Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

Gokhale J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is directed against the judgment and order of a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court dated 10.2.2009 in Appeal No.133 of 2002 arising out of Writ Petition No. 2148 of 2001, whereby the Division Bench has held that for the first respondent establishment, the Central Government was the `appropriate government' for the purposes of application of Section 2(3) of the Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act 1971 (hereinafter referred to as the M.R.T.U. and P.U.L.P. Act) read with Section 2(a) of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 (hereinafter referred to as the I.D. Act). The Division Bench has held that the State Government was not the `appropriate government' for this purpose. Consequently the Applications concerned in the present matter filed under the MRTU and PULP Act, namely the Application of the second respondent for cancellation of the status of the applicant as the recognized union under respondent No. 1, and Application for substitution of second respondent in place of the appellant, as the recognized union, were held to be non- maintainable. The appellant is aggrieved by the finding that the State Government is not the appropriate government and that the MRTU and PULP Act has no application to the first respondent establishment. It will result into automatic denial of its status as the recognized union under the MRTU and PULP Act and also into denial of the remedies available to the appellant and to the employees, of the first respondent, (against unfair labour practices, if any) and hence this appeal by special leave. The right of the appellant to represent the employees of the first respondent (numbering over 1300) is thus, at stake.

3. The appellant is a Trade Union, registered under the Trade Unions Act 1926 and the employees of the first respondent are its members. It is already registered under Chapter III of the above referred MRTU and PULP Act as the recognized union for the employees under the first respondent by an order passed way back on 2.12.1985 by the Industrial Court, Mumbai. Respondent No.2 `Tata Memorial Hospital Kamgar Sanghatana' (i.e. workers association) is another trade union functioning under the first respondent. By filing Application MRTU No. 15 of 1994 before the Industrial Court, Mumbai, the respondent No. 2 sought cancellation of the recognition of the appellant union under Section 13 of the MRTU and PULP Act. Thereafter by filing another Application MRTU No.16 of 1994, the second respondent sought its own recognition in place of the appellant union under Section 14 of the MRTU and PULP Act. Both these Applications Nos. 15 and 16 of 1994 were heard together. Oral and documentary evidence was led by parties. The report of the Investigating officer appointed for the verification of the membership of the two trade unions was considered. The first respondent in its written statement raised an objection to the maintainability of these proceedings under MRTU and PULP Act by submitting that the `appropriate government' for the first respondent was the Central Government and not the State Government, and hence, the proceedings under the MRTU and PULP, were not maintainable.

Statutory Framework

14. As stated earlier, the two Applications filed before the Industrial Court, Mumbai which had led to the present Special Leave Petition were filed under Sections 13 & 14 of the MRTU and PULP Act 1971. These Sections 13 & 14 appear in Chapter-III of the MRTU & PULP Act which Chapter deals with Recognition of unions. Section 13 deals with Cancellation of recognition and suspension of rights of a recognized union on the conditions stipulated therein. Section 14 deals with Recognition of other union in place of a union already registered as a recognized union and conditions therefor. As the preamble of this Act lays down, one of the objectives of this Act is to provide for the recognition of trade unions for facilitating collective bargaining for certain undertakings, to state their rights and obligations; and to confer certain powers on unrecognized unions. The other objective of this Act is to prevent unfair practices with which, we are not directly concerned in the present matter.

62. Hence we have to conclude that even on the test of control and management of the Hospital and the Centre, they are functioning independently under the 1st respondent Society. They cannot be said to be `under the control', of the Central Government. In the circumstances the State Government shall have to be held as the appropriate government for the 1st respondent for the purpose of I.D. Act consequently the MRTU & PULP Act.

63. It is material to note that until the present litigation, neither the Central Government nor the Dorabji Tata Trust or even the Governing Council of the first respondent ever disputed the application of the MRTU and PULP Act to the first respondent establishment. Prior to the Applications leading to the present appeal, the respondent - 1 has also filed Complaints under the MRTU and PULP Act. Neither the appellant nor the second respondent - rival union ever disputed the application of the Act. In fact, the first respondent has in a way, by its own conduct acquiesced into the application of the Act, and the appellant - Union has been recognized under the Act right from 1985.