A

TELCO CONVOY DRIVERS MAZDOOR SANGH & ANR.

-v.

~

STATE OF BIHAR & ORS.

APRIL 28, 1989

B [MURARI MOHON DUTT AND T.K. THOMMEN, JJ.)

Industrial Disputes Act, 1947: Sections JO and 12-Jndustrial y

Dispute--Appropriate Government-Power to make a reference~

Nature of-Whether includes power to delve into merits of dispute-

1

Formation of opinion by Government-Whether dispute 'Exists or is

Apprehended'-Whether same thing as to adjudicate the dispute on its -c

merits-Court-When can direct the Government to make a reference.

The appellant-Telco Convoy Drivers Mazdoor Sangh, represen-

'r

ted to the Tata Engineering & Locomotive Co. Lid. (TELCO) demand-

ing

that all convoy drivers should be given permanent status and

D facilities

that are available lo the permanent employees of

TELCO. The

Deputy Labour Commissioner refused lo make a reference under

section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 because of the opinion

of the Law Department that there was no relationship of master and

servant between TELCO and the convoy drivers.

E The appellant-Sangh filed a writ petition in the High Court pray- +-·

ing for a writ of mandamus commanding the State llf Bihar lo refer the

dispute under section lO(l) of the Act. The High Court dismissed the

petition

but granted liberty to the appellant-Sangh to reagitate the

•

matter before the appropriate Government.

F On a further representation also the Deputy Labour Commis-

sinner refnsed to make a reference under section 10(1) of the Act. '-'(

Again, the appellant-Sangh moved a writ petition in the High Court

which summarily dismissed the petition holding that the appellants had )...

failed to satisfy that they were employed by the TELCO. Hence this

appeal by Special leave. After the conclusion of the hearing, the Court

G being

of the view that the Government should be given one more chance

to consider the question of making a reference, kept the appeal pending

and directed the Government to reconsider the question of referring the

.,....-

dispute. Upon reconsideration also the Government refused to make a

reference under section 10(1) of the Act. On the question: whether an

appropriate Government exercising power to make a reference under

H section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 can delve into the

802

•

DRIVERS MAZDOOR SANGH v. STATE OF BIHAR 803

I

_ _) merits of the dispute and adjudicate upon the dispute itself.

Allowing the appeal and setting aside the judgment

of the High

Court,

HELD: 1. In considering the question of making a reference

'j under section IO( I), the Government is entitled to form an opinion as to

' lwhether an industrial dispute "exists or is apprehended". The forma­

rtion of opinion as to whether an industrial dispute "exists or is

apprehended" is not the same thing as to adjudicate the dispute itself on

- its merits. [807 A]

2. While exercising power under section 10(1) of the Act, the

function

of the appropriate Government is an administrative function

and not a judicial or quasi-judicial function, and in performing this

administrative function the Government cannot delve into the merits of

the dispute and take upon itself the determination of the tis, which

would certainly be in excess

of the power conferred on it by section

10 of

the Act. [S07F]

Ram Avtar Sharma v. State of Haryana, [1985] 3 S.C.R. 686;

M.I'. Irrigation Karamchari Sangh v. The State of M.P., [1985] 2

S.C.R. 1019 and Shambhu Nath Goyal v. Bank of Baroda, Jullundhur,

[197S] 2 S.C.R. 793 applied.

2.1

In the instant case, the dispute is as to whether the convoy

drivers are employees or workmen, of TELCO, that is to say, whether

there is relationship of employer and employees between

TELCO and

the convoy drivers, the same cannot be decided by the Government in

',. exercise of its administrative function under section 10(1) of the Act.

A

B

c

D

E

Therefore, the

State Government was not justified in adjudicating the F

~ said dispute. [807B, 807H, SOSA]

~--{

3. There may b~ exceptional cases in which the State Govern­

ment may come to a conclusion that the demands are either perverse

or frivolous and do not merit a reference. But the Government should

be very slow to attempt an examination of the demand with a view G

to declining reference and Courts will always be vigilant whenever

the Government attempts to usnrp the powers of the Tribunal for

adjudication

of valid disputes, and that to allow the Government to

do so would be to render section IO and section 12(5) of the Act

nugatory.

[SOMA-Cl '

H

804 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S.C.R.

A M.P. Irrigation Karamchari Sangh v. The Staie of M.P., [19S5] 2 ~-

S.C.R. 1019 applied.

4. In the instant case, in

view of the fact that the Government has

persistently

declined to make a reference and even after reconsideration

has adjudicated the dispute itself, the dispute should

be adjudicated by

B the Industrial Tribunal.

[SOSE] Y,

The State of Bihar is directed to make a reference of the disput~

raised by the Telco Convoy Drivers Mazdoor Sangh to an appropriate

Industrial Tribunal under section 10(1) oftbe Act. [SOSH, S09A] -

C Sankari Cement Alai Thozhilalar Munnetra Sangam v. Govern-

ment of Tamilnadu, [19S3] 1 L.L.J. 460; Ram Avtar Sharma v. State of Y

Haryana, [19S5] 3 S.C.R. 6S6; M.P. Irrigation Karamchari Sangh v.

