Chandigarh, Dec. 4 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has awarded a compensation of Rs.5 lakh to a Patiala man who was retrenched in 1985 and was not reinstated despite an undertaking given before the Supreme Court.

The petition was pending in high court since 1997 from one Mohan Lal, who started working as a mason in the Anandpur Sahib Hydel Project in September 1978. His services were terminated In July 1985 and he was paid retrenchment compensation under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, on completion of the work.

In 1989, the high court directed the government to take retrenched employees in other projects or in service of the government according to the qualifications of each of the employees and their fitness. An undertaking in...