BASANT KUMAR PATRA Vs. ROURKELA STEEL PLANT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner in this Writ Petition assails the order of punishment in Annexure-7 directing deduction of basic pay by two stages in the existing pay as well as the order in Annexure-9 rejecting the appeal filed against the order of punishment.

(2.) The service dispute relating to employees of Steel Authority of India Ltd. have now come within the jurisdiction of Central Administrative Tribunal. Ordinarily we would have transferred this case to the Central Administrative Tribunal, Cuttack Bench, Cuttack for adjudication but it was contended by learned Counsel for the Steel Authority of India that when there is allegation of violation of any provisions contained in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 the Central Administrative Tribunal cannot have jurisdiction and the same can be resolved either by way of raising a dispute under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 or by way of filing a Writ Petition.

(3.) On perusal of the provisions contained in the Administrative Tribunals Act, we find that the cases where the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 are attracted, the Tribunal shall not exercise jurisdiction under the said Act. In the present case though there is no allegation with regard to violation of any of the provisions contained in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, in the counter affidavit a specific stand has been taken that the dispute raised in the Writ Petition can be effectively adjudicated under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and accordingly we entertained the Writ Petition on merit instead of asking the Petitioner to raise a dispute under the Industrial Disputes Act, about five years having passed in the meantime from the date of filing of the Writ Petition.