TMI Blog2004 (9) TMI 676X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... back wages. 2. Facts necessary for the disposal of these appeals are as follows: The respondents herein were engaged by the appellant- Board on daily wages for the purpose of digging pits for erecting electric poles. It is the case of the appellant that on completion of the said project of drawing electric lines from point to point, the employment of the respondents was terminated and whenever a similar occasion arose for digging pits they were re-employed on daily wages. Hence their employment was not permanent in nature nor in any one of the cases the respondents had completed 240 days of continuous work in any given year. The said project jobs have come to an end in 1991 and respondents were never re-employed by the Board. 3. B ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ontinuously in any given year, hence, they cannot claim permanency nor could they term their non-employment as a retrenchment. On the said basis, it rejected the applications of the respondents. 5. Being aggrieved by the said rejection of their application, the respondents preferred an appeal before the Industrial Court at Bhopal Bench. The Industrial Court noticing the fact that though the application for production of the Muster Rolls was for the years 1987 to 1992, the appellant had only produced the Muster Rolls for the year ending 1990. Therefore, an adverse inference against the appellant was drawn and solely based on the said adverse inference it accepted the case of the respondents that they had worked for 240 days continuously i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... se was that between 1988 and 1992 they have been working in 240 days continuously in a year which having not been established atleast for the years 1988 and 1990 without there being a specific allegation that between 1990 and 1992 there was such continuous employment a mere non-production of the Muster Rolls for the said year could not have been made the basis of drawing an adverse inference by the courts below. It is also argued that the non-employment of a daily wager when there is no work would not amount to retrenchment. Learned counsel also submitted that the nature of work that was being done by the appellant was a work for a project and that project having come to an end, question of regularising the services of the respondents or ma ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... wire is drawn from the starting pole to the ending pole that work comes to an end. Therefore, it cannot be contended that the nature of work which was only to dig pits for the purpose of erecting poles could be construed as a permanent job. Of course, during the course of electrifying more places, job of this nature may be done by the Board continuously in different parts of the State but that does not deviate from the fact that drawing of electric line from one point to another at one part of the State would be a project and not a continuous job. Therefore, employment of people in that local area for the limited job cannot be construed as an employment for a continuous and regular work of the Board. This fact is also recorded in the Muster ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... st to which he could stake his claim nor could he claim the benefit of completion of 240 days of continuous work in a given year, because as stated above the figures do not show that the respondents whose particulars are referred to herein above or the other respondents for that matter have worked for 240 days. In such a factual background, in our opinion, the Industrial Court or the High Court could not have drawn an adverse inference for the non-production of the Muster Rolls for the year 1990 to 1992 in the absence of specific pleading by the respondents-applicants that atleast during that period they had worked for 240 days continuously in a given year. The application calling for the production of the documents was for the years 1987 t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nce is withheld. Presumption as to adverse inference for non-production of evidence is always optional and one of the factors which is required to be taken into consideration in the background of facts involved in the lis. The presumption, thus, is not obligatory because notwithstanding the intentional non-production, other circumstances may exist upon which such intentional non-production may be found to be justifiable on some reasonable grounds. In the instant case, the Industrial Tribunal did not draw any adverse inference against the appellant. It was within its jurisdiction to do so particularly having regard to the nature of the evidence adduced by the respondent. 12. If we apply the principles laid down by this Court in the above ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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