Merck (Private) Limited through Manager and others V. Member Labour Appellate Tribunal, Balochistan, Quetta and others,
PLC 2014 164 · Balochistan High Court
This case involved employees of Merck (Private) Limited who were terminated from their jobs and then filed grievance petitions before the Labour Court, claiming they were "workmen" entitled to protection under labour laws. The company argued they were actually officers, not workmen, and that their termination was based on agreed contractual terms rather than an industrial dispute, meaning the Labour Court had no jurisdiction to hear their case.
The Labour Court ruled in favour of the employees, ordering their reinstatement with full back-pay, and this decision was upheld by the Labour Appellate Tribunal. The company then challenged both rulings before the Balochistan High Court.
The High Court found that the lower courts had made a critical error: they failed to properly examine whether the employees actually qualified as "workmen" under the law. The Court clarified that a person's job title or designation does not determine their status - what matters is the actual nature of the work performed. The employees had not adequately demonstrated in their applications that their day-to-day duties matched those of a "worker" rather than an officer.
The Court also held that reinstatement with full back-benefits contradicts the general principle of "no work no pay." Back-benefits should only compensate an employee for genuine hardship suffered due to job loss, not serve as punishment for the employer or a windfall for the employee.
Because both lower courts had misread the evidence on these points, the High Court set aside their judgments and sent the case back to the Labour Court to be decided afresh.
یہ مقدمہ میرک (پرائیویٹ) لمیٹڈ کے ان ملازمین سے متعلق تھا جنہیں ملازمت سے برطرف کیا گیا اور جنہوں نے لیبر کورٹ میں شکایتی درخواستیں دائر کیں، یہ دعویٰ کرتے ہوئے کہ وہ "ورکمین" (کارکن) تھے اور لیبر قوانین کے تحت تحفظ کے حق دار تھے۔ کمپنی کا موقف تھا کہ درحقیقت وہ افسران تھے، ورکمین نہیں، اور ان کی برطرفی کسی صنعتی تنازعے کی بجائے باہمی طور پر طے شدہ معاہداتی شرائط کی بنیاد پر عمل میں آئی تھی، جس کا مطلب یہ تھا کہ لیبر کورٹ کو اس مقدمے کی سماعت کا اختیار ہی نہیں تھا۔
لیبر کورٹ نے ملازمین کے حق میں فیصلہ دیتے ہوئے انہیں مکمل بقایا تنخواہ کے ساتھ بحال کرنے کا حکم دیا، اور لیبر اپیلیٹ ٹربیونل نے اس فیصلے کو برقرار رکھا۔ اس کے بعد کمپنی نے دونوں فیصلوں کو بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ میں چیلنج کیا۔
ہائی کورٹ نے پایا کہ ماتحت عدالتوں سے ایک بنیادی غلطی سرزد ہوئ