Stress part of modern life; HC reinstates absent KPTCL employee

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: A Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka has upheld the reinstatement of a Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) employee who was removed from the workforce for being absent for a total of 632 days.

The Court upheld his contention that it was only because of work stress that he was absent, and not to cause any inconvenience to the employer.

“There may come a point that the ‘stressors’ encountered in the workplace lead to the inability to function in a work environment. A decision to lay an employee off work, with or without just cause, may well escalate the level of depression,” the Bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit said in their recent judgement reinstating one S Kiran, 35, a resident of Hassan.

Kiran was employed as a Station Attendant (Grade II) permanently in January 2008. A single-judge bench had earlier ordered for his reinstatement, which was challenged by the KPTCL in the appeal.

The HC said that KPTCL being a State enterprise should be a model employer and should not act like an agency of the Colonial regime. (WA 217/2023).