JUDGMENT :

NIRAL R. MEHTA, J.

1. ADMIT. Mr.Prashant B. Sharma, learned counsel, waives service of notice of admission on behalf of respondent No.1.

2. With consent of learned counsel appearing for the respective parties, the Appeal is taken up for its final hearing.

3. By way of present Letters Patent Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent, the appellant – original petitioner challenges the order dated 2.2.2018 passed in Civil Application (for Direction) No.15142 of 2017 as well as the impugned order dated 22.6.2018 passed in Misc. Civil Application No.1 of 2018 in Special Civil Application No.8681 of 2017 by the learned Single Judge, whereby the learned Single Judge directed the appellant herein to pay the last drawn wages to the respondent from the date of the award passed by the Labour Court, Ahmedabad under Section 17-B of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (for short ‘the I.D.Act’).

4. Brief facts giving rise to the present Appeal can be narrated as under :

4.1 An industrial dispute came to be raised by the workman before the Presiding Officer, Labour Court, Ahmedabad by way of Reference (T) No.577 of 2014 which came to be allowed ex-parte vide award dated 22.6.2015. It further appears that thereafter, Misc. Civil Application No.206 of 2015 came to be filed by the original petitioner for setting aside the ex-parte award, however, the same was dismissed vide order dated 3.2.2017.

4.2 Feeling aggrieved by the aforesaid orders, the appellant – original petitioner had approached this Court by way of writ petition being Special Civil Application No.8681 of 2017. It appears that pending the writ petition, the respondent herein has approached this Court by way of Civil Application (for Direction) No.15142 of 2017 seeking, inter-alia, the benefits flowing from the provision of Section 17-B of the I.D.Act.

4.3 The learned Single Judge, after having considered the contents of the application, vide order dated 2.2.2018, allowed the Civil Application (for Direction) No.15142 of 2017 and directed the appellant – original petitioner to pay the last drawn wages to the workman as per Section 17-B of the I.D.Act from the ‘date of the award passed by the Labour Court, Ahmedabad’. It further appears that the main writ petition came to be disposed of vide oral judgment dated 22.2.2018 by quashing and setting aside the award of the Labour Court, Ahmedabad and remanded the proceedings back to the Labour Court, Ahmedabad for deciding the issue afresh.

4.4 It is pertinent to mention here that the original petitioner had, in the meanwhile, approached the learned Single Judge by way of an application being Misc. Civil Application No.1 of 2018 in Special Civil Application No.8681 of 2017 for review and/or modification of the interim order dated 2.2.2018. However, the learned Single Judge vide order dated 22.6.2018 dismissed the said review application being not maintainable since the main writ petition itself was disposed of by the learned Single Judge. Thus, the appellant – original petitioner is here before us by way of present Appeal.

5. We have heard Mr.D.G.Shukla, learned counsel appearing for the appellant and Mr.Prashant B. Sharma, learned counsel appearing for the respondent No.1 – workman.

6. Mr.D.G.Shukla, learned counsel appearing for the appellant, mainly contended that the impugned order passed by the learned Single Judge is not tenable in eye of law since the issue with regard to the availability of the benefits flowing from the provision of Section 17-B of the I.D.Act is no more res-integra and thereby, is squarely covered by the decision of this Court. Mr.Shukla submitted that as per the settled legal proposition, the benefits flowing from the provision of Section 17-B of the I.D.Act should be paid to the workman concerned from the date of the institution of petition before this Court and not from the date of award of the Labour Court. In support of his contention, Mr.Shukla relied upon the decision in the case of Solaris Chemtech Indust