JUDGMENT - B.N. SRIKRISHNA, J. :---This writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India impugns an order dated 17th December, 1988, made by the Labour Court, Sangli, holding charge of Labour Court, Kolhapur, in Application (LCK) No. 4 of 1988 under the provisions of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946 (hereinafter referred to as `the Act).

2. The first petitioner is the Managing Director, the second petitioner the Chairman and the rest of the petitioners are Directors of the Co-operative Society which runs a textile Mill at Ichalkaranji. The second respondent is a registered and representative Union of the employees in the concerned local area. The Fourth respondent is another Union which represents the employees working in the textile Mills in the same local area.

3. The second respondent made an Application (B.I.R) No. 4 of 1988 under section 78 (1) A (C) of the Act to the Labour Court at Kolhapur. The Kolhapur Zilla Shetkari Vinkari Sahakari Soot Girani Limited and the Managing Director of the said Co-operative Textile Mill were both impleaded as party Opponents to the said application. The grievance made in the application, in substance, was that some of the employees were refused entry and work without any justification. This action on the part of the employer was alleged to be an illegal lock-out. A declaration to that effect and appropriate relief was prayed for in the application. An application for ex-parte interim reliefs was also made and on 12-4-1988 the Labour Court issued an ex-parte ad-interim injunction restraining the two Opponents to the application from recruiting or allowing any new employee or persons in the Girani, pending final disposal of the main application. The ad-interim order was confirmed by the Labour Court on 28-4-1988 by the following order :

"The interim order passed on Exh.-U-2 on 12-4-1988 is hereby confirmed.

Case to proceed further."

The interim order was challenged by the employer before the Industrial Court, Kolhapur, in Revision Application (IC) No. 1 of 1988. The Industrial Court, Kolhapur, by its order dated 14th June, 1988, slightly modified the order of injunction granted by the Labour Court, in the following terms :

"The petitioner mill shall permit the regular employees to resume duty as per the discussions and arrangement (Ex. C-2). In case the regular employees fail to report duty as per that arrangement, the petitioner is permitted to employ fresh temporary hands with a specific condition that their services shall be terminated, if necessary to accommodate the regular employee named in the shift list as and when he resumes duty."

4. The second respondent moved an application (LCK) No. 4 of 1988 before the Labour Court alleging that the Soot Girani and its Board of Directors, including the present petitioners, had disobeyed the operative order of injunction and had thereby committed contempt of the Labour Court and/or committed offences punishable under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946 and prayed that they be dealt with suitably and punished for the same. The Labour Court directed the investigating officer (presumably, the one appointed under the Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act, 1971) to submit a report about the alleged disobedience of orders by the petitioners. After obtaining the report, the Labour Court held by the impugned order that all the Directors of the Soot Girani had jointly and severally committed breach of the operative order of injunction and thereby committed contempt of the Court. The Labour Court also took the view that disobedience of such injunction order was wilful on the part of the present petitioners and their Co-Directors, amounting to "Civil Contempt". Having come to the conclusion that the petitioners had committed contempt of the Labour Court., the Labour Court proceeded to convict them of an offence under section 12 of the contempt of Courts Act, 1971 for committ

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