A minority union can give notice to terminate an award under S. 19(6) of the Industrial Disputes Act.

Judgment

GAJENDRAGADKAR, J. : Can a registered trade union representing a minority of workmen governed by an award give notice to the other party intimating its intention to terminate the award under S. 19(6) of the Industrial Dispute Act 14 of 1947 (hereinafter called the Act)? That is the short question which arises for decision in the present appeal. In answering the said question it would be necessary to examine the scheme of the Act and to ascertain the true meaning and effect of S. 19(6) on its fair and reasonable construction. The controversy thus raised undoubtedly lies within a narrow compass; but before addressing ourselves to the merits of the dispute, it is necessary to state the material facts which led to the present proceedings.

2. The present appeal has been brought before this Court by the Associated Cement Companies Limited (hereinafter called the appellant) against their workmen (hereinafter called the respondents), and it arises from an industrial dispute between them which was referred for adjudication to the Industrial Tribunal for the State of Saurashtra by the Saurashtra Government under S. 10(1) of the Act. Several items of demand presented by the respondents constituted the subject-matter of the reference. When the tribunal began its proceedings the appellant raised four preliminary objections against the competence of the reference itself. The tribunal heard parties on these preliminary objections, and by its interlocutory judgment delivered on March 10, 1958, it has found against the appellant on all the points. In the result it set down the reference for further hearing on the merits. It is against this interlocutory judgment and order that the appellant has come to this Court by special leave. Out of the four points urged by the appellant as preliminary objections we are concerned with only one in the present appeal, and that relates to the incompetence of the reference on the ground that the award in question by which the parties were bound has not been duly terminated under S. 19(6) of the Act inasmuch as the union which purported to terminate the said award represents only a minority of workmen bound by it.

3. The circumstances under which this contention was raised must now be stated in some detail. The appellant is a limited company and owns and runs a number of cement factories spread out in different States in India as well as in Pakistan. It has a factory at Porbandar in Saurashtra. The factory is known as the Porbandar Cement Works. An industrial dispute arose between the appellant and the respondents in 1949 and it was referred for adjudication to the industrial tribunal on March 22, 1949. This reference ended in an award made on September 13, 1949. Thereafter the said award was terminated by the appellant; and on disputes arising between it and the respondents another reference was made to the same tribunal for adjudication of the said disputes. A second award was made on July 24, 1951, by which the earlier award with slight modifications was ordered to continue in operation. In the proceedings in respect of both the references the appellant s workmen were represented by their Union called Kamdar Mandal, Cement Works, Probandar. It appears that the registration of the said union was cancelled on July 2, 1954, and that led to the formation of two unions of the appellant s workmen, the Cement Kamdar Mandal which was registered on July 7, 1954, and the Cement Employees Union which was registered on September 18, 1954.

4. The Cement Kamdar Mandal gave notice to the appellant s manager on September 23, 1954, purporting to terminate the first award pronounced on September 13, 1949, at the expiration of two months notice from the date of the said communication. By another letter written on December 20, 1954, the same union purported to terminate the second award pronounced on July 24, 1951, in a similar manner. On November 22, 1954, the said Mandal presented fresh demands most of which were cove