1Is the dispute between a Cooperative Society and its Secretary an industrial dispute? Is the Secretary a 'workman' of the Society? and is it competent for a Labour Court in a reference under S.12 of the Industrial Disputes Act (for short 'the I. D. Act') to review the evidence and come to a finding different from that arrived at in the domestic enquiry after holding that the enquiry was fairly and properly conducted? These are the questions which arise for consideration in this Original Petition.

2The petitioner is the employer society consisting of the employees of the Travancore-Cochin Chemicals Ltd. The 2nd respondent was its Secretary. The statutory audit of the accounts of the Society for the year 1978-79 seems to have revealed some irregularities. These were revealed by the summary of defects noted by the Auditor. The second respondent was on sick leave in 1979. When he rejoined duty, he was required to discharge the duties of a Clerk and was not allowed to function as Secretary. That provoked a series of correspondences. In a letter dated 1-8-1981 containing allocation of work with effect from 1-7-1980, the 2nd respondent was given the work of cash credit accounts, personal