BOMBAY GUMASTA UNION Vs. M R BHOPE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ petition under Article 226 takes exception to the order dated March 23, 1992 passed by the Industrial Tribunal, Bombay, upholding the preliminary objection of the employer that reference (IT) No. 44 of 1988 made by Government of Maharashtra under section 10 (1) (d) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 ("the Act", for short) is not competent in law and disposing of the said reference as not maintainable.

(2.) BRIEFLY, the facts giving rise to this petition are as follows :

(3.) BEFORE the Industrial Tribunal, the respondent Nos. 2 to 14 filed their separate written statements raising various contentions. All of them, however, raised a preliminary objection to the maintainability of the reference on the ground that the reference made by the Government is not adjudicatable for the reason that there is no company, or group of companies, known as "s. Kumar Group of Companies" and, therefore, there cannot be any industrial dispute between a non-existing company and its workmen. In view of the objection raised by the respondent Nos. 2 to 14, the Industrial Tribunal framed a preliminary point, which reads as under :