Judgment

Mrs. Sujata V. Manohar, J.-The first respondent, Labour Law Practi­tioners’ Association is an association of members practising in the Industrial and Labour Courts in the State of Maharashtra. The Associa­tion filed a writ petition before the High Court challenging the appointment of respondents 2 and 3 who were Assistant Commissioners of Labour, as Judges of the Labour Court at Pune and Sholapur under a Notification issued by the Government of Maharashtra dated 8.3.1979. They also prayed that the provisions of the amended Section 9 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act and the amended Section 7 of the Industrial Disputes Act is so far as these provisions authorised the appointment of Assistant Commissioners of Labour as Judges of the Labour Court, were void and illegal and contrary to Article 234 of the Constitution. There was also a prayer in the writ petition for a direction to the State of Maharashtra to comply with the provisions of Article 234 of the Constitution in appointing judges of the Labour Court. A learned Single Judge of the High Court set aside the Notifi­cation of 8th of March, 1979 and also gave a direction to the State of Maharashtra to comply with the p