IMPORTANT POINT
A High Court will have jurisdiction even if part of cause of action arise within its jurisdiction and it can also issue writ against any person even if he does not fall within jurisdiction of the High Court.

JUDGMENT :

ABHAY MANOHAR SAPRE, J.

1. This appeal is filed against the final judgment and order dated 27.04.2007 passed by the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in Letters Patent Appeal No.1020 of 2006 in Civil Application No.770 of 2005 whereby the Division Bench of the High Court allowed the said Letters Patent Appeal filed by respondent No.1 herein holding that the High Court had no territorial jurisdiction to entertain the Special Civil Application (in short, “SCA”) filed by the appellant herein which was entertained and allowed by the Single Judge.

2. A few facts need mention hereinbelow for the disposal of this appeal, which involves a short legal question.

3. Respondent No.1 herein is a Limited Company having its registered office at Calcutta. Respondent No.1 was engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of cement. They have a cement factory at Porbandar in the State of Gujarat.

4. The appellant is a Union of workers. These workers were working, at all relevant time, in the cement factory of respondent No.1 at Porbandar. According to the appellant-Union, as many as 500 workers, who are the members of it, were working at the relevant time in the said cement factory.

5. Respondent No.1, however, closed the cement factory somewhere in the year 1998 for myriad reasons without paying the wages to its workers.

6. A dispute, therefore, arose between the appellant-Union and Respondent No.1 Company (employer) regarding the nonpayment of outstanding wages payable to the workers. The appellant-Union, therefore, approached the Labour Court at Junagadh (Gujarat) and filed Recovery Application No.86/98 under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for the recovery of the outstanding wages payable to the workers against Respondent No.1.

7. By order dated 12.04.1999, the Labour Court allowed the application and directed Respondent No.1 Company to pay a sum of Rs.81,50,744/-with a cost of Rs.50,000/-to the workers. This was followed by issuance of recovery certificate dated 04.09.2000 for Rs.60,35,379/- by the Collector, Junagadh as arrears of land revenue. The said certificate, however, has remained unexecuted.

8. It appears that Respondent No.2 Indian Bank had given business loan to Respondent No.1 Company, which they failed to repay to the Indian Bank. The Indian Bank (R2), therefore, filed a claim petition before the Debt Recovery Tribunal (for short “the DRT) at Calcutta against Respondent No.1 Company for recovery of their unpaid loan amount with interest.

9. By order dated 04.03.2003, the DRT allowed the claim petition and ordered for sale of the properties of Respondent No.1 Company after giving due publicity. The DRT also appointed one Receiver to take appropriate steps in this regard. The Receiver informed the appellant-Union accordingly.

10. It is with these background facts, the appellant-Union filed a petition (Special Civil Application No.12212 of 2004) in the High Court of Gujarat at Ahmadabad out of which this appeal arises. The SCA was filed against the Indian Bank (respondent No.2 herein) and the Company(respondent No.1 herein). The appellant claimed the following reliefs in their SCA:

“A. To issue an order, direction in the nature of mandamus and/or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, directing the respondent No.1 Indian Bank, Kolkata, to deposit the 50% amount of the sale proceeds of the Porbandar H.M.P. Cement with the District Collector, Porbandar, and the District Collector be directed to pay by account payee cheque to each of the workmen proportionately towards the part payment of the legal dues to the individual workman concerned; ALTERNATIVELY.

B. To issue direction to the respondent No.1 Indian Bank to pay 50% of the amount to the petitioner union who shall directly pay to the workmen by account payee cheque either under the supervision of District Collector, Porbandar or Assistant Labour Commissioner, Porbandar.

C. To declare and hold the impugned action of the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Kolkata, in transferring