ORDER :

1. Assailing the award of the Tribunal in and by which the Tribunal had directed the 1^st respondent to pay closure compensation to the workers as contemplated u/s 25-F (b) of the Industrial Disputes Act (for short ‘the Act’) against the claim of lay off compensation and reinstatement, the present writ petition has been filed.

2. It is the case of the petitioner that the employees, who are the members of the petitioner/Union were under the employ of the 1^st respondent and since paltry wages was being paid to the workmen, the workers joined a trade union, which, thereafter, raised a charter of demands on 1.5.2007 seeking wage revision and other benefits from the 1^st respondent. Since there was no proper response, the workers raised an industrial dispute before the Conciliation Officer on 10.5.2007 and the Conciliation Officer called upon the workers and the 1^st respondent for conciliation and pending the same, on 2.7.2007, the 1^st respondent declared a lay-off of its workers without obtaining prior permission from the Government for the purpose of effecting lay off, as the 1^st respondent had employed more than 100 workers.

3. It is the further case of the petitioner that the den