1. THIS Special Civil Application is directed against the order dated March 27, 1997 passed by the Industrial Court (Gujarat) at Ahmedabad in Appeal (IC) No. 13/1994 read with the order dated January 12, 1994 passed by the 6th Labour Court at Ahmedabad in Application No. 859 of 1984. Respondent the Textile Labour Association had filed an application under Section 79 (1) of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946 against the present petitioner i.e. Rajnagar Textile Mills No. 1 for declaration that action of the mill company in respect of the loss of wages by the members of the Textile Labour Association be declared to be illegal being in breach of the agreement dated May 24, 1983 and that the mill company be directed to make good the monetary loss on account of not giving them employment as per agreement. It was alleged that the employees mentioned in the schedule were working in the sugarcane department and the mill company entered into an agreement dated May 24, 1983. According to this agreement badli workers mentioned in the schedule were to be given the work on the basis of average working days of the year 1981-82. Thereafter, the department has closed. It was agreed by the mill company that badli workers were to be adjusted in other sections of the mill company as department had been closed. The grievance is that this agreement was not followed despite the approach letter dated May 14, 1984. The mill company filed written statement contending that the application was not maintainable. It was also contested by the mill company that it had agreed to give work to the applicants who were badli workers on the basis of the average working days in the year 1981-82. The breach of agreement was denied. Receipt of the approach letter dated May 14, 1984 has also been denied. Before the Labour Court, the mill company did not lead any oral evidence nor did it produce any documentary evidence as has been recorded by the Labour Court in para 13 of its order dated January 12, 1994. The Labour Court after considering the evidence led by the employees found that the applicants badli workers had not been given work in other section of the mill company as per the agreement and there was nothing to show that the mill company had asked the badli workers to take up the work in any other section of the mill company. The Labour Court allowed the application and declared that the mill company had committed breach of the agreement dated May 24, 1983 and accordingly the mill company was directed to make good the monetary loss caused on account of the illegal act of the mill company and further direction was given to give work as per the agreement.

2. THIS order dated January 12, 1994 passed by the 6th Labour Court in Application No. 859 of 1984 was taken in Appeal under Section 84 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946. The Industrial Court, Gujarat at Ahmedabad decided this appeal (IC) No. 13 of 1994 by a detailed and reasoned order dated March 27, 1997 and rejected the appeal.

These two orders have been challenged by Rajnagar Textile Mills No. 1, unit of National Textile Corporation (Gujarat) through this Special Civil Application mainly on the grounds that since 1992 onwards the petitioner mill is lying closed and that it is obliged to pay idle wages even to its regular employees employed on permanent basis and that NTC (Gujarat) has been declared as Sick Industrial Company by BIFR vide its order dated March 16, 1993 under Section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985, and therefore, no legal proceedings can be initiated against the corporation or its unit mills for effecting recovery of any dues by whatever name called without the prior permission of the competent authority or appellate authority constituted under the said Act.

3. MR. Gupta appearing for the petitioner company has laid much stress on the provisions of Section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 and has su