~ ! ~ t.R. D'SOUZA v. BX. BNG., s. RAILWAY (Desai, J.)1 2S9 in Santosh Gupta's case (Supra) and lastly In Mohan Lal v. Bharat Eleotronics Ltd.,(') it was in terms held that the decision in Sundera Money's case was ·not at all inconsistent with the decision of the Con$titution Bench in Harip1asad Shukla's case and not only required no reconsideration but the decision in Sundera Money's case was approved in the aforementioned three cases. This position is furtl]er butressed by the decision in Delhi Cloth and General Mills Ltd . . case wherein striking off th' name of a workman from the roll was held to be retrenchment. It ls, therefore, the settled law that the expression 'termination of service for any reason whatsoever' in the·, definition of the expression 'retrenchment' in s. 2(oo) of the Act covers every kind of termination of service oxcept those not expres~ly included in s. 25F or not es:pressly provided for by other provisions of the Act. such as ss. 25FF and 25FFF. Two things thus emerge, firstly, that the decision of the Full Bench of Kerala High Court under appeal has been specitlcally overruled by this Court in Santosh Gupta's case (Supra) and secondly, in view of the decision in Delhi Cloth General Mills Ltd. case (Supra) striking off the',, name of a workman from the rolls without anything more constitutes retrenchment within the meaning of the expression 'retrenchment' ins. 2(00). This emerging legal position alone would be sufficient for us to allow the appeal and set aside the decision of the Kerala High Court. Sh~et anchor of Mr. Francis's submission is that this Court should proceed on the construction of expression 'ratrenchment' as set out i1' Hariprasad Shukla's case, and ignore the construction of the expr~ssion 'retrenchment' put in ,the decisions of this Court in Sundera Money's Hindustan Steel Ltd. ca.se, Santosh Gupta's case, Delhi C/qt~ & . General Mills Ltd. case as being per in curium. We are not disposed to undertake this recurring futile exercise for obvious r~ason that. on four different occasions, in Hindustan Steel Limited get. The response of S. N. Mukherji to this offer was that he should be given a further opportunity to show his efficiency in his job and if he fails to improve, he would tender his resignation voluntarily. The management did ·not reply to the letter with the result that the workman did not report for work at the newly offered post. On January 19, 1966, the management wrote to the workman that his nllme has been struck off from the rolls with effect from August 24, 1965, for continued absence without intimation. Such termination of service was held to be covered by the expression 'retrenchment' and it was struck down on the ground that the pre.condition to valid retrenchment was not complied with. It would thus appear that it is consistently held by this Court that termination of service for any reason whatsoever except the excepted categories would constitute retrenchment within the meaning of the expression in the Act. And here recall the order of termination of service of the appellant wherein it is stated that "You have absented yourself unauthorisedly from 19.8.1974 and hence your services are deemed to have been terminated from the day you have absented yourself." Is any other \ B c • n E G A B c D E F G H 262 SlJPREME COURT REPoars [1982) 3 S.C.R. ' conclusion possible save and except the one recorded by this Court in Delhi Cloth &~General Mills Ltd case that this constitutes retrenchment and for non-compliance with pre-condition, it is invalid. Before referring to other contentions of Mr. Francis, we may dispose of one contention based upon construction of s. 9A of the Act as in our opinion, it is utter)y untenable. Mr. Francis says that if valid retrenchment presages a notiCe contemplated by s. 25F, the same would stand dispensed with in view of the proviso (b) of s. 9A of the Act and therefore even if the termination is held to be retrenchment, the same would be valid. There are two basic fallacits in this submission. Retrenchment to be valid must comply with three conditions set out in s. 25F. They are (a) subject to the provi!O to clause (a), one month's notice in writing specifying the reasons for retrenchment or wages in lieu of notice; (b) compensation to be paid according to the measure provided in the clause, the payment to be simultaneous with the retrenchment; and (c) the notice in the prescribed manner to be served on the appropriate Government. If the termination in this case otherwise constitutes retrenchment admittedly clauses (b) and (c) of s .. 25F have not been complied with. That apart, the submission that in view of the provision contained in proviso (b) of s. 9A, the notice contemplated by clause (a) of s. 25F would be dispensed with, is without merits. Section 9A imposes an obligation on the employer, who proposes to effect any change in the .conditions of service applicable to any workman in respect of any matter specified in the Fourth Schedule to give notice as therein provided and the employer is precluded from effecting the change without giving to the workman likely to be affected by such change, nollce in the prescribed manner of the nature of the change proposed to"be effected, and the change cannot be effected within 21 days of the giving of such notice. Jn order to attract s. 9A the change proposed must be in the conditions of service applicable to the workman in respect of any matters specified in the Fourth Schedule. If the proposed change falls in any of the matters specified in the Fourth Schedule the change can be effected after giving notice in the prescrib'd manner· and waiting for 21 days after giving such notice. There is a proviso· to s. 9A which exempts the employer from giving the notice of change if the case falls in any of the two provisos. According to Mr. Francis the case would be covered