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 Telco Kamgar Sanghatana (hereinafter called the Sanghatana) which presented another set of demands to the Company on the 29th Sept, 1967. A settlement was reached in conciliation proceedings in relation to the demands last mentioned in the 3rd Oct., 1967. Being dissatisfied with the attitude of the Assistant Labour Commissioner, Poona who acted as the Conciliation Officer, the Telco Union approached the State Government who made the reference culminating in the impugned award.

3. The reference was received by the Tribunal on the 22nd March, 1968 and was pending adjudication when, on the 18th Feb., 1970, the Company filed an application (Exhibit C-10) stating that a settlement (Exhibit C-10A) had been reached between it and the Sanghatana on the 7th Feb., 1970, that the same had been assented to by 564 out of 635 daily-rated workmen, that the dispute pending adjudication before the Tribunal related only to that category of workmen and that did not survive by reason of the settlement.

Settlement Exhibit C-10A was challenged by the Telco Union through an application (Exhibit U-1) made to the Tribunal on the 14th April, 1970 and signed by 400 daily rated workmen who professed to be members of that Union with the allegation that it had been brought about by coercion, duress and false promises.

In these circumstances, the Tribunal addressed itself to the controversy regarding the legality and binding nature of the settlement. In that behalf its findings were :

(a) There was no evidence of the settlement being vitiated by any duress, coercion or false promises. It was, therefore, both legal and fully binding on the parties thereto under sub-section (1) of Section 18 read with Clause (p) of Section 2 of the Act.

(b) No attempt had been made by either party to the reference to prove as to how many of the 564 workmen who had assented to the settlement were members of the Sanghatana.

(c) Those of the 564 workmen aforesaid who were not members of the Sanghatana were not bound by the settlement inasmuch as they were not parties thereto but had ratified or accepted the settlement only after it had been reached; and such ratification and acceptance does not make them parties to the settlement for the purposes of the Act.

The Tribunal, therefore, proceeded to find out whether the settlement was just and fair and although it found it to be so in most aspects, it was of the opinion that an increase in the additional daily wage was called for in respect of each of the 7 grades of daily-rated workmen. That increase was calculated by it separately for each grade and varies from Rs. 7.80 to Rs. 12.90 per month. By the impugned award it declared accordingly, refusing to act upon the settlement although the same had been held by it to be legal and binding on the parties to it.

4. Aft