HIRU B BAROT Vs. IPCA LABORATORIES LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These LPAs are directed against the order passed by the learned single Judge dated 26.10.2010 in Writ Petition No. 3139/2010 granting wages under Section 17-B of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ).The respondent-company is manufacturer of pharmaceutical products and the appellant was a workman. He was asked to prepare a Batch Manufacturing Record (BMR) but he refused to perform accordingly and instigated other workmen, therefore, chargesheet was issued against him on 23.11.2007. In the inquiry he was held guilty and was dismissed from the service by order dated 9.6.2008. The workman challenged the said order by filing Reference before the Labour Court. In the said Reference, an application filed for interim award (Exh.E) was contested by the company and the Presiding Officer Dadra & Nagar Haveli at Silvasa, vide order dated 20th February,2010 ,has partly allowed the said application, and directed to provisionally re-instate the workman on his initial post from the date of his termination and the employer was directed to pay 75% of total gross wages with effect from the date of re-joining the services till the disposal of the case. The said order was challenged by the company in Writ Petition No.3139 of 2010. According to the Management, as the Reference was pending, the order of the Presiding officer of the Labour Court cannot be considered to be an award as defined under Section 2(b) of the Act. The said Writ Petition has been admitted on 28th June, 2010 and the operation of the impugned order of the Tribunal dated 20th February,2010 has been stayed. Consequent thereto the worker filed Civil Application No. 22299/2010 in the pending Writ Petition to direct the Management to pay wages in terms of Section 17-B of the Act. The said application was resisted by the Management amongst other on the ground that the order passed by the Tribunal dated 20th February,2010 was not an award. As a result provisions of section 17-B of the Act cannot be invoked. The learned single Judge, however,has rejected the said objection and has ordered that the wages under Section 17-B of the Act be paid to the worker from the date of the application within a period of eight weeks from the date of the order.

(2.) Both , i.e employer and the workman, are aggrieved by the said order dated 26th October,2010, passed by the learned single Judge and have filed separate Letters Patent Appeals before this Court. Employer-Company is aggrieved by the view taken by the learned Single Judge that the order passed by the Tribunal dated 20th February,2010 is in the nature of an interim award. Whereas, the workman in the cross appeal contends that the wages under Section 17-B of the Act ought to have been from the date of the impugned award or at least from the date of filing original petition.

(3.) In the present matter,the core issue involved is as under :-