LISIE HOSPITAL Vs. LABOUR COURT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The unsuccessful petitioner employer in the instant Writ Petition (Civil) WP(C) No. 7103/2019 has instituted the afore captioned intra court appeal under Section 5(i) of the Kerala High Court Act, 1958, to impugn the judgment dat above Writ Petition (Civil).

(2.) Heard Sri.A.V.Xavier, learned counsel appearing for the appellant/writ petitioner, Sri.Paulson C.Varghese, learned counsel appearing for R-2 to R-18 in this appeal and Sri.Asok M.Cherian, learned Senior Amicus Curiae ably assisted and instructed by Sri.Ashok B.Shenoy, learned Amicus Curiae. Since R-1 in this appeal is the Labour Court, notice to that respondent will stand dispensed with.

(3.) The case projected in the above writ proceedings is broadly as follows: That, contesting respondents 3 to 18 in the WP(C)/WA are workmen of the appellant/writ petitioner Lisie Hospital and R-2 claims to be the registered trade union of employees of said hospital. That, from the beginning of the year 2000, the contesting respondents herein had organized a strike resulting in alleged misconduct inside the hospital and in front of the Director's chamber, which resulted in disciplinary action. Further that, R-4 (one Sri.C.C.Michael) was dismissed from service vide order dated 8.1.2015 pursuant to the finalization of disciplinary action taken in pursuance of the memo of charges dated 28.12.2013. Further that, though he had raised an individual industrial dispute vide his complaint to the District Labour Officer (DLO) and which later resulted in conciliation proceedings, the further outcome of said proceedings is stated to be not known to the employer. Further that, contesting respondents 5 to 18 were dismissed from service on 14.9.2015 pursuant to disciplinary action against them for the alleged misconduct committed by them on 24th & 25th December, 2014, along with the 3rd & 4th respondents, and the incumbent who was then the Public Relations Officer (PRO), who according to the employer is not a workman and who was later retired from service on 2.6.2014, and the said incumbent had raised an individual industrial dispute as per Sec.2A(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 {hereinafter referred for short as 'The ID Act'}. Further, the claim of the writ appellant is that the 2nd respondent Union had been defunct from the year 1997 and and had lost representative capacity, which according to the employer is discernible from Exts.P-2 to P-7. Further that, respondents 5 to 18 had raised an industrial dispute vide Ext.P-10 complaint petition dated 16.11.2015, etc. That, later the Conciliation Officer had sent his failure report to the competent authority of the State Government in the Labour Department. This in turn resulted in Ext.P-11 G.O.(Rt.) No.432/2016/LBR dated 15.3.2016 whereby the competent authority of the State Government in the Labour Department has in exercise of the powers under Sec.10(1)(c) of the ID Act, had referred the said industrial dispute between the Director, Lisie Hospital, Cochin, and the workmen of above referred establishment represented by the Secretary of above Union, for adjudication to the Labour Court, Ernakulam, and further it was ordered that the Labour Court may pass award thereon within 3 months, which was registered as I.D.No.8/2016 on the file of the Labour Court, Ernakulam.