S. 25F of the I.D. Act, 1947 is extracted herein below:
“25F. Conditions precedent to retrenchment of workmen.
No workman employed in any industry who has been in continuous service for not less than one year under an employer shall be retrenched by that employer until-
(a) The workman has been given one month’s notice in writing indicating the reasons for retrenchment and the period of notice has expired, or the workman has been paid in lieu of such notice, wages for the period of the notice;
(b) the workman has been paid, at the time of retrenchment, compensation which shall be equivalent to fifteen days’ average pay [for every 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 or such authority as may be specified by the appropriate Government by notification in the Official Gazette.”
Once it is established that the Appellant had voluntarily abandoned her service, she could not have been in “continuous service” as defined under S. 2(oo) the I.D. Act, 1947. S. 25F of the I.D. Act, 1947 lays down the conditions that are required to be fulfilled by an employer, while terminating the services of an employee, who has been in “continuous service” of the employer. Hence, S. 25F of the I.D. Act, would cease to apply on her. The condition precedent for Retrenchment of an employee, as provided in S. 25F of the I.D. Act, 1947 was discussed by a Constitution 17 Bench of this Court in Hathisingh Manufacturing Ltd. v Union of India3, while deciding the constitutional validity of S. 25FFF. The Constitution Bench held,
“9. …Under Section 25F, no workman employed in an industrial undertaking can be retrenched by the employer until (a) the workman has been given one month’s notice in writing indicating the reasons for retrenchment and the period has expired or the workman has been paid salary in lieu of such notice, (b) the workman has been paid retrenchment compensation equivalent to 15 days’ average salary for every completed year of service and (c) notice in the prescribed manner is served on the appropriate Government….By S. 25F a prohibition against retrenchment, until the conditions prescribed by that Section are fulfilled in imposed.”[SC in Manju Saxena Vs. Union of India & ANR]
