Quick Summary: A driver, K Anjaneyulu, was removed from his job at APSRTC because of supposed issues with ticketing. The Labour Court overturned his removal but did not grant him back pay. Justice Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao has now instructed APSRTC to pay him back wages.
K Anjaneyulu, who had been a driver since 1987, lost his job at APSRTC in 2002 due to problems with ticketing. Despite having a good work record, he was in trouble because of issues with the TIMS ticketing machine.
K Anjaneyulu was accused of reusing old tickets and collecting fares the wrong way. He said the TIMS machine was broken and printed wrong dates and words, which was backed up by a special report.
"The ticket issuing machine was not working right and was giving the wrong words and dates."
The Labour Court found problems with how the investigation was done and canceled K Anjaneyulu's removal. However, they did not give him back pay and treated the time he was removed as "not working."
"The accusations against the petitioner were not valid."
APSRTC claimed that K Anjaneyulu had a history of bad behavior and was trained to use the TIMS system. They said he didn't report the machine problems quickly.
Justice Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao decided that K Anjaneyulu should receive back pay, using a similar case as an example. However, the court agreed with the Labour Court's decision to treat the removal period as "not working."
"If the removal order is illegal, denying the back wages... cannot be legally justified."
The court ordered APSRTC to pay K Anjaneyulu his back wages from the date he was removed until he was reinstated.
