ROHTAK AND HISSAR DISTRICTS ELECTRIC SUPPLY CO LIMITED AMITABH TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED Vs. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been brought to this Court by special leave and it challenges the validity of certain orders passed by the Certifying Authorities in respect of the draft Standing Orders which the appellant, The Rohtak Hissar District Electric Supply Co. Ltd., had submitted to them for certification. Five respondents have been impleaded to this appeal; they are the State of U. P. Certifying Officer for Standing Orders and Labour Commissioner, U. P., Kanpur, and three representatives of the employees respectively. At the hearing before us, the employees' representatives have not appeared and the appeal has been contested by respondent No. 1 alone.

(2.) The appellant is a Joint Stock Company incorporated under the Companies Act, and it has its registered office at Allahabad. The principal object for which this Company has been incorporated is to carry on the business or generation and distribution of electricity. In accordance with the provisions of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 (No. 20 of 1946) (hereinafter called 'the Act'), the appellant prepared draft Standing Orders in consultation with its employees and submitted the same to the Certifying Officer on the 24th December 1959, for certification. At that time, the workmen employed by the appellant had not formed any Union, and so the Labour Department held proceedings for the election of the three representatives from the said workmen. Normally, a Union representing the workmen would have been competent and qualified to represent the workmen in the certification proceedings:but since there was no Union in existence the Labour Department had to adopt the expedient of asking the workmen to elect three representatives. That is how respondents 3 to 5 came to be elected as the representatives of workmen. In the certification proceedings, these representatives took no objection to the draft Standing Orders submitted by the appellant. In fact, the said draft Standing Orders were submitted to the Certifying Officer on the basis that they had been agreed to by the appellant and its workmen.

(3.) The Certifying Officer, however, examined the fairness and reasonableness of the provisions contained in the said draft Standing Orders and made several changes in them. The draft Standing Orders with the changes made by the Certifying Officer were accordingly certified on the 21st November, 1962,