IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
V. Bhargava, Ag. C. J. , Jagdish Sahai and Mithan Lal, JJ.
JASWANT SUGAR MILLS LTD. - Appellant
Versus
THE PRESIDING OFFICER, INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL (III) - Respondents
Civil Misc. Writ 2032 Of 1959
Decided On : 09/19/1961
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - OFFICIAL LANGUAGE - NOTIFICATION - AUTHENTICATION - PUBLICATION - DELEGATION OF POWERS - VALIDITY - U. P. INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES ACT, 1947 (U. P. ACT NO. 28 OF 1947), SEC. 4-K - U. P. LANGUAGE BILL ACT, 1950 (U. P. ACT NO. 1 OF 1950) - U. P. OFFICIAL LANGUAGE ACT, 1951 (U. P. ACT NO. 26 OF 1951) - CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, ARTS. 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349, 350, 350A, 350B, 351, 166, 200, 210 - RULES OF EXECUTIVE BUSINESS, 1937, RULES 14, 15.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner challenged the validity of a notification issued by the State Government under Section 11-A of the U. P. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, delegating certain powers to the Labour Commissioner and the Deputy Labour Commissioner. The petitioner contended that the notification was invalid because it was not properly authenticated and published under the authority of the Governor, and that there was no delegation of powers under Section 4-K of the Act in the Hindi notification.
Finding of the Court:
The Court held that both the Hindi and English versions of the notification were valid and could be looked into, and that it was only in case of conflict that the English notification may supersede the Hindi one. The Court also held that the notification had been properly authenticated in the manner provided by the rules and had been published under the authority of the Governor in the State Gazette. The Court further held that there was a delegation of powers under Section 4-K of the Act in the Hindi notification, and that even if there was no such delegation, the English notification was valid and could be relied upon.
Issues: 1. Whether the Hindi and English versions of the notification were valid and could be looked into. 2. Whether the notification had been properly authenticated and published under the authority of the Governor. 3. Whether there was a delegation of powers under Section 4-K of the Act in the Hindi notification.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The provisions of Articles 345 and 348 of the Constitution of India, read together, mean that the Legislature of a State has the power to prescribe the language other than the English language for use in Bills introduced in, or Acts passed by, the Legislature of the State or any Ordinances promulgated by the Governor or in any subordinate legislation, and the only requirement is that a translation of the same in the English language is to be published under the authority of the Governor in the official Gazette of the State. 2. The notification itself begins with the words: “in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 11-A of the U. P. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (U. P. Act No. 28 of 1947) the Governor of Uttar Pradesh is pleased to direct. . . . . . . . . . . . ” and ends with the words “by Order, Secretary.” The opening portion of the notification and its concluding portion have to be read together and. can only mean that the notification was issued under the authority of the Governor and was properly authenticated within the meaning of Article 166 read with rules of business which have also a statutory force. 3. The notification itself begins with the words: “in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 11-A of the U. P. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (U. P. Act No. 28 of 1947) the Governor of Uttar Pradesh is pleased to direct. . . . . . . . . . . . ” and ends with the words “by Order, Secretary.” The opening portion of the notification and its concluding portion have to be read together and. can only mean that the notification was issued under the authority of the Governor and was properly authenticated within the meaning of Article 166 read with rules of business which have also a statutory force.
Final Decision: The petition was dismissed with costs on parties.
( 1 ) THE petitioner Messrs. Jaswant Sugar Mills Limited (hereinafter referred to as the petitioner)is a limited liability company and carried on business of manufacture and sale of sugar. On 1st october, 1958, the Deputy Labour Commissioner (Industrial Relations), U. P. , referred the following matter of dispute to the Industrial Tribunal, U. P. , Allahabad (hereinafter referred to as the Tribunal) for adjudication : "whether the designation and/or wages of the workmen appearing in the annexure need any revision? If so, from what date and with what details?" the Tribunal made its award on 30th April, 1959, and the same was published in the U. P. Gazette on 3rd June, 1959. By means of this petition the award mentioned above has been challenged by the petitioner.
( 2 ) UNDER the provisions of Section 4-K of the U. P. Industrial Disputes Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) the power to make a reference has been given to the State Government. That power can, however, be delegated under Section 11-A of the Act. Notification No, 2723 (ST)/xxxvi-A-150 (ST)-57 dated 20th May, 1957, was published both In Hindi as also in english, in an extraordinary issue of the U. P. Gazette. By means of this Notification the State government delegated some powers under the Act to the Labour Commissioner find the Deputy labour Commissioner, U. P. Whereas, in thc English version of the Notification the sections in respect of which powers had been delegated were 4-K and 6-H, the Hindi version mentioned the sections as 4- k and 6>- 4andkwould correspond to 4-J in English. After the present petition had been filed in this Court, the State Government issued in an Extraordinary Issue of the U. P. Gazette dated 29th August, 1959, a corrigendum stating that instead of 4andk and 6 > ] 4 Vand 6andkbe read in the Hindi Notification dated 20th May, 1957.
( 3 ) IT would contribute to a clear understanding of thc case if at this stage a few facts were mentioned. The U. P. Legislature passed two Acts being U. P. Act No. 1 of 1950 (U. P. Language Bills Act) and U. P. Act No. 26 of 1951 (U. P. Official Language Act ). By the former it was provided that the proceedings in the U. P. Legislature shall be in Hindi and the U. P. Acts shall also be in the same language. By the latter it was provided that for all official purposes in u. P. Hindi shall be used.
( 4 ) IN the English version of the Notification dated 20th May, 1957, the words "by Order, A. D. Pande, Secretary" appear. In the Hindi version the corresponding words used are "agya Se, ambadat Pande, Sachiv. " This case originally came up before me when two submissions were made on behalf of the petitioner. They were as follows : (1) The Deputy Labour Commissioner had no jurisdiction to make the reference because the english version of the Notification, alone to the exclusion of the Hindi one could be looked into under the law, but inasmuch as the English version had not been properly authenticated and had not been published under the authority of the Governor that too could not be looked into. (2) That the Hindi Notification cannot support the case for delegation as there is in fact no delegation of power under Section 4-K of the Act in, that Notification.
( 5 ) A Division Bench of this Court in the case of E. Hill and Co. (Private) Ltd. v. Mohammad ali, 1961 All LJ 506, had in effect decided that the Hindi version of a Notification cannot be looked into at all and only its translation in. English would be deemed to be the authoritative text provided on the face of it it appears to have been issued under the authority of the Governor, reliance was placed on this case before me. As I considered that the case required reconsideration I referred the matter to a larger Bench and now the case has come up before us in the Full Bench.
( 6 ) MR. Jagdish Swarup, who has appeared, for the petitioner, has confined himself to the two submissions that were made before me while sitting singly without addi
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