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High Court Of Calcutta
Jyotirmay Bhattacharya
BIRLA CORPORATION LTD - Appellant
Versus
FIRST INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL - Respondent
WP 2067 (W) Of 2006
Decided On : 02/10/2006
INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES ACT - JURISDICTION - SHIFTING OF JUTE MILL - INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE - REFERENCE - VALIDITY - INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES ACT, 1947, SECTION 10 - THIRD SCHEDULE.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, Soorah Jute Mills, decided to shift its mill from Narkeldanga to Birlapur for economic viability. The workers' unions opposed the shifting, leading to a lockout. The State Government referred the dispute to the Industrial Tribunal for adjudication and also prohibited the continuance of the lockout. The petitioner challenged both orders in a writ petition.
Finding of the Court:
The Court held that the dispute relating to the shifting of the mill was not an industrial dispute within the meaning of Section 2(K) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, as it was not connected with the employment, non-employment, terms of employment, or conditions of labor of any person. The Court also held that the State Government did not form an opinion regarding the existence of any dispute or apprehension thereof relating to retrenchment of workmen or closure of establishment, as specified in Item No. 10 of the Third Schedule of the Act.
Issues: 1. Whether the dispute relating to the proposed shifting of the jute mill from Narkeldanga to Birlapur was an industrial dispute within the meaning of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947? 2. Whether the State Government had the jurisdiction to refer the dispute to the Industrial Tribunal for adjudication? 3. Whether the State Government's order prohibiting the continuance of the lockout was valid.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. An industrial dispute, as defined under Section 2(K) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, must be connected with the employment, non-employment, terms of employment, or conditions of labor of any person. 2. Shifting of a mill from one place to another, without any change in the terms of employment or conditions of labor of the workers, does not constitute an industrial dispute. 3. The State Government can only refer a dispute to the Industrial Tribunal for adjudication if it forms an opinion that an industrial dispute exists or is apprehended. 4. The State Government did not form an opinion regarding the existence of any dispute or apprehension thereof relating to retrenchment of workmen or closure of establishment, as specified in Item No. 10 of the Third Schedule of the Act.
Final Decision: The Court quashed both the impugned orders, holding that the reference of the dispute to the Industrial Tribunal was without jurisdiction and that the order prohibiting the continuance of the lockout was also invalid.
( 1 ) THE jurisdiction of the appropriate Government to refer a dispute relating to proposed shifting of Soorah Jute Mills from 102, Narkeldanga Main Road, kolkata to Birlapur, 24-Parganas (South) to the Industrial Tribunal for adjudication under Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, has been challenged in this writ petition.
( 2 ) INCIDENTALLY an order passed by the Deputy Secretary to the government of West Bengal prohibiting the continuance of suspension, i. e. , lockout in the said unit of the said company, has also been challenged in this writ petition.
( 3 ) SOORAH Jute Mill which is one of the oldest mills in the Jute Industry is in existence for more than 100 years at premises No. 102, Narkeldanga main Road, Kolkata-700054. The petitioner has another Jute Mill, viz. , Birla jute Mill which was set up at Birlapur, 24-Parganas (S), West Bengal in 1919. For ensuring economic viability of the mills, the petitioner-company decided to shift the Soorah Mill from Narkeldanga to Birlapur with a view to merging the Soorah Jute Mills with Birla Jute Mill at Birlapur. The reasons for which the petitioner decided to shift Soorah Jute Mill from Narkeldanga to birlapur, were disclosed by the company in its notice dated 16th March, 2004 being Annexure 'p-10' to this writ petition at page 51. The reasons are as follows :- (a) Soorah Jute Mill (SJM) is a small mill with a capacity of around 40 MT-42 MT/day. This, so far as Jute Mills go, is far from the minimum economic size. Generally, in the industry, viable jute mills are in the range of 80 MT-100 MT/day. (b) It has a limited product range, just hessian and sacking, with hardly any value addition and, barring some scrim cloth, there are no exports. (c) There is limitation for expansion, As it falls in the Calcutta metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) area, building laws do not allow any further expansion, as construction/covered area as compared to the total area is more or less optimised as per the regulations of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation Laws. (d) The West Bengal Pollution Control Board has recently served notice to industries within the Metropolitan area, making it mandatory for them to switch over from coal fired boilers to oil fired ones for its requirement of steam. SJM has also received such notice. Accordingly, switch over from coal fired to oil fired was done at considerable cost leading to further increase of cost of production. (e) The restriction on the movement of trucks during the day times results in higher cost of production. Hence, the shifting of the mills to Birlapur will help reduce costs and provide a cleaner and better environment in the locality. (f) Being situated on a low lying land, during monsoon, the mill operations are frequently disrupted due to flooding of the main shop floor. (g) Due to shifting, the total capacity of Birla Jute Mill will increase and the product conversion cost, which is higher at Soorah, will come down as a result of operating with a higher capacity. As such, the company cannot stand in the present competitive market. Also, Birla jute Mills has sufficient space and infrastructure facilities at Birlapur to take care of all of SJM's operational requirements in totality. It goes without saying that as a result of shifting, the Birlapur Unit becomes larger, made viable, with increased product flexibility and the transferred capacity can also be better utilised for increasing exports and improving the revenue of the Government.
( 4 ) ALL the three Workers' Union representing, the workers of the Soorah jute Mill opposed the proposed shifting of Soorah Jute Mill from Narkeldanga to Birlapur. As a result, a statement in the production activity in Soorah Jute mill was created. Under such circumstances, the Management of the petitioner company declared lockout at their unit at 102, Narkeldanga Main Road, kolkata-700054 with effect from 29th March, 2004.
( 5 ) IN exercise of the power conferred
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