ORDER :

1. This industrial dispute has been referred to me under S. 10(1)(d) of the Industrial Disputes Act by the Labour and Social Welfare Department Order No. A.J.C. 24(2) of 1958 dated 31 July 1958. The demands of the workmen will be reproduced in due course.

2. To the statement of claim of the workmen the municipality filed its written statement on 1 November 1958. Then on 16 February, 1959 the municipality sought permission to file an additional written statement. The permission having been granted, an additional written statement was filed on the same day. There a preliminary objection has been raised by the municipality to the maintainability of the reference. This is how the objection is worded:-

"In view of the recent decisions, e.g., Corporation of the City of Nagpur vs. N.J. Mujumdar, 1958 (1) L.L.J. 761 the employer-municipality takes a preliminary objection that the Industrial Disputes Act is not applicable in respect of the categories of workers mentioned in the application. The reference is therefore not valid and this Court has no jurisdiction to entertain the reference."

3. Sri Lalit, advocate for the municipality, and Sri J.V. Bhave for the workmen, advanced argument