JUDGMENT

CIVIL APPEAL No.2106 OF 2007 Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 5187 OF 2005

C.K. THAKKER, J.

Leave granted.

A Public Utility Undertaking (Co-operative Bank) challenges in this appeal an order passed by a Single Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Madras dated September 18, 2000 in Writ Petition No. 11948 of 1993 and modified by the Division Bench of the said Court on November 3, 2004 in Writ Appeal No. 45 of 2001.

FACTUAL MATRIX

To appreciate in its proper perspective an important question raised in the appeal, it is necessary to set out relevant facts.

The appellant is Coimbatore District Central Co-operative Bank having its head office at Coimbatore. It is having 17 branches in the Revenue District of Coimbatore. It is the case of the appellant-Bank that the Coimbatore District Central Bank Employees Association (Union for short) gave a strike notice on March 31, 1972 which was received by the Management on April 5, 1972 proposing to go on strike from April 14, 1972. The reason for such notice and going on strike was suspension of certain employees and withholding of their salary by the Management. Since the strike-call was

illegal and the notice