TRIPURA JUTE MILLS LTD Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this writ proceeding under Article 227 of the Constitution, the Tripura Jute Mills Ltd. (herein after referred to as the TJML), a company registered under the Company Act, 1956, has assailed the judgment dated 31.7.1995, passed by the learned Presiding Judge of the Industrial Tribunal, Tripura in an industrial dispute in Labour Court Case No. 3 of 1991 directing that the workmen, who individually, with permission of the learned Tribunal, became party in the said industrial dispute, shall be entitled to back wages from the date of their termination till the date off their reinstatement in service with interest thereon @ 12% per annum.

(2.) I have heard Mr. S. Deb, learned senior counsel, assisted by Mr. G. S. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. S. Talapatra, learned senior counsel as well as Mr. P. Roy Barman, learned counsel for the private respondents.

(3.) The material facts giving rise to the present controversies need to be ascertain at the outset before adverting to the questions that have been raised in the present writ petition. The TJML terminated from its service 260 workmen in the year 1989 and 1990 whereupon the Tripura Chatkal Karmi Samity (for short 'TCKS'), a registered Union of the said company unsuccessfully approached the Labour Commissioner for reinstatement of 182 workmen so terminated, whom the Union represented. Thereafter, the Union approached this Court in Civil Rule No. 253 of 1990, which was disposed of on 11.4.1991 with a direction by a Division Bench of this court that the said Union on behalf of the workers it represents may raise an industrial dispute before the Labour Commissioner for conciliation, failing which the Labour Commissioner shall refer the dispute to the Government of Tripura for making a reference of the dispute to the Tribunal. Following that order of this court, the Labour Commissioner entered into conciliation proceeding for settlement of the dispute under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (for short 'the Act'), but all efforts and deliberations for an amicable settlement notwithstanding, the dispute continued to exist and thereafter, in terms of the direction of this court, as noted above, the State Government by notification dated 18th September, 1991 referred the dispute to the Industrial Tribunal for adjudication of the same. The points of dispute referred to the said Tribunal are noted below: