Summary
Trade apprentices engaged for fixed training periods were not entitled to labour-law reinstatement and retrenchment benefits when their agreed training ended. The Court applied the materially identical three-judge decision in U.P. State Electricity Board v. Shiv Mohan Singh and upheld the High Court’s reversal of the Labour Court awards.
Issues
- Whether expiry of the apprentices’ training engagements supported reinstatement and back wages under industrial-dispute law.
Held
- The appellants were engaged under apprenticeship agreements for designated trades and fixed training periods. Their position was materially identical to the apprentices considered in Shiv Mohan Singh. (¶¶ 4–5, 11–15)
- That governing precedent denied worker-status retrenchment benefits on completion of the statutory apprenticeship training. The Labour Court’s reinstatement and 50% back-wage awards could not be sustained, and the High Court correctly set them aside. (¶ 13–16)
Result
Appeals dismissed; High Court judgment upheld and Labour Court reinstatement/back-wage awards remained set aside.