MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE, PATIALA Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By notification No. ID/PT59-A-68/60391, dated December 12, 1968, published in the Punjab Government Gazette Ordinary, Labour Department, on December 27, 1968, the President of India referred the following dispute between the workmen and the management of Municipal Committee, Patiala, to the Labour Court, Jullundur, under Section 10(1)(c) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 , (hereinafter called the Act) for adjudication :-

(2.) The learned counsel for the petitioner has challenged the validity of the reference on the ground that the Labour Commissioner is not entitled to sign the reference on behalf of the President of India. It is submitted that the Rules of Business of the Government of Punjab, 1966, framed under Article 166 of the Constitution of India, prescribe that a notification should be issued in the name of the Governor and should be authenticated by the Secretary, Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary or such other officer empowered by the Governor in that behalf. Shri N.N. Vohra, Labour Commissioner, Punjab, is not a person so authorised. In reply, Shri Vohra has stated in the return that the Labour Commissioner, Punjab, was vested with powers exercisable under Sections 10 and 12(5) of the Industrial Disputes Act in relation to industrial disputes falling under Section 2-A of aforesaid Act, by the State Government vide Punjab Government, Labour Department notification No. 13397-I&E-III-67/28416, dated August 11, 1967, published in the Punjab Government Gazette dated August 25, 1967. This notification reads as under :-

(3.) It has been submitted by the learned counsel for the respondents that the petitioner, Municipal Committee, did not take this objection to the validity of the reference before the Labour Court and should not be permitted to urge it in this petition. From the award I find that the Municipal Committee, Patiala, did not appear before the Labour Court to contest the reference and, therefore, no objection with regard to the validity of the reference was taken. Since the validity of the notification making the reference concerns the jurisdiction of the Labour Court to adjudicate upon the dispute, it is open to the petitioner to raise this objection in the writ petition. Since the reference was without jurisdiction, and a nullity, all proceedings taken on its basis and in pursuance thereof are a nullity and thus liable to be quashed. I find no merit in the submission made by the counsel for the respondents and repel the same.