A dispute relating to the abolition of contract labour and absorption of contract labourers into regular service is an industrial dispute within the meaning of section 2(k) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and falls within the jurisdiction of the Industrial Tribunal under Entry 6 of the Second Schedule to the Act.

CHANDRA REDDY, C. J.

( 1 ) THIS appeal is directed against the Judgment of Basi reddy, J. , dismissing a petition for the issue of a writ of certioran to quash the determination of the Industrial Tribunal, Hyderabad.

( 2 ) THE workers of Messrs. The Sirpur Paper Mills Ltd. , which is situate in the state of Andhra Pradesh, raised a dispute with regard to contract labour employed by the company for certain purposes. The workmen demanded that the contract system of labour should be abolished and that those labourers should be absorbed on permanent basis. They also wanted revision of grades and enhancement of dearness allowance. The refusal of the company to comply with these"demands led to a dispute between the employers and the employees.

( 3 ) TO resolve this, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section no of the Industrial disputes Act, 1947, referred for the adjudication of the Industrial Tribunal, hyderabad, an industrial dispute existing between the workmen and employers of the company. The matters specified in the annexure to that order were (i) revision of grades, (ii) revision of dearness allowance, and (iii) abolition of contract system of labour and absorption of the present workers on permanent basis.

( 4 ) WHEN the matter was taken up by the Tribunal, various objections contesting the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to decide the points of difference between the employers and the employees were raised on behalf of the company. None of the objections prevailed with the Tribunal. On the question relating to contract labour, the Tribunal deferred adjudication till after the evidence bearing on the controversy was recorded and its effect considered. But the Tribunal ruled that notwithstanding the fact that contract workers were not the employees of the Sirpur Mills Ltd. , the union of the Employees of the Sirpur Paper Mills Ltd. , and Sirsilk Ltd. , was entitled to represent them provided that they are shown to have a direct and substantial interest in the matter by evidence.

( 5 ) IN the writ petition filed by the Sirpur Paper Mills Ltd. , the view of the Tribunal as to its jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the third matter, namely, abolition of contract system of labour and absorption of the present workers on permanent basis, was canvassed.

( 6 ) IN support of the petition, three points were urged by the learned Advocate- general, the chief of which was that contract labourers were not workmen within the meaning of clause (s) of section 2 of the Industrial Disputes Act as they were engaged by and or under the control of contractors and there was no direct relationship of master and servant between such workmen and the company ; and (ii) the employees, of the appellant could not take up the cause of contract labourers and raise an industrial dispute with regard to them, as there was no direct or substantial interest between the said workmen and the contract labourers. We are unconcerned with the other contention raised before the learned Judge, as it is not repeated before us in this appeal.

( 7 ) THE learned Judge did not give effect to any of the submissions made by the learned Advocate-General with the result that the petition was dismissed. The main contention pressed upon us in this appeal filed against that judgment is that since the dispute does not relate to matters contemplated by the relevant provisions of the statute, the Tribunal was not possessed of jurisdiction to deal with it. It is urged by the learned Advocate-General that it is only the disputes in the contemplation of the Second and Third Schedules that could be referred to the Industrial tribunal and as this matter falls outside those two Schedules, the Tribunal could not take cognizance of it.

( 8 ) AS the answer to this contention has to be furnished with reference to statutory provisions, we must extract the relevant provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act. Section 2 (A)

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