TMI Blog1985 (8) TMI 383X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... kman on October 31, 1975. It is common ground that the provisions of Section 25-F of the Industrial Disputes Act were not complied with. According to the management it was not necessary to comply with the provisions of Section 25-F as the workman concerned was not in continuous service for not less than one year as prescribed by Section 25-F read with Section 25-B of the Industrial Disputes Act. The tribunal upheld the contention of the management. The workman have preferred this appeal. 2. The facts very briefly are that the workman joined the service of the American Express International Banking Corporation on November 4, 1974 as a typist-clerk in a temporary capacity and was employed as such, with a number of short breaks, till ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... completed year of continuous service) or any part thereof in excess of six months; and (c) notice in the prescribed manner is served on the appropriate Government (for such authority as may be specified by the appropriate Government by notification in the Official Gazette). Section 25B defines and explains what is continuous service is as follows : -B. For the purposes of this Chapter,- (1) a workman shall be said to be in continuous service for a period if he is, for that period, in uninterrupted service, including service which may be interrupted on account of sickness or authorised leave or an accident or a strike which is not illegal, or a lock-out or a cessation of work which is not due to any fault ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... been absent due to temporary disablement caused by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment; and (iv) in the case of a female, she has been on maternity leave; so, however, that the total period of such maternity leave does not exceed twelve weeks. Section 16, 17 and 18 of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954 which provide for 'close-days', 'Weekly holidays' and Wages for the holidays' may also be extracted here and are as follows : Section 16(1) Every shop and commercial establishment shall remain closed on a close day. (2) In addition to the close day every shop and commercial establishment shall remain closed on three of the National Holidays each year a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oliday and where an employee is paid on piece rates, he shall receive the average of the wages received during the week. 3. The learned counsel appearing for the parties cited in the course of their submissions the decisions of this court in the Surendra Kumar Verma v. the Central Government Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, New Delhi and Anr. (1981)ILLJ386SC , Lalappa Lingappa v. Laxmi Vishnu Textile Mills Ltd. Sholapur (1981)ILLJ308SC , Mohan Lal v. Management of Bharat Electronics Ltd. (1981)IILLJ70SC , Jeewan Lal Ltd. v. Appellate Authority, Payment of Gratuity Act 1984 (2) LLJ 464 and Sakhkkar Mills Mazdoor Sangh v. Gwalior Sugar Mills Ltd [1985]2SCR958 . 4. The principles of statutory construction are well settle ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion for relief Under Section 25-F. is that he should be a workman employed in an industry and has been in continuous service for not less than one year under an employer. What is continuous service has been defined and explained in Section 25-B of the Industrial Disputes Act. In the present case, the provision which is of reliance is Section 25-B(2)(a)(ii) which to the extent that it concerns us, provides that a workman who is not in continuous service for a period of one year shall be deemed to be in continuous service for a period of one year if the workman, during a period of twelve calendar months preceding the date with reference to which the calculation is to be made, has actually worked under the employer for not less than 240 days. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o obvious to be stated. 6. The leading authority on which reliance was placed by the learned counsel for the Management was Lalappa Lingappa and Ors. v. Laxmi Vishnu Textile Mills Ltd. We may straightaway say that the present question whether Sundays and paid holidays should be taken into account for the purpose of reckoning the number of days on which an employee actually worked, never arose there. The claim was under the Payment of Gratuity Act. All permanent employees of the employer claimed that they were entitled to payment of gratuity for the entire period of their service, that is, in respect of every year during which they were in permanent employment irrespective of the fact whether they had actually worked for 240 days in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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