Financial Constraints Of State Road Transport Corporation No Defence To Deny Lawful Dues Of Workman: Rajasthan High Court

While hearing the petition moved by a retired employee of the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation aggrieved due to non-payment of dues against weekly rest for almost 13 years, Rajasthan High Court observed that any rightful claim of workman could not be denied on the ground that RSRTC did not have sufficient funds.

The bench of Justice Ashok Kumar Jain held that RSRTC might be facing financial difficulties due to mismanagement or poor management, however that had nothing to do with the right and claim of any workman.

“The drivers, conductors, support and mechanical staff are the backbone of RSRTC, responsible for maintaining public transport system, therefore, merely because roadways is facing a financial difficulty, it may (not) avoid to comply settlement award arrived in present case.”

The petitioner took voluntary retirement in 2014, and some dispute arose between him and the RSRTC which was settled by the Lok Adalat in 2015. Herein the respondents had undertaken to reimburse the petitioner with all the dues within a period of 9 months.

It was the case of the petitioner that all the dues were paid to him except payment against weekly rest from 1998 to 2011. Hence, the petition was filed.

After hearing the contentions, the Court made the observations mentioned above, and highlighted that since RSRTC had no defence regarding their liability towards the petitioner, the petition was allowed.

Accordingly, the State was directed to make the outstanding payments to the petitioner with 6% interest as was agreed during the settlement before National Lok Adalat.

Title: Mohan Singh v Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Raj) 60

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