U.P. State Road Transport Corporation and Others vs Pradeep Sinha

M. Katju and Umeshwar Pandey, JJ

This Special Appeal has been filed agains the impugned judgment of the learned Single Judge dated 16.4.2003.

The respondent No. 1, Pradeep Sinha, died and his heirs have been impleaded by our order passed on the impleadment application today.

This is a classic case of harassment of an employee by his own employer, U.P. State Road Transport Corporation (U.P.S.R.T.C.). The respondent-Pradeep Sinha was a conductor in the service of U.P.S.R.T.C. He got cancer and hence he had to go to Bombay for treatment in Tata Memorial Hospital. It is not disputed by the learned Counsel for the U.P.S.R.T.C. that Pradeep Sinha genuinely got cancer. Hence it was expected that the Corporation would have behaved like an ideal employer and would have provided medical expenses and travelling expenses etc., to the petitioner taking a humanitarian view. The Corporation should have also told Pradeep Sinha and his relatives that the Corporation will look-after him and do all that is necessary to help him and they need not worry and the respondent may remain on leave until he is recovers from his ailment. The Corporation should also have helped him in several other ways.

What actually happened, however, was that the Corporation took a most inhuman approach and started issuing show cause notices to the petitrioner regarding his absence. A show cause notice was even published in the newspaper. This is the level of inhuman approach to which many persons and authorities in this country have gone down to. In fact, Pradeep Sinha subsequently died from cancer.

We have carefully perused the impugned judgment of the learned Single Judge and we see no reason to interfere with the same. Instead we are passing an additional order that over and above the entire dues of Pradeep Sinha, which must be paid to his heirs within two months from today, the Corporation must also pay an additional sum of exemplary cost of Rs. One Lac to the family of Pradeep Sinha within two months as compensation for the harassment caused to Pradeep Sinha''s family and the inhuman attitude adopted by the Corporation.

With these observations the appeal is dismissed.