TEXTILE LABOUR ASSOCIATION Vs. OFFICIAL LIQUIDATOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Court in a set of appeals arising out of certain orders made in a batch of writ petitions by a Division Bench of High Court of Gujarat in Association of Natural Gas Consuming Industries and others vs. Oil and Natural Gas Commission and another (1983) 24 (2) Gujarat Law Reports 1437, examined various aspects of the matter in relation to price fixation and upheld the prices fixed by the appellant and allowed the appeals. However, during the pendency of the appeals in this Court, the interim orders granted by the High Court continued to be in operation and the respondents received gas at Rs. 1000/- per 1000M3.

(2.) In I. A. Nos. 168-178 of 1997 filed by the Official Liquidator appointed in respect of Ambica Mills Ltd. in Civil Appeal No. 8530-40 of 1983, this Court on 17-10-1997 held as under :-

(3.) The petitioners in these review petitions contend that an application had been made before the High Court of Gujarat in Company Application No. 143 of 1997 in Company Petition No. 121 in which the High Court directed that the Official Liquidator should make an application before this Court after impleading the company concerned; that pursuant thereto, he filed an application Nos. 168-178 seeking for permission to sell the immoveable properties of the Company and to disburse the sale proceeds in accordance with law; that to this application none of the Unions of the workmen or other workmen were impleaded as respondents nor did the Official Liquidator in course of his application raised any pleading regarding the priority of disbursement of sale proceeds or application of Sections 529 and 529-A of the Companies Act; that petitioner No. 1 before us is a labour Association representing the workmen of Shri Ambica Mills Ltd. and petitioner No. 2 is labour Union representing the workmen of Ambica Tubes, a division of Shri Ambica Mills Ltd., that the workmen of these two establishments have not received wages and employment benefits amounting to more than Rs. 40 crores by their employer Shri Ambica Mills; that on 15-4-1987 this Court had directed ONGC to supply gas to its consumers subject to the undertaking that they would not charge, encumber or alienate any of their immovable assets without the leave of this Court; that Company Petition No. 66 of 1988 was filed for winding up of Shri Ambica Mills Ltd., that, however, during the pendency of this petition, a reference under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 was filed before the Boad for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR for short), that BIFR forwarded its opinion to this Court under Section 20 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 to the effect that it was just and equitable that the company should be wound up, that the opinion of BIFR was registered as Company Petition No. 121 of 1995 and winding up order came to be passed on 17-1-1997 on Company Petition No. 66 of 1998 with Petition No. 121 of 1995 and others. The petitioners made claim of the outstanding dues of the workmen of Shri Ambica Mills and the Official Liquidator in this regard communicated to the petitioners that he does not have any funds at his disposal and even if the amounts are realised out of sale of the assets he would not be in a position to make any payment to anybody including the workmen, except ONGC in view of the order made by this Court in I.A. Nos. 168-178 in C.A. Nos. 8530-40 of 1983. Similar letter was also sent to Vatva Industries Mazdoor Sabha on 12-8-1989. The Textile Labour Association received that letter on 6-9-1999. It is only on coming to know from the Official Liquidator that the workmen who are members of the petitioners association would not be able to get their dues, they sought for intervention in the matter.