MANAGEMENT OF NEWTONE STUDIOS Vs. T R ETHIRAJULU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE applications filed under Article 226 of the Constitution for the issue of writs of certiorari, to set aside the orders of the Chairman, Central Government industrial Tribunal, Madras, raise an identical question for consideration, and they can be disposed of by a common order.

(2.) THE petitioner is the same in both the petitions, the Management of Newtone studios Ltd. , Madras. On 7th May 1955, the Management dismissed from service ethirajulu, one of their workmen. On 20th June 1955, the Management ordered the retrenchment of 20 workers including respondents 1 to 6 in W. P. No. 551 of 1956. The workmen complained that the termination of their services was in contravention of Section 22 of the Industrial Disputes (Appellate Tribunal) Act, 1950, (Act XLVIII 06 1950), and they preferred applications under Section 23 of the Act which were eventually disposed of by the Chairman, Central Government industrial Tribunal, Madras. The Tribunal upheld the contentions of the workmen and ordered their reinstatement. In W. P. No. 550 of 1956 the petitioner sought to avoid the order of the Tribunal directing the reinstatement of Ethirajulu, and in W. P. No. 551 of 1956 the relief sought was to set aside the order 'of the Tribunal directing the reinstatement of respondents 1 to 6. It should be convenient to refer to these seven workmen in the rest of this judgment as tile respondents.

(3.) THE only ground on which the validity of the orders of the Tribunal was challenged was that the respondents, who had applied to the Tribunal under section 23 of Act XLVIII of 1950, were not workmen concerned in the appeal then pending before the Appellate Tribunal, and that in the absence of contravention of section 22 of the Act, the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to grant any relief to the respondents.