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TMI Blog1985 (8) TMI 383X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rkman 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 October ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s 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 on the part of the workman; (2) where a workman is n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... se 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 as the Government may (by notification in the Official Gazette) specify. (3)(i) The Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify a clos ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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 settled. Words occurring in statutes of liberal import such as social welfare legislation and 'Human Rights' legislation are not to be put in procrustean beds or shrunk to Liliputian dimensions. In constru ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... plained 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. The expression which we are required to construe is 'actually worked under the employer'. This expression, according to us, cannot mean those days only when me workman worked with hammer, sickle or pen, but must n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... esent 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 a year or not. The question there was not how the 240 days were to be reckoned ; the question was not whether Sundays and paid holidays were to be included in reckoning the number of days on which the workmen actually worked ; b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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