AMBIKA PRASAD Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The opposite party No. 4 is a company holding mining leases. The petitioners are contractors wiho handle loading and unloading business in respect of minerals at the Barbil Railway Siding in the district of Keonjhar. They normally enter into ore handling contracts with different mine-owners for loading of their goods. The Keonjhar Mines and Forest Workers' Union at Barbil is a trade union purporting to represent the workmen employed bv the petitioners. It raised a dispute to the effect that the recommendations of the Centra Wage Board for Iron and Ores Mining Industry of the Government of India should be implemented by the petitioners and the wages of workmen should be paid in accordance thereto. Ultimately the State Government in the appropriate department made a reference of the following dispute to the Industrial Tribunal for adjudication

(2.) On behalf of the opposite party No. 3 a counter affidavit was filed, but at the time of hearing none appeared for the opposite parties. To enable the counsel to appear before us we had adiourned the proceeding from 11-4-1973 to 24-4-1973; yet none appeared. The petitioners alone, therefore, have been heard. We shall now proceed to deal with the two contentions advanced by Mr. Mohantv on behalf of the petitioners.

(3.) Point No. 1 "Appropriate Government" has been defined in Section 2 (a) of the Industrial Disputes Act. 1947 (hereinafter called the Act) to mean,