Judgment

KOSHAL, J. :- This is an appeal by special leave against an award dated 15th June, 1971 (30-4-1971) of the Industrial Tribunal, Maharashtra (the Tribunal, for short), deciding a reference made to it under Cl. (d) of sub-section. (1) of Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act (hereinafter called the Act) requiring adjudication of demands raised by the workmen of the Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company Limited (Machine Tools Division), Chinchwad (hereinafter referred to as the Company).

2. The facts leading to this appeal may be briefly set out. The Company came into existence under an order passed by the High Court of Maharashtra on the 27th June, 1966 directing amalgamation of two, pre-existing concerns, one having the same name as the Company and another known as the Invest Machine Tools and Engineering Company. After the amalgamation a section of a workers of the Company formed a union known as Telco Kamgar Union (for short, the Telco Union) which was registered as such on the 2nd June, 1967, but which, even before that, submitted a charter of demand to the Company on the 1st May, 1967. Sub-sequently other workers of the Company established another union named the Te