The Mumbai based Wockhardt is planning to move industrial court against the verdict of labour court directing reinstatement of its 23 expelled medical representatives with full back wages and continuity of service.

The Industrial court has stayed the order of labour court up to 6th August 2007 allowing time for the company to submit the appeal within the time frame. The company sought stay for the order right after the labour court issued the order orally on 19th May 2007, even as the written order was issued in the second week of July. However, the company has not filed an appeal in Industrial court till 2nd August, according to sources.

"We have time up to August 6 Monday, to formally move the plea for revision of the latest order. Of course, we will file the case within the given time," the company spokesperson told Pharmabiz. The order from the labour court, came out after nearly three years of legal battle, declared that the company has victimesed the complainant employees and terminated them without following due process.

"It is hereby declared that the respondents have engaged in unfair labour practices under item 1 (a), (b), (d), (f), (g) of Schedule IV of MRTU and PULP Act," says the order. The labour court also quashed and set aside the "impugned termination orders dated 11-1-2003, 5-2-2003, 7-4-2003, 22-4-2003 and 23-4-2003" in all the 23 complaints. With this, the court directed the company to reinstate the complainant employees in service with full wages from the date of termination in 2003 along with continuity of service.

"With the order, the justice we are looking for is established, though the company may challenge it through an appeal. If they are planning to file the case, we are also ready to fight back, but from now onwards, the dispute will be on the acceptability of the latest order," said a source from Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives' Association of India (FMRAI), which was a complainant in the litigation.

The open rift between the company and the medical representatives commenced in 2003, when the company decided to terminate around 50 sales personnel who were refused to work under different nomenclature other than medical and sales representatives. In July 2003, Wockhardt announced that it had snapped its relationship with the FMRAI alleging that the Federation was disrupting the company representatives' work and making unreasonable demands. However, the company settled the disputes with the complainants except the 23 persons, who pursued the case with the support of federation.

It is to be noted that the court order, based on Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act (MRTU & PULP Act) 1999, comes at a time when the government has put forward an amendment to take out medical and sales representatives from the benefits under the act.