by proviso (b). It reads as under : "9A. No employer, who proposes to effect any change in the conditions of service applicable to any workman in ~, __ • -- -~ . \ L.R. D'SOUZA v. EX. ENG., s. RAI~WAY (Desai, J.) 263 .. respect of any matter specified in the Fourth Schedule, shall effect such change- (a) x x x x (b) x x x x Provided thai no notice shall be required for effecting any such change : (a) x x x x (b) where the workmen. likely to be effected by the change are persons to whom the Fundamental and Supplementary Rules, Civil Servic.es (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, Revised Leave Rules, Civil Services Regulations, Civilians in Defence Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, or the Indian Railway Establishment Code or any other rules or regulations that may be notified in this behalf by the appropriate Government in the Official Gazette, apply". It was obligatory upon the employer, who wants to retrench· the workmen to give notice as contemplated by clause (a) of s. 25. When a workman is retrenched it cannot be said that change in his conditions of service is e1fected. The conditions of service are set out in Fourth Schedule. No item in Fourth Schedule covers the case of retrenchment. In fact, retrenchment is specifically covered by Item IO of the Third Schedule. Now, if retrenchment which connotes termination of service, cannot constitute change in conditions of service in respect of any item mentioned in Fourth Schedule, S. 9A would not be attracted. In order to attract s. 9A the employer must be desirous of effecting a 'change in conditions of service in respect of any .matter 'specified in Fourth Schedule. If the change proposed does not cover any matter in Fourth Schedule s. 9A is not attracted and no notice is necessary. See Workmen of Sur Iron & Steel Co. (P) Ltd. v. Sur Iron & Steel Company (P) Ltd.,(') Tata Iron & Steel Company Ltd. v. Workmen(') and Assam Match Co. Ltd. v. Bijoy Lal .Sen('). Thus if s. 9A is not attracted the question of seeking exemption from it in the case falling under (1>:[1971] .1 L.L.J. 570. (2) [1973] l S.C.R. 594. 0) [1974] l S.C.R. 116. A B c D E F G H A B c D F G H 264 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1982] 3 s.c.R. the proviso would hardly arise. Therefore, ·neither s 9A nor the proviso•is attracted in this case. The basic fallacy in the submission is that notice of change contemplated by s. 9A and notice for a valid retrenchment under s. 25F are two different aspects of notice, · one having no co-relation with the other. It is, therefore, futile to urge that even if termination of the service of the petitioner constitutes retrenchment it would nevertheless be valid because the notice contemplated by s. 25F would be dispensed with in view of the provision contained in s. 9A, proviso (b). That apart, it is an indisputable position that none of the other pre-conditions to a valid. retrenchment have been complied wi>h in this case because the very letter of termination of service shows that services were deemed to have been terminated from a back date which clearly indicates no notice being given, no compensation being paid and no notice being given to the.prescribed authority. Therefore, termination of service, being retrenchment, for failure to comply with s. 25F, would be void ab initio. Mr. Francis next contended that as the appellant belonged to the category of casual labour as defined in rule 2501 in Chapter XXV of the Indian Railway Establishmeot Manual ('Manual' for short), no notice prior to termination of bis service is necessary or required by law in view of the pro.visions contained in Rule 2505. The submission is that in the case of casual labour the service will be deemed to have been terminated when such employee absents himself or on the close of the day. Rule 2501 reads as under: "2501. Definition- (a) Casual labour refers to labour whose employment is seasonal,.intermittent, sporadic or extends over shorf periods. Labour of. this kind is normally recruited from the nearest available source. It is not liable to transfer, and the conditions applicable to permanent and temporary staff do not apply to such labour, , (b) The casual labour on railway should be employed only in the following types of cases, namely : (i) Staff paid from contingencies except those retained for more than six months continuously. Such of those· persons who continue to do the same work Y- ~ - L.R. D'SOUZA v. BX ENG., s. RAILWAY (Desai, J.) 265 for which they were engaged or other work of the same type for more than six months without a break will be treated as temporary after the expiry of the six months of continuous employment.. (ii) Lal\our on projects, irrespective of duration, except those transferred from other temporary or permanent employment. (iii) Seasonal labour who are sanctioned for specific works of less than six months duration. If such labour is shifted from one work to another of the same type, e.g., relaying and the total continuous period of such work at any one time is mor.e than six months' duration, they should be treated as temporary after the expiry of six months of continuous employment. For the purpose of determining the eligibility of labour to be treated as temporary, the criterion should 0be the period of continuous work put in by each individual labour on the same type of work and not the period put in collectively by any particular gang or group of labourers. x x x Note: (I) x x (2) Once any individual acquires temporary status, after fulfilling the conditions indicated in (i) or (iii) above, he retains that status so Jong as he is in continuous employment on the railwayg, In other words, even if he is transferred by the administration to work of a different nature he does not lose his temporary status. (3) x x x (4) Casual labour should not be deliberately discharged .with.