Conciliation proceedings under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 can be initiated against a trade union's strike call even if its members are not classified as 'workmen', as long as they are employed in a public utility service, emphasizing public interest protection.

JUDGMENT :

SUSHRUT ARVIND DHARMADHIKARI, J.

1. The present appeal arises out of the judgment dated 28.03.2025 passed by the learned Single Judge of this Court in WP (C) No. 9196/2023. By the judgment under challenge, the learned Single Judge, while allowing the writ petition, quashed the notices issued by the first respondent therein, namely the Regional Labour Commissioner (Central) (for short “RLC”), calling upon the petitioners to participate in conciliation proceedings instituted under Section 22 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (for short “ID Act”).

2. The notice impugned in the writ proceedings had restrained the respondent writ petitioner (for short, “RWP”) from proceeding with the call for strike/abstention from work issued in relation to the employees/officers employed with the appellant Bank.

2.1 Aggrieved thereby, the Federal Bank has preferred the present appeal before this Court, calling into question the reasoning and rationale of the judgment under challenge.

About the parties

3. The appellant describes itself as a Company engaged in the business of banking, governed by the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and bound by the directions issued by the Reserve Bank of India (for short, “RBI”) under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 . It has more than 1,500 branches across India and employs over 15,000 employees in various managerial and non-managerial cadres.

3.1 The RWP is an association of officers employed by the appellant, comprising members holding posts in Scale I to Scale III cadres.

3.2 Although the appellant initially commenced its operations in the State of Kerala, over time it has expanded beyond Kerala and presently has a pan-India presence, serving a customer base of more than 2 crore.

3.3 The RWP is a trade union registered under the provisions of the Trade Unions Act, 1926 , (for short, “TU Act”) constituted with the objective of protecting, safeguarding, and furthering the interests of its member officers of the appellant Bank.

3.4 The core submission of the RWP is that it represents the officer cadre of the appellant Bank and does not fall within the definition of “workman” under the ID Act.

Verdict of the learned Single Judge

4. Upon a challenge being laid to the conciliation proceedings initiated at the instance of the appellant under Section 22 of the ID Act, the learned Single Judge accepted the submissions advanced by the RWP that the members of its trade union cannot be classified as “workmen” within the meaning of Section 2 (s) of the ID Act. Consequently, it was held that the RLC lacked jurisdiction to initiate conciliation proceedings under the ID Act.

4.1 The learned Single Judge observed that officers holding higher ranks in the appellant Bank do not fall within the definition of “workman” as defined under the ID Act, and that the provisions thereof are inapplicable to employees falling in the “non-workman” category. It was further held that for an “industrial dispute” to exist, there must be a relationship of employer and workman between the partie