INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES ACT, 1947 - Section 10 - Reference of industrial dispute - Government's power to make reference - Whether Government can make a reference of an alleged dispute under Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter called the Act), to a Labour Court, if the Government has once declined to make such a reference on the ground that the dispute in question is not an industrial dispute within the meaning of Section 2 (K) of the Act? - Held, No.

Fact of the Case:

The employer is carrying on transport business. According to the finding of the Labour Court, the number of workmen employed by it on the relevant date was sixty. The employees of the petitioner concern have a Labour Union of their own. But admittedly that Union has not come into the picture at any stage of this case. Respondent No. 2, the District Motor Transport Workers Union (Registered), Kotkapura, District Bhatinda (hereinafter called the District Union), however, served a notice, dated November 10, 1959, on the employer making six demands, out of which four were of a rather general nature (e. g., claim for daily allowance for booking clerks and checkers while at certain bus-stands, claim for ten days causal leave, claim for uniforms, etc.). The remaining two items of the notice of demand related to claim for full salary being paid to Inderjit Singh conductor during the period of suspension and for re-instatement of one Mukand Singh clerk on checking duty.

Finding of the Court:

The impugned reference of the disputes covered by the demand notice dated November 17, 1960, to the Labour Court in direct reversal of the earlier order of the Government dated July 20, 1961, is not authorised by any provision of law and is not valid as the power of the State Government under Section 10(1) of the Act in relation to the said dispute and notice of demand had been exhausted after the issue of letter (Annexure C) dated 20th July, 1961.

Issues: 1. Whether it is open to the appropriate Government to make a reference of an alleged dispute under Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter called the Act), to a Labour Court, if the Government has once declined to make such a reference on the ground that the dispute in question is not an industrial dispute within the meaning of Section 2 (K) of the Act? 2. Whether it is open to a Labour Court to sustain a reference as if it had been made at the instance of the affected workmen, though in fact it was made by the Government at the instance of a Union about which the finding of the Labour Court is that espousal by the Union or by its executive committee, even if it was competent to raise the dispute, would not be sufficient espousal in the eye of law and would be meaningless? 3. If question No. 2 is answered against the employer, whether the number of dismissed workmen who are supporting the claims sought to be referred can be taken into account for purposes of making up a substantial proportion of workmen entitled to raise the industrial dispute?

Ratio Decidendi: 1. Once the appropriate Government has exercised its powers under Section 10 (1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and made a reference of any industrial trial dispute it becomes functus officio and has no jurisdiction to subsequently amend, cancel or supersede the reference. 2. The words "at any time" in Section 10(1) of the Act refer to a period which commences with the issue of demand notice or with any other legal steps by which the proceedings are initiated for making a reference to a Labour Court or Tribunal and which period terminates with an order of the appropriate Government either making a reference or declining to make it for any valid reason. Once the Government has arrived at and given out its decision one way or the other, Section 10(1) of the Act ceases to exist for that particular dispute or demand and with such a decision of the Government the words "at any time" contained in Section 10(1) of the Act also cease to operate. 3. Employees who have been dismissed and whose cause is not in question cannot be taken into account for constituting an appreciable section of the employers establishment. They are not members of the employers establishment at all and cannot be considered as such for the purposes of deciding whether there was any industrial dispute or not.

Final Decision: Petition allowed.