THE MANAGEMENT OF M/S. BALLARPUR INDUSTRIES LTD. Vs. PRESIDING OFFICER, INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL, BHUBANESWAR AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The award passed in Industrial Dispute Case No.61 of 1980 dated 30th Dec., 1991 has been challenged by the Management in this writ petition.

(2.) The issue raised in this writ petition is as to whether the award passed U/s.17 and notified U/s.17(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 can be superseded by a settlement, that too not within the same parties. Before answering this issue it would be relevant to narrate the brief facts of the case.

(3.) The brief facts of the case is that the Titaghur Paper Mills Company Ltd. (in short T.P.M.) at Choudwar was commissioned for manufacturing papers and to motivate the workers for higher production with commensurate increase in earning, an Incentive Bonus Scheme was initially introduced in certain operations, subsequently it was extended to all workmen excepting those who were working in Finishing Department, being aggrieved by the said action, the T.P.M. Workers Union raised an industrial dispute demanding production incentive bonus for finishers at par with the time-rated workers and on such demand a reference was made by the State Government to the Industrial Tribunal, Bhubaneswar which was registered as Industrial Dispute Case No.32 of 1969, in which an award was passed on 30th June, 1971 whereby and where under the terms of reference has been answered by holding the finishers of T.P.M. No.3, Choudwar entitled to the production incentive bonus and that the Management should extend the scheme under Exts.2 and 2/1 to the piecerated finishers and should lay down the rates and conditions for the same and thereafter it was challenged by opposite party no.4 Titaghur Paper Mills in an appeal before the Honourable Supreme Court and during pendency of the said appeal an amicable settlement was arrived in between T.P.M. (O.P.4) and the T.P.M. Mazdoor Sangh on 28.6.1974 and by the settlement it was agreed that the Finishers would get an incentive bonus @ 15% of the basic earning of the individual Finishers on their piece rated earning retrospectively w.e.f.01.09.1973. Thereafter the T.P.M. Mazdoor Sangh submitted a 17 Point Charter of Demand on 22.1.1980 and after negotiation, an agreement was signed wherein demand no.5 relating to payment of incentive bonus to the Finishers with general group of workers was settled and it was agreed that the settlement will be given effect to till 31.12.1982. Due to various reasons T.P.M. became sick and as such was referred to the Board of Industrial Financing and Reconstruction (in short B.I.F.R.). During operation of the settlement, as per the settlement dated 10.5.1980 (Annexure-12) one another dispute has been raised by one Chaturbhuja Behera and four other workmen of Finishing Department / Sec. and accordingly the appropriate Government made a reference to the Industrial Tribunal, Bhubaneswar for adjudication of the four items of dispute which was registered as I.D. Case No.61 of 1980 in which written statement was filed by opposite party no.4, i.e. the management of T.P.M. in the year 1987. By virtue of an award passed in case No.1 of 1987 by B.I.F.R. the opposite party no.4 was declared as sick company under the provision of Sick Companies Act, 1985 and accordingly an award has been passed by the B.I.F.R. whereby and where under it has been directed that out of the three mills owned by T.P.M., the Government of Orissa purchased the moveable and immoveable property of Mill No.3 at Choudwar, earlier owned and operated by T.P.M. Company Ltd. for total consideration of Rs.6 crores. On 20th April, 1981 a Memorandum of Understanding (in short M.O.U.) was signed between the State Government and the petitioner company, i.e. Ballarpur Industries Ltd. (in short BILT) by which the BILT had purchased the Mill No.3 with limited liabilities for total consideration amount of rs.12 crores followed by registered sale deed in the year 1994. In terms of the M.O.U. with the State Government, the new management entered into a settlement with the workmen agreeing therein that the permanent workmen on Roll as on 01.05.1991 of the said mill no.3 of T.P.M. would offer themselves for re-employment under the BILT for their appointment under its Roll on fresh terms and conditions. The petitioner has entered its appearance before the Tribunal in I.D. case No.61 of 1981 in view of the changed circumstances and becoming the new owner of the management raising issue to decide the maintainability point first before delving in the dispute referred for adjudication and one joint memo was filed by both the parties before the Industrial Tribunal to the effect that except item no.1 of schedule of reference, they have no further dispute for adjudication with regard to the other three items and as such prayer has been made to confine the dispute to the first item of the schedule of reference for adjudication. The Industrial Tribunal has passed award on 30th Dec. 1991 whereby and where under it has been ordered by holding that the present workers are entitled to production incentive bonus / general group incentive equal to that of the time-rated finishers and the management of Titaghur Group of Ballarpur Industrial Ltd., Choudwar, the petitioner herein is liable to pay the same from 1969, to be paid within four months from the date of publication of the award. The petitioner has filed this writ petition on the ground that since a settlement has been arrived at regarding the dispute in question, as such the award passed in I.D. case No.61 of 1980 is not sustainable in the eye of law. According to the petitioner since the dispute has been resolved by way of a settlement, as such the Tribunal ought to have recorded the terms of settlement and should have disposed of the award since the terms of settlement was binding upon the parties in view of the provision as contained in Sec. 18 of the I.D. Act, 1947. In support of his contention learned counsel for the petitioner has relied upon several judgments those are Ballarpur Industries Ltd. Vs. State of Orissa, reported in 2001 Vol-I LLJ 150 , The Srisilk Ltd. and Ors. Vs. Government of Andhra Pradesh and Anr, reported in AIR 1964 SC 160 , Management of Bangalore Woollen, Cotton & Silk Mills Co. Ltd. Vs. The Workmen and Anr, reported in AIR 1968 SC 585 , Ramnagar Cane and Sugar Co. ltd. Vs. Jatin Chakravorty and Ors, reported in AIR 1960 SC 1012 , Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company ltd. Vs. Their Workmen, reported in AIR 1981 SC 2163 , D. Macropollo and Co. (Pvt.) Ltd. Vs. D. Macropollo and Co. (Pvt.) Ltd. Employees Union and Otrs, reported in AIR 1958 SC 1018 and New Standard Engineering Company Ltd. Vs. N.L. Abhayankar and Otrs, reported in 1978 LIC 712 .