In Brief
A deceased employee's legal representatives challenged his 1996 termination for unauthorized absence. The Labour Court had held the termination disproportionate and void, but the Industrial Court reversed this, upholding the dismissal. The High Court affirmed the Industrial Court's decision. When the case reached the Supreme Court, the employee had died during the proceedings. Rather than adjudicate the termination's validity two decades later, the Court awarded Rs. 2 lakh one-time compensation to the legal representatives, considering the passage of time and evidence that the deceased had acquired independent means of livelihood through a truck business.
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