Sun Oct 20 15:06:21 UTC 2024: Published – October 20, 2024 08:36 pm IST – MADURAITamil Nadu Government Transport Corporation Staff Federation has written to the Additional Chief Secretary of the Transport Department stating that the Assistant Manager (Legal) of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC), Madurai, has been misleading the management and filing unnecessary appeals.
The Federation said that it appeared that the Assistant Manager (Legal), Sasikumar was misleading the management into pursuing unnecessary legal appeals on the matters already conclusively settled by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. This caused financial and administrative strain on the Corporation along with the unnecessary legal proceedings.The Federation said that earlier two employees of the TNSTC had filed petitions before the High Court challenging the punishment orders in 2018 and 2021 respectively. The common issue raised in both the cases was the alleged theft of unused bus tickets, which was reported to the police, making recovery from the conductors invalid as per Clause 29 of the 1995 Settlement under Section 12 (3) of the Industrial Disputes Act.
In 2022, a Single Bench of the High Court in its common order quashed both punishment orders. The court cited the provisions of the 1995 Settlement and referred to the decisions in similar cases which held that the recovery for the loss of unused bus tickets is unwarranted if reported as theft. The court further directed that any recovered amounts be refunded, reinforcing that recovery in such cases cannot be sustained, the Federation said.
Despite the clear judgment, the Assistant Manager (Legal) advised the management to file an appeal. Even after the appeal filed against the 2018 case was dismissed, an appeal was filed in the 2021 case. A Division Bench of the court had dismissed the appeal noting that the previous appeal on the same issue had already been rejected and there was no ground to reopen the matter, the Federation said.
The Federation said that the Assistant Manager (legal) who was responsible for providing accurate legal assistance had instead led the management into pursuing futile appeals causing the wastage of the Corporation’s resources and unnecessary legal expenses. The appeal in the 2021 case was entirely redundant as the matter had already been settled and the management was aware of the dismissal of the previous appeal in the same issue, the Federation said.The Federation said that such actions not only harmed the Corporation financially but also tarnished its reputation and urged the Additional Chief Secretary to take appropriate action against the Assistant Manager (legal) for failing in his duty to provide sound legal advice and misleading the management into initiating unnecessary proceedings. The Federation said that the matter should be investigated thoroughly and necessary steps should be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
Published – October 20, 2024 08:36 pm IST
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