AUGUST 24: The Bombay High Court has criticised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for indulging in avoidable litigation with its employees. Delivering a ruling in a case wherein a conductor was accused of charging less than the fare due to two commuters, allegedly his friends, Justice R M Lodha came down heavily on the civic body for not responding to ``reasonable and fair compromise proposals of workmen or their unions.''

BEST bus conductor Vishnu Laxman Bombare gave two tickets (of one rupee each) to passengers apparently travelling from Jijamata Udyan to Navy Nagar. The checking squad boarded the bus somewhere between this stretch and objected to the wrong fare charged by the conductor to the two passengers. A probe was subsequently instituted, and the inquiry committee was told that the conductor was on friendly terms with the passengers. However, the Trying Officer could not record the passengers' versions, as they had left for their native place. When the matter came up before the Sixth Labour Court, the inquiry officer did not offer any reasonable explanation for non-availibity of the passengers at the time of inquiry. The conductor's misconduct thus could not be proved either in the labour court or in the Industrial court, where the BMC later went in appeal.

The BMC and Best management then approached the Bombay High Court. They did not dispute the lower court's order for reinstatement of the conductor, but appealed against the order to grant full backwages to him. In his judgement, Justice Lodha observed that the directions of the lower courts deserve no interference. But since the charge of punching the wrong tickets was partially proved, the the BEST workers' union offered to forego 50 per cent of Bombare's backwages.

Justice Lodha termed it a ``fair compromise,'' which should be acceptable to the BMC. Accordingly, the lower courts' orders were partly modified, and the conductor awarded 50 per cent backwages. Advocate Neeta Karnik appeared for the respondents and S K Talsania for the municipality.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.