B.H. Marlapalle. J.

This petition arises from the Award passed by the learned Presiding Officer of the Central Government Industrial Tribunal No.2, at Mumbai, in reference No. CGIT-2/51 of 2000 on 29th August. 2003 and though the petition is styled as having been filed under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, it is clear from the prayer clause that it is seeking to quash and set aside the said Award and, therefore, it is required to be treated as a petition filed under Article 227 of the Constitution.

2. The petitioner is a Company incorporated under the Companies Act. 1956 and is engaged in the extraction and export of iron ore, barge building and manufacture of pig iron and coke. It owns the sea going vessel M.V. Orissa, which is registered under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. The said vessel was purchased in 1996 with the objectives of utilizing the same for transporting the cargo and also as a transhipper at Mormugao Harbour. M.V. Orissa, came to Goa in March, 1996 and the petitioner Company awarded contract to respondent No.2 Contractor for carrying out loading and unloading activities on board M.V. Orissa (for short, referred to as the "Vessel"). The contract was for a period of six to eight months in a year, depending upon the requirements and the availability of the cargo. Respondent No.2 is a private limited company, registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and apart from other activities it is engaged in stevedoring and handling agencies. Whereas, respondent No. 1 is a registered trade union, claiming to represent the workmen employed by respondent No. 2 and deployed on the Vessel.

3. By work order dated 6.2.1997, the petitioner Company engaged respondent No. 2 for looking after the complete transhipping activities of the Vessel on the terms and conditions set out therein. The period of contract was from March, 1996 to December, 1997 and by another work order dated 2.1.1999, the period was fixed from January 1999 to December 1999 and it appears that by the another Order dated 11.2.1998, the contract period fixed was from 1.1.1998 to 31.12.1998. Some of the terms of this contract order, which are relevant, are reproduced as under :

(a) Scope of activities-providing necessary manpower for carrying out the transhipping activities, including the management of tranship equipments like cranes conveyors, loaders and other allied machineries.

(b) Provide the skilled/unskilled manpower for carrying out the operations smoothly as per the details given below :

Crane operators 14

Electrician 3

Fitters/Belt Attendants 7

Labourers 24

Shit supervisors 1

Supervisor Clerk 1

(c) The above skilled/unskilled manpower to be employed on the Vessel to take care of the transhipping operations on round the clock basis shift wise as indicated.

(d) The contractor should handle all the day-today matters of the transhipper staff including their attendance, medical and insurance cover etc.

(e) The contractor should make the payments to the various categories of the persons employed as per the details given.

(f) The contractor should provide 2 pairs of boiler suits/hand gloves, one pair of good quality safety shoes every year and one good quality safety helmet, (duly approved by DGMS) once in two years to all the employees excluding the clerk. The cost of the same will be reimbursed by the Company.

(g) The contractor should insure all the employees excluding the clerk for which the premium should not exceed more than Rs. 1,000/- per annum, per employee. The actual amount will be reimbursed to the contractor.

(h) The contractor should maintain the necessary attendance register of all employees during seasons/off-season which will be verified by the Company every month.

(i) In respect of each and every labour, directly and indirectly engaged on the vessel in connection with the execution of the contract, the contractor shall be fully responsible to comply with and fulfill the provisions of the Contract Labour Act, Minimum Wage