(1.) The petitioner is the land owner and the Ist respondent is the worker. The petitioner challenges Ext. P2 award of the Agricultural Tribunal, Alleppey, in A.D. No. 30 of 1976 whereby the Tribunal held that the 1st respondent was entitled to be employed by the petitioner in terms of S.7(2) of the Kerala Agricultural Workers Act, 1974 (the Act). The award is challenged for two reasons. The petitioner's counsel Shri P. C. Balakrishna Menon contends that the award is invalid for the reason that it was made outside the period limited for making an award in terms of S.22(5). Counsel further contends that the award is vitiated by an error insofar as the Tribunal did not take into account the employer's contention that the worker was not entitled to be employed for the reason mentioned under S.7(5)(d).
(2.) S.22 (5) reads:
(3.) The date of reference is 28/08/1976. It is not known when the reference was actually received by the Tribunal. Assuming that the reference was received within a day or two, the office of the Tribunal being in the same town as that of the Collector, the Tribunal in all probability was seized of the reference as from 01/09/1976. At any rate it cannot be later than 04/09/1976 which is the date on which notice of summons was issued by the Tribunal to the parties under R.15(2) of the Kerala Agricultural Workers Rules, 1975. It would thus mean that in any event the period of 30 days expired on 03/10/1976. The award was however passed only on 27/10/1976.