Rajasthan High Court - Jaipur
State Bank Of India Staff Association vs State Bank Of India Staff Association on 4 February, 2021
Author: Ashok Kumar Gaur
Bench: Ashok Kumar Gaur
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN
BENCH AT JAIPUR
S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 14351/2020
State Bank Of India Staff Association, Jaipur Circle, R/o 76, Patel
Nagar, Near Mahesh Nagar, Jaipur Through General Secretary,
Vinod Kumar Tanwar.
----Petitioner
Versus
1. State Bank Of India Staff Association, R/o Ajeet Sen
Bhawan, Kokad Lane, Kolkatta, through General Secretary
Shri Rajesh Kumar Tripathi.
2. Ajat Shatru, General Secretary, State Bank Of India Staff
Association Jaipur Circle, Administrative Office - A-5,
Nehru Place, Tonk Road, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
----Respondents
For Petitioner(s) : Mr.Rajesh Maharshi, Adv. assisted by Mr.Ankit Bishnoi, Adv.
For Respondent(s) : Mr.Suresh Kashyap, Adv.
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ASHOK KUMAR GAUR Order 04/02/2021 This Court vide order dated 27.01.2021 had granted time to learned counsel for the respondents to file reply to the writ petition.
The Court has also observed that prayer of the interim relief/stay was to be considered after reply of the respondents.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that by order dated 15.09.2020, the Civil Court considered the application of temporary injunction, filed by petitioner under Order 39 Rule 1 & 2 CPC.
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(2 of 6) [CW-14351/2020] The Civil Court, after considering the parameters of granting interim injunction, passed an order that till disposal of the suit, the respondent-defendant i.e. State Bank of India Staff Association was restrained to misuse by any means the name of petitioner-Union.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the order dated 15.09.2020 was challenged before the Appellate Forum by filing appeal No.14/2020 by respondent and the Appellate Court by order dated 31.10.2020, has set aside the order dated 15.09.2020 and as such dismissed the Temporary Injunction Application filed by the petitioner-association.
Learned counsel for the petitioner Association Mr.Rajesh Maharshi submitted that the Gazette Notification dated 24.04.2017 was issued by the State Bank of India, whereby two new local Head Offices i.e. Jaipur LHO and Amaravati LHO with retrospective effect were notified vide Government of India Gazette Notification No.285 dated 18.07.2017.
Learned counsel submitted that the details of 16 local Head Offices of the bank and their territorial areas were also given and for Local Head Office of Jaipur territorial area was State of Rajasthan.
Learned counsel submitted that after merger of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur with the State Bank of India, a request was made to the Registrar Trade Union, Labour Department, Government of Rajasthan vide letter dated 08.05.2017, whereby it was informed that in the meeting held on 27.03.2017, name of the Association was decided to be State Bank of India Staff Association, Jaipur Circle.
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(3 of 6) [CW-14351/2020] Learned counsel submitted that letter dated 25.07.2017 was was also issued to all Chief General Manager of State Bank of India and all Local Head Offices for check-off facilities to the Employees Union and as such Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was prescribed.
Learned counsel submitted that in order to ensure Uniform Process for handling such request of check-off facility, the Standard Operating Procedure required that in each circle, the Union/Organization claiming to be representatives of SBI employees was registered with the Registrar of Trade Union and most importantly membership was restricted to the employees within the geographical area of the Circle.
Learned counsel submitted that in view of such Standard Operating Procedure, the petitioner-Union became entitled for check-off facility.
Learned counsel further submitted that the standard operating procedure was also followed by other circles and as such, he has referred to certain staff unions of State Bank of India, which have been registered in Bhopal, Kerala and Amarawati.
Learned counsel submitted that the order passed by the Appellate Court has not looked into the relevant facts and requirement of proper trade union representing interest of the members of the circle and as such the respondent-Union, which is admittedly registered at Kolkata, may not represent interest of the employees working in State of Rajasthan.
Learned counsel further submitted that the respondent-Union has already filed complaint before the Registrar of Trade Union (Downloaded on 05/02/2021 at 10:55:10 PM) (4 of 6) [CW-14351/2020] Rajasthan, Jaipur and the same was dismissed vide order dated 11.06.2020, as not maintainable.
Learned counsel further submitted that the order dated 11.06.2020 was further put to challenge before the Industrial Tribunal, Jaipur and the Tribunal vide order dated 02.11.2020, has dismissed the appeal, so filed by the respondent-Union.
Learned counsel submitted that if the respondent-Union is permitted to represent the employees of the Rajasthan Circle, their representation would not be proper, as the interest of the members/employees, working in the Jaipur Circle, can be taken care by the petitioner-Association.
Per contra, learned counsel for the respondents-Mr.Suresh Kashyap submitted that registration of the respondent-Union goes back to the year 1932 and initially it was registered as Imperial Bank of India Staff Association and the same was changed in the year 1956 after Indian Trade Union Act came into force.
Learned counsel submitted that the present suit filed by the General Secretary of so called State Bank of India Staff Association, Jaipur Circle by One Shri Vinod Kumar Tanwar was an after thought, as the said Secretary had lost election conducted for members of the Union on 28.05.2018.
Learned counsel further submitted that requirement of Registration of Trade Union cannot be made to apply to the respondent as the State Bank of India Staff Association is registered Union for the employees working throughout the country.
Learned counsel further submitted that the Rules and Constitution of State Bank of India Staff Association provides that the Registered Office and Headquarters of the Union shall be at (Downloaded on 05/02/2021 at 10:55:10 PM) (5 of 6) [CW-14351/2020] Kolkata, with branches in all the cities and the Rajasthan is included for such purpose of taking care of the members/employee of the Bank, working in the State Bank of India.
Learned counsel further submitted that the issue with regard to registration of parallel Association like the petitioner is subject matter of challenge before the Competent Authority and even the writ petition has been filed before this Court challenging the order passed by the Industrial Tribunal.
Learned counsel further submitted that the reference of registration of different Association in Bhopal, Kerala and Amarawati, have no relevance in the present matter, as these associations were admittedly not covered, as per the Constitution and object of the State Bank of India Staff Association, which is a registered union.
Learned counsel further submitted that the suit, which was filed by the petitioner itself had mentioned that the petitioner was having grievance with regard to election, which was already conducted and as such after having lost the election, the Temporary Injunction initially passed by the Civil Court was not the right direction and as such the Appellate Court has not committed any illegality.
I have heard the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties.
The matter requires consideration.
This Court prime facie finds that complaint of the respondent-Union has been dismissed under Trade Union Act and further appeal is also dismissed by the Industrial Tribunal. (Downloaded on 05/02/2021 at 10:55:10 PM)
(6 of 6) [CW-14351/2020] This Court, as an interim measure, stays the effect and operation of the order dated 31.10.2020 and order dated 15.09.2020 shall continue to be in operation.
List this case for final disposal on 15.03.2021.
(ASHOK KUMAR GAUR),J Monika/Ramesh Vaishnav/18 (Downloaded on 05/02/2021 at 10:55:10 PM) Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)