BHARTIYA MAZDOOR SANGH Vs. BLA INDUSTRIES LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner, being aggrieved by the order dated 16.02.98 passed below applications, Exhibits 5, 6 and 9 in Reference [ITR] No. 103 of 1997 by the Industrial Tribunal No.2, Rajkot has filed this petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India.

(2.) SHORT facts necessary for disposal of the present writ application are that the respondent No.1 BLA Industries Limited, made an application under section 25N (2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 [the Act, for short] seeking permission to retrench as many as 55 persons on the ground that as the cost of production has gone up and the Company is unable to meet both the ends, they be allowed to retrench those persons. Notices were issued to all such workers and ultimately by order dated 07.06.97, the specified authority under the Act allowed the application under section 25N (3) of the Act and permitted the Company/employer to retrench such persons.

(3.) BEING aggrieved by the permission accorded by the Industrial Tribunal, the Trade Union made an application under section 25N (6) of the Act and sought review of the order passed by the Industrial Tribunal. Under the provisions of section 25N (6), the authority itself could have reviewed the order but exercising the options given to it under the provisions of law, it made a Reference to Industrial Tribunal No.2. After receiving the said Reference, the Industrial Tribunal proceeded with the matter. During the pendency of the Reference, the present petitioner preferred applications, Exh.5, Exh.6 and Exh.9, seeking production of certain documents and examination of a witness to prove that in almost similar situations, the other Company was earning profits and the present Company/employer had made false statements in the earlier proceedings. The said applications were opposed tooth and nail and after hearing the parties, learned Industrial Tribunal No. 2, vide its impugned order dated 16.02.98 rejected all the three applications.