Supreme Court Flags Issues For Mumbai Municipal Corporation To Address In Contempt Case Over Workers' Permanency Status

In a contempt petition filed against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for non-compliance with directions to give permanent status to some of its workers, the Supreme Court on March 19 flagged issues and passed directions with respect to pending verification exercise of workers.

The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma directed that the Corporation shall complete the verification exercise (as requested in its affidavit) within 4 months and file a status report of full compliance.

Two issues noted by the Court were: (i) of payment having been made to verified workers as a lump sum amount (as opposed to actual entitlement) and (ii) of all admissible benefits not being extended to employees/workers who died or were permanently incapacitated prior to order of April 7, 2017.

Underlining the need for the corporation to address the two issues, the court directed the petitioner-Sangh to file an affidavit in 2 weeks detailing inter-alia the benefits extended to employees/workers who died or were permanently incapacitated prior to April 7, 2017.

The Court also called for an affidavit from the Corporation, "placing on record the verification of the attendance of the employees/workers who have been paid lump sum amount and also the details of the payments made or benefits extended to the deceased employees'/workers' families and also those who are permanently incapacitated."

Before parting, it was noted that the Municipal Commissioner had requested the Industrial Tribunal to direct the Investigating Officer to arrange a camp for verification of remaining workers (out of 1100 workers), but no date was fixed for such camp. As such, the court directed the Industrial Tribunal to ensure that the Investigating Officer organizes a camp within 4 weeks. It was added that said Officer shall give advance notice to the petitioner-Sangh for placing relevant material before it and also for physical verification for workers who have still not been verified.

Notably, on the last date of hearing, the top Court had called for personal appearance of the Mumbai Municipal Commissioner. Today, the officer was present in Court alongwith 2 others. The Corporation had also placed on record an affidavit dated March 17, 2024, on perusal of which it appeared to the Court that it was now "geared up to ensure compliance" of the orders.

The matter is next listed on April 23, for which date personal appearance of the Municipal Commissioner has been dispensed with. However, the Deputy Commissioner (SWM) and the Chief Engineer (SWM) shall remain present.

For a detailed background and report on earlier proceedings, click here.

Case Title: Kachara Vahatuk Sharamik Sangh v. Ajoy Mehta and Ors, CONMT.PET.(C) No. 1264/2018 in C.A. No. 4929/2017 (and connected matter)

Click here to read the order