M. Sathyanarayanan, J.

The appellant is the plaintiff in O.S.No. 512 of 2011 on the file of the District Munsif Court, Gudalur and it succeeded before the Trial Court and on appeal by the defendants 1 and 2/respondents 1 and 2 in A.S.No.33 of 2014 on the file of the Sub-Court, Udhagamandalam, Nilgiris District, it lost it and hence, this Second Appeal.

2. Facts leading to the filing of these Second Appeal, briefly narrated, are as follows:

2.1. The appellant/plaintiff Union is affiliated to Nilgiris Industrial and General Workers Union, constituted for the welfare of the workers of Mahavir Plantations Private Limited, Sea forth Estate, Yellamalai Division, Gudalur Taluk and the said company owns estates in the Nilgiris District and one such estate owned by the company is Sea-forth Estate, Yellamalai Division situated at Yellamalai. According to the appellant/plaintiff, most of the estates managed by the company are in disarray on account of gross mismanagement on the part of the company and lack of professionalism on the part of the directors of the company, who belong to a single family and they are interested only in enriching themselves at the cost of labourers. It is further averred by the appellant/plaintiff that on account of mismanagement of the estate by the company, debts started building up and accumulated to a point where the directors of the company are unable to move around in the society, as there are warrants pending against them in various courts across the length and breadth of the country and the company is one of the biggest defaulters in making statutory payments to the Government.

2.2. It is the categorical stand of the appellant that there are more than 100 criminal cases pending against the directors of the company and they have defaulted in making contribution towards the Provident Fund of the employees. It is further averred by the appellant/plaintiff that since the first respondent company was unable to pay wages to the workers, the Jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner of Labour intervened during the year 1999 and on account of the same, the workers of the first respondent company were permitted to manage the estate and the agricultural activities and the workers started plucking green tea leaves and sold the same and appropriated the proceeds towards their wages and it was not disturbed by the first respondent company and the directors also did not object to the same.

2.3. It is further averred by the appellant/plaintiff that conciliatory efforts were also made between the management and the workers and vide proceedings No.627 of 2007 dated 12.12.2007, marked as Exs.A3 and A5, through the fourth respondent/fourth defendant, namely the Labour Officer, Ootacamund, amicable settlement was arranged between them and as per the said arrangement, the workers are entitled to maintain the plantation from and out of the sale proceeds of green leaves and the workers are to be paid Rs. 75.00 per day and the works are under obligation to pluck minimum 22 kgs. of green tea leaves and they have to work for 8 hours per day. The said arrangement went smoothly and for the reasons best known, the first respondent/management started interfering with the said arrangement and on 02.11.2011, the defendants 1 and 2/respondents 1 and 2, with the assistance of some of their supporters, made efforts to prevent the workers from plucking green tea leaves and once again the defendants 1 and 2/respondents 1 and 2 made such efforts on 07.12.2011.

2.4. It is also averred by the appellant/plaintiff that in the event of the above arrangements being disturbed, more than 180 workers would be put to grave hardship and therefore, came forward to file the Suit in O.S.No. 512 of 2011 on the file of the District Munsif Court, Gudalur, praying for the relief of permanent injunction restraining the defendants 1 and 2/respondents 1 and 2, their men, agents, servants or any person claiming through them from preventing the workers of Sea-forth