NAGDEVI KAMGAR SABHA Vs. K.M.DESAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) - 1. The petitioner and the seventh Respondent are registered trade unions representing workers in the Nagdevi area. In the Nagdevi area there are a large number cl trading establishments dealing with industrial products such as nuts and bolts, pipes and fittings and like articles of industrial use. During the period 1968 and 1987 there were two industrial awards and tree settlements between the Seventh Respondent and the association of employers conducting shops in the Nagdevi area.

(2.) ON 27th January, 1992 an arbitration agreement was entered into under section 10 -A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 between the Seventh Respondent and Respondents No. 3 to 6 who are associations of trading establishments formed according to the respective trades. On 10th September, 1992 a notification was issued under Section 10 -A(3) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The Petitioner submitted a charter of demands to the Commissioner of Labour on 28th August, 1992 and when the arbitration agreement was arrived at between the Seventh Respondent and Respondent Nos. 3 to 6, the Petitioner protested before the Commissioner of Labour by letters dated 8th September 1992 and 16th September, 1992. The Petitioner filed a writ petition before this Court (Writ Petition 2773 of 1992) challenging the notification under Section 10 -A(3). On 16th October, 1992 the Commissioner of Labour declined to make a reference in respect of the charter of demands raised by the Petitioner on the ground that arbitral proceedings were to take place in pursuance of the notification under Section 10 -A and that the Petitioner could raise a dispute before the arbitrator under Section 10 -A(3) of the Act. The petition filed by the Petitioner challenging the notification of the arbitration agreement under Section 10 -A was disposed of by a learned Single Judge on 18th March, 1993, recording the agreement between the parties that the Petitioner would be entitled to represent its workers and would be entitled to be heard before the Board of Arbitrators. The Petitioner had also filed another writ petition (Writ Petition 624 of 1994) challenging the order of the Commissioner of Labour declining to make a reference of the charter of demands raised by the Petitioner and by an interim order dated 4th April, 1995 a learned Single Judge directed the arbitrator to arbitrate upon the dispute raised by the Petitioner union as well. Before the board of arbitrators, the Petitioner was impleaded as a party. The Board of Arbitrators, however, declined to issue notices in respect of 700 workers who according to the Petitioner had been left out of the purview of the arbitration.

(3.) NOW in so far as this petition is concerned, the reliefs which have been sought are: (a) The issuance of a writ of certiorari quashing and setting aside the award of the Board of Arbitrators dated 29th October, 1994; (b) An order extending the award dated 29th October, 1994 to all the workmen and the establishments set out in the Petitioner 's application before the Board of Arbitrators dated 20th March, 1993; and (c) An order directing that the award be made applicable retrospectively with effect from May 1991.