8 months ago
Telangana High Court on SCCL and Sigachi PIL
The Telangana High Court was upset with a company called SCCL because they didn't follow the court's instructions properly.
The court told SCCL to categorize its employees based on medical reports, but SCCL used other documents too.
The court said this was not right and asked SCCL to do the categorization again correctly.
The court also looked at the progress of an investigation into a big explosion at another company, Sigachi Industries.
The explosion happened on June 30 and killed 54 people.
The court said the trial court is not under any pressure because of the case and that the investigation should be done fairly.
The company has paid some money to the families of the people who died or were hurt, and the court will look at the case again in a few weeks.
The Telangana High Court criticized SCCL for not following its orders on categorizing employees based on medical assessments.
The court directed SCCL to redo the categorization exercise properly and posted the matter for further consideration on February 5, 2024.
The court observed that the trial court dealing with the Sigachi Industries explosion case is under no pressure due to the PIL and that the investigation should be conducted on its own merits.
Sigachi Industries has paid Rs 22.3 crore in compensation to the kin of the deceased, missing, and injured employees, though this may not be the final settlement.
The court adjourned the Sigachi PIL matter for three weeks and listed it for further hearing on January 29, 2026.
- Who
- Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), Sigachi Industries Limited, Telangana High Court
- What
- The High Court criticized SCCL for not following its directions on employee categorization and observed the progress in the investigation into the industrial explosion at Sigachi Industries
- Where
- Hyderabad, Telangana
- When
- The matter for SCCL is posted for further consideration on February 5, 2024, and for Sigachi PIL on January 29, 2026
- Why
- SCCL did not comply with the court's orders on categorizing employees based on medical assessments, and the court is monitoring the compensation and investigation progress for the Sigachi Industries explosion
Key facts
- Organization
- Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), Sigachi Industries Limited
- Court
- Telangana High Court
- Issue
- Improper compliance with court orders on employee categorization, industrial explosion investigation
- Date
- February 5, 2024 (next hearing for SCCL), January 29, 2026 (next hearing for Sigachi PIL)
- Key Figures
- Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh, Justice G.M. Mohiuddin, S Niranjan Reddy, T Rajinikanth Reddy, Dominic Fernandes, Vasudha Nagaraj, K Babu Rao
- Agreement
- National Coal Wage Agreement-VI (NCWA-VI)
- Clause
- Para 9.4.0 of NCWA-VI
- Compensation Paid
- Rs 22.3 crore to kin of deceased, missing, and injured employees
- Witnesses Examined
- 322 witnesses, including 53 officials from 16 departments
Quotes
The bench
The division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin
“We don’t expect also that our magistrates would be acting under any kind of pressure that the matter is otherwise before this court. They would exercise their discretion as per the materials that are produced by the prosecuting agency and your defence.”
indianexpress.com
