JUDGMENT :

KURIAN JOSEPH, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The appellant is before this Court, aggrieved by the impugned judgment, whereby the order passed by the Industrial Tribunal, Pune, has been upheld. The Tribunal has taken a view that since the appellant was not a recognised union under the Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act, 1971, at their instance, the Reference could not be answered. Reliance has been placed on the first proviso to Section 36 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, as applicable to the State of Maharashtra.

3. The learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant has brought to our notice that there is no recognised union under the first respondent since the registration under the Trade Unions Act granted to the second respondent has been cancelled. The learned counsel for the second respondent submits that the issue is pending before the appellate authority. Be that as it may, as rightly pointed out by Sh. C. U. Singh, learned senior counsel, that this issue has not been adjudicated before the High Court. At any rate, the High Court has not gone into the issue, apparently because according to the learned senior counse