PUNJAB KHADI GRAMUDYOG SANG Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant, Punjab Khadi Gramudyog Sang, is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1890, with its Head Office at Adampur, district Jullundur. It is an industrial establishment to which the provisions of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 (hereinafter called the Act) are applicable. A resolution was passed by the Sang on November 25, 1968, to amend its existing standing orders relating to service rules so as to reduce the age of superannuation from 65 to 60 years. The procedure for making standing orders or modifying them is prescribed in Section 5 of the Act, which reads as under :-

(2.) Section 6 provides for an appeal against the order of the Certifying Officer and since the scope of the appellate power of the appellate authority is in question in the present appeal, this Section is set out in extenso. It reads :-

(3.) The Punjab Government made rules in exercise of its powers under the Act which are called the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Punjab Rules, 1949 (hereinafter called the Rules). An application for certification of the standing orders made or modified by an industrial establishment has to be made in the prescribed form to the Certifying Officer. As soon as the application is made to the Certifying Officer, he is required under rule 6 to forward a copy of the draft standing orders to the trade union concerned together with a notice in Form II. But when there is no trade union in existence, the Certifying Officer has to call a meeting of the workmen to elect three representatives to whom, after their election, he must forward a copy of the draft together with the requisite notice in form II. The notice which is issued to the trade union or the elected representatives of the workers has to state that the objections, if any, should be submitted within fifteen days from the receipt of the notice, as is provided in Section of the Act. In the present case, the Certifying Officer issued notices to Sarvshri Des Raj, Tara Chand and Om Parkash on March 3, 1969, considering them to be representatives of the workmen. It was pointed out to him that the said workmen wee not the elected representatives of the workmen of the appellant-society and, therefore, notices issued to them were invalid. The Certifying Officer accepted the objection and called upon the workmen to elect three representatives, for which a meeting was summoned for March 25, 1969. That meeting was presided over by an officer of the department and Sarvshri Paras Ram, Ajit Ram and Kapil Dev were elected as the representatives of the workmen. A notice was issued to them on March 29, 1969, in form II along with the draft of the standing orders which were proposed to be modified and they were informed that the matter would be heard on April 5, 1969. In the meantime, on April 2, 1969, the union of workmen, called the 'Khadi Karya Karta Sang, Punjab', was recognised by the appellant-society. Kapil Dev Joshi was the President of this Union. A notice was also issued to the Union on April 2, 1969, for the modification of the standing orders. On April 5, 1969, the three elected representatives appeared before the Certifying Officer and raised objections to the approval of the proposed standing orders on merits. None of them stated that the notice issued to them was not in accordance with Section 5 of the Act and they wanted more time to prepare their case. On the other hand, the objections were raised on merits to the draft standing orders. After hearing the representatives of the workmen and the management, the Certifying Officer reserved orders which were pronounced on April 30, 1969, accepting the modification in the standing orders, as proposed by the management. Against that order, an appeal was filed before the Industrial Tribunal, Punjab, the appellate authority, and it was pleaded that the order of the Certifying Officer was illegal since fifteen days' notice, as provided in Section 5 of the Act, had not been given. The appellate authority on that ground set aside the order of the Certifying Officer dated April 30, 1969, by order dated October 12, 1969. No decision on the merits of the standing orders approved by the Certifying Officer was given. The appellant society then filed Civil Writ No. 3701 of 1970 in this Court challenging the order of the appellate authority. That writ was dismissed by the learned Single Judge on August 27, 1971, and the present appeal under Clause 10 of the Letters Patent is directed against that order.