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1. Anglo-French Textiles, Ltd., Pondicherry, is the petitioner in both these writ petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution. The array of respondents is the same in both the petitions. The Chief Commissioner of Pondicherry State, the Rodier Mills Labour Union (All India Trade Union Congress) (which was will refer to briefly as union 1), the Rodier Mill National Workers' Union (Indian National Trade Union Congress) (union 2) and Sri K. Ramaswami Gounder, retired industrial tribunal, Madras, are respondents 1 to 4, respectively, in the two petitions. The matters in dispute are also identical, with this difference, that the relief of certiorari is the principal relief sought in the first petition, while in the second petition, the relief of mandamus is the principal relief sought. The subject-matter of the writ petitions has reference to the settlement of a collective dispute, arising within the limits of the State of Pondicherry, and to which the French Labour Code, enacted by a law of French National Assembly in 1952 for application to the overseas territories of France, which formerly included Pondicherry, would apply. It is common ground that, even after Pondicherry became legally a part of the Union of India, and after the jurisdiction of this High Court was extended to the said territory by the Pondicherry (Administration) Act, 1962, the abovesaid Labour Code continues to apply to the said territory. It is also not in dispute that, after the extension of the jurisdiction of this Court by the Pondicherry (Administration) Act, 1962, to the erstwhile Pondicherry territory and after that territory became legally a part of the Indian Union, the writ jurisdiction of this Court also extends to the above territory.

3. After getting out the various statutory orders, giving him the necessary powers under the Labour Code of 1952, the notification of the Chief Commissioner reads:

As per the report of the non-conciliation of the Consultative Committee of Labour, dated 13 May 1983, and the note of 30 May 1963, in respect of the dispute between the management of the Anglo-French Textile Mills and the unions of workers of this mill, regarding the fixation of wages and conditions of work for the workers in the spinning section of the Anglo-French Textiles, Ltd.

Considering that the parties have not reached an agreement, for the designation of an expert and consequently there is no need to designate him, decides...:

Article L--Sri K. Ramaswami Gounder ... is designated an expert to settle the dispute existing between the management of the Anglo-French Textiles, Ltd., and the syndicate of workers of the mill.

4. The contentions of the petitioner-mills, as set out in the affidavit to the writ petitions, are these. The collective dispute which arose in this case was between the spinners of the petitioner-mill and the management, relating to the wages and work-loads of spinners who are described as two-Bide spinners. A word of explanation might be necessary, at this stage, of the term two-side spinners. It is a matter of common knowledge that, in a textile mill, spindles are arranged on the two sides of a frame, and it is alleged to have been the practice in the case of Rodier Mills, that, in case of threads up to certain counts of texture, one spinner is treated as sufficient for attending to the spindles on the two sides of a frame, Such workers are called two-side spinners. The affidavit goes on to say that it was only regarding this dispute, that the mill-management wrote to the Inspector of Labour and Social Legislation on 9 May 1963, seeking his intervention, under Section 209 of the Code, to bring about a settlement. When it was found that the Inspector could not bring about a Battlement, the next stage of the procedure was the one in Part II of Section 209, which involved the bringing up of the dispute before the Labour Advisory Board, either at the request of one of the parties, or, if no such request was made, on the initiative of the chairman of the said board. The Labour Advisory Board may, If it deems it necessary, delegate this duty to a special conciliation board composed of an equal number of employers' and employees' representatives, and under the chairmanship of the Inspector of Labour and Social Legislation.

24. Here again, to be certain that there has been no mistake in the translation from the French to English, we had a look at the original note of the proces-verbal in French, and we find that there is no reference to the word workers in the spinning department. The language used is:

... au sujet de la fixation des conditions du travail et des salaires dans le department de filage de Lusine Anglo-French Textile.

When translated, It means:

In the matter of fixation of conditions of work and wage in the spinning department of the Anglo-French Textile Mills....