JUDGMENT

1. Heard Mr. S.N. Sarma, the learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mrs. A. Bhattacharya, the learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Mr. P.K. Tiwari, the learned Senior Counsel assisted by Mr. R.K. Dev Choudhury, the learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 1 to 11. None appears for the respondent Nos. 12 to 19 though they have filed counter affidavit.

2. The petitioner No. 1 is the Subansiri Lower H.E. Project Contract basis Workers Union (the Union) and the petitioner Nos. 2 & 3 are its President and General Secretary respectively. The Union is registered under the Trade Union Act, 1926 under registration No. 2216 dated 18.08.2007 and comprises of about 300 numbers of workers as its members.

3. The case of the petitioners is that the Government of India initiated a Hydro Electric Project at lower Subansiri river (The Project) for generation of 2,000 Megawatt electricity by investing several crores of rupees and accordingly, various employees under the National Hydro Electric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC) (Respondent No.1), which is a Government of India enterprise, were employed under its supervision. According to the petitioners, since the inception of the Project