The Supreme Court has closed long-pending contempt proceedings against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in connection with its failure to fully implement directions dated April 7, 2027. The 2017 judgment modified the Industrial Tribunal’s award, while substantially agreeing to its direction to treat 2700 employees as permanent employees and extending the benefits, retrospectively.
Hearing the contempt petition, the Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta noted that, with repeated extensions since 2018, substantial compliance had been achieved by BMC, with only a few discrepancies remaining. The Court recorded that BMC had agreed to appoint Mr. Shrikant Kamble, former Deputy Auditor as an Auditor, to independently verify and compute the dues of all workers covered under the 2017 order.
The Court directed that the Auditor shall examine individual records, including pay slips, attendance, and bank statements, to prepare detailed break-up charts reflecting monthly entitlements, arrears, and recoveries, if any. The BMC was ordered to pay all quantified dues within four weeks of the Auditor’s report and to bear his remuneration. The Auditor was also asked to review claims of excess payments by BMC, providing affected employees an opportunity of hearing before any recovery.
Addressing other issue that delayed gratuity payments would attract statutory interest under Section 7(3A) of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, the Court clarified that gratuity computation can be determined once the attendance records are received by the Auditor and break-up charts are prepared.
Further, on the dispute regarding non-deposit of provident fund contributions amounting to approximately ₹228 crores, the Court observed that the same was pending before the Bombay High Court. The Bench declined to issue directions for impleadment of the petitioner, leaving the matter to the High Court’s discretion.
With these directions, the Supreme Court closed the contempt petition.
Appearances
Petitioner- Ms. Rohini Thyagarajan, Advocate
Respondents- Mr. Dhruv Mehta, Senior Advocate
