HOPE TEXTILES LTD Vs. NEMICHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is a private limited company registered under the provisions of the Companies Act, filed this petition challenging the order of Industrial Court dated 7.12.2004 passed in C.A. No. 625/2004. By the aforesaid order the learned Chairman of the Industrial Court, partially allowed the appeal of the petitioner, other 42 eases have also been decided by the Court by this order. The petitioner has filed 43 petitions including this one against the common order passed by the Industrial Court with regard to each workman. All these petitions are being decided by this common order.

(2.) EARLIER the petitioner -Company was known as Nandlal Bhandari Mills Limited. In the year of 1973 controlling shares of the Company were taken over by Potdar family, thereafter name of the Company has been changed to M/s. Hope Textile Limited. It had number of workers but due to financial constraints the Company declared lay off on 6.6.1986. Thereafter, it applied to the State Government, permission for lay off. The permission has been refused by the Government on 24.10.1986. Then, the petitioner filed a petition before Ibis Court, challenging the refusal of permission by the State Government. The petition was registered as M.P. 242/1987. The Division Bench of this Court vide order dated 23.7.1987 dismissed the petition of the Company by holding that the lay off declared by the Company was against the provisions of Industrial Disputes Act, Section 25 -M and refusal to grant permission by the Government is proper. It filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court which has also been dismissed. Since 6.6.1986 the Mill of the petitioner has not been working and the workers were idle. The representative -union of the workers i.e. Mill Mazdoor Sangh, filed an application on 28.12.1989 for grant of wages to the workers under Section 15 of the Payment of Wages Act before the Labour Court. The Court on 3.7.1990 passed an order for payment of wages to the workers of Rs. 1,59,77,400.77. The aforesaid order has been challenged by the petitioner, before the High Court in a petition which was registered as M.P. No. 7701/91. However, the petitioner Company withdrew the petition which was dismissed by the Court vide order dated 2 -1 -1995 as withdrawn.

(3.) WHEN the workers including the respondent did not get their wages inspite of the order of the Authority of Payment of Wages Act, the respondent and other workers filed an application before the Labour Court on 30.5.2002 under Sections 31, 34, 61 and 62 of the M.P.I.R. Act, 1962 challenging the illegal change in their service conditions and also payment of balance amount of wages, that case was registered as Case No. 204 of 2002. The petitioner -Company resisted the claim mentioning that the application is not maintainable because the worker is not a workman thereafter on 19.9.2003 on request from the Counsel of the respondent that because in another case the decision of the Court was pronounced, the aforesaid case was withdrawn.