The implied power of the Labour Court to add parties and adjudicate on matters incidental to the dispute.

The Order of the Court was as follows :

The above writ petition is filed seeking for the relief of issuance of a writ of certiorarified mandamus calling for the records relating to the order made in I.A. No. 30/2000 in I.D. No. 233/1999 dated March 10, 2000 made by the first respondent Labour Court and quash the same and directing the respondents to implead the petitioners as respondent in I.D. No. 233 of 1999 on the file of the Labour Court, Salem.

The case of the petitioners, who are seven in number is that they are working as Marketing Assistants in the 3rd respondent Society having been appointed as packers Grade II during the year 1991 and that subsequently they were promoted as Marketing Assistants with effect from September 9, 1997 under the proceedings in Na. Ka. No. 126/97 Pa. Tho (7) by the Managing Director of the 3rd respondent.

According to the petitioners, 9 employees of the 3rd respondent Society who are not qualified or ineligible to be promoted questioned the promotion of the petitioners from the post of Packers Grade II to Marketing Assistants by filing a suit in O.S. No. 422 of 1997 on the file of the District Munsif Court, Tiruchengode. The said suit is still pending. Pending the suit before the Civil Court, the said employees raised an industrial dispute through their Union represented by the General Secretary, the second respondent herein before the Labour Officer, Erode District. The petitioner approached the Labour Officer seeking an opportunity to explain their case for sustaining the promotion granted in their favour. The Labour Officer did not respond to their request, which forced the petitioner to file a writ petition before this Court in W.P. No. 7214 of 1998 and the same is pending. The Labour Officer on finding that the conciliation ended in failure sent his report to the Government in Na. Ka. No. 390/1998. The Government in its turn referred the dispute to the Labour Court, Salem and the same is pending in I.D. No. 233 of 1999. In the said industrial dispute, the petitioners sought to implead themselves as a party by filing an application in I.A. No. 30 of 2000. The Labour Court by its order dated March 10, 2000 dismissed the said application on the ground that the dispute is one referred by the State Government under Section 10(1)(c) and 10(1)(d) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and the names of the petitioners sought to be impleaded are not there and further that the Labour Court is of the opinion that it can only adjudicate upon the specified point on dispute given in the annexure to the reference order and the adjudication shall be confined only to those points. In the reference neither the names of the petitioners are found nor any point is specified concerning these petitioners for adjudication. On the abovesaid two grounds, the Labour Court dismissed the application for impleading the petitioners as parties. The correctness of the said order is now challenged in the present writ petition on the ground that the Labour Court failed to note that in the industrial dispute the petitioner's promotion is questioned and as such their presence in the proceedings is necessary and the dispute referred by the Government is one relating to the petitioners' promotion.The second respondent filed a counter, wherein besides denying the various averments contained in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition contended inter alia that there is no provision in the Industrial Dispute to implead any party in a dispute to be adjudicated upon on the basis of the reference made by the Government. The procedures and powers of Labour Court has been clearly defined under Section 11 of the Industrial Disputes Act. Under sub-section (3) of Section 11 the Labour Courts are vested with the same power as are vested in a Civil Court under the Civil Procedure Code with respect to a specified matter, namely enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath; compelling the production of