In Brief
The Kandla Port Trust transferred its Vacuvator Division employees to the Food Corporation of India in 1973. While 15 regular employees later received benefits (including option to choose revised pay scales) under Section 12A of the FCI Act in 1996, 306 work charge employees were excluded. The Union challenged this exclusion as discriminatory. The Supreme Court upheld the exclusion, holding that work charge employees—bound by different terms excluding pension and gratuity—cannot claim parity with regular employees. Although the Industrial Tribunal had found flaws in switching employees from GPF to CPF, its operative order applied only to the 15 regular employees. The Court dismissed the appeal, emphasizing the distinct legal status of work charge employees and the Union's 23-year delay in raising the claim."
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