The State of M.P., [19S5] 2 S.C.R. 1019 and Nirmal Singh v. State of

Punjab, [19S4] 2 L.L.J. 396; applied.

D CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 2534

of 1989.

From the Judgment and Order dated 15.1.1988 of the High -1-­

Court in C.W.J.C. No. 1852of 1987.

E G.B. Pai, S.K. Sinha for the Appellants.

f

Shanti Bhushan, S. Sukumaran, D.N. Misra, S.B. Upadhyay and

B.B. Singh for the Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

DUTT, J. Special leave is granted. Heard learned Counsel for

the parties.

The appellants, Telco Convoy Drivers Mazdoor Sangh,

Jamshedpur, and another, have preferred this appeal against the judg-

G ment

of the

Patna High Court whereby the High Court dismissed the

writ petition of the appellants challenging the order of the State

of Bihar refusing to make a reference of the disputes raised by the

appellants to the Industrial Tribunal under section 10 of the Industrial

Disputes Act,

1947, hereinafter referred to as

"the Act".

H The appellant-Sangh represents about 900 convoy drivers. By a

~--

DRIVERS MAZDOOR SANGH v. STATE OF BIHAR (DUTT, J.] 805

~·

letter of demand dated October 16, 1986 addressed to the General

Manager

of the Tata Engineering & Locomotive Co. Ltd., Jamshed-

A

pur (for short

"TELCO"), the Sangh demanded that permanent status

should be given

by the management to all the convoy drivers, and that

they should also be given all the facilities

as are available to the perma-

nent employees of

TELCO on the dates of their appointment. The said

-'f

demand proceeds on the basis that the convoy drivers are all workmen B

~f TELCO. The dispute that has been raised in the said letter of

1 demand is principally whether the convoy drivers are workmen and/or

employees of TELCO or not. In other words, whether there is rela-

-

tionship of employer and employees between TELCO and the convoy

drivers.

The Deputy Labour Commissioner

by his letter dated February

c

'--( 26, 1979 informed the appellant-Sangh that in view of the opinion of

the Law Department

of the year 1973 to the effect that there was no

relationship of master and servant between

TELCO and the convoy

drivers, the demands of the convoy drivers did not come within the

purview of the Act and, accordingly, it

was not possible to take any D

action in regard to the dispute of convoy drivers under the Act. The

appellant-Sangh being aggrieved

by the said refusal to make a refer-

--t

ence under section 10(1) of the Act, moved before the Ranchi Bench

of the Patna High Court a writ petition praying for a writ of mandamus

commanding the State of Bihar to refer the dispute under section 10(1)

of the Act. A learned Single Judge of the High Court, who heard the E

writ petition, took the view that the letter of the Deputy Labour Com-

missioner only referred to the Law Department's opinion of the year

1973 without indicating in what context and under what circumstances,

h'e rejected the demand for a reference. In that view of the matter, the

,'l'c

learned Judge granted liberty to the Sangh to reagitate the mater

before the appropriate Government and expressed the hope that the

J'

--1

appropriate Government would consider the matter in a proper pers-

pective in the light of the documents and the materials that would be

placed by the Sangh, in accordance with faw. The writ petition was

dismissed subject, however, to the observation and direction men-

tioned above.

-.; G

Pursuant to the liberty granted

by the High Court, the

Sangh

made a representation to the Government for a reference of the dis-

pute under section 10(1) of the Act. The Deputy Labour Commis-

sioner, Jamshedpur,

by his letter dated November 6, 1986 gave the

same reply and refused to make a reference'.

H

806 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S.C.R.

Again, the appellant-Sangh moved a writ petition before the /'-·

High Court and, as stated already, the High Court summarily dismis-

sed the same holding that tl\e appellants had failed to prima facie

satisfy that they were employed either by TELCO or by the Telco

Contractors' Association. Hence this appeal.

B

It has been urged by Mr.

Pai, learned Counsel appearing on

behalf

of the appellants, that the Government exceeded its jurisdiction,

¥­

in purporting to decide the dispute raised by the appellant-Sangh i~

the said letter of demand. Counsel submits that in the facts and

circumstances

of the case, the Government should have made a refer-

ence to the Industrial Tribunal under section

10(1) of the Act for the

C adjudication

of the dispute of the convoy drivers and should not have

embarked upon the task of deciding the dispute

on its merits through

the Deputy Labour Commissioner. On the other hand, it has been vehemently urged by Mr. Shanti

Bhusan, learned Counsel appearing on benalf of TELCO, that the

D Government has the jurisdiction to consider whether

any industrial

dispute exists

or not and, in considering the same, as the Government

found that the convoy drivers were not even workmen of

TELCO or,

in

other words, there had been no relationship of master and servants

between

TELCO and the convoy drivers, the Government refused to

make a reference of the dispute under section 10(1) of the Act. It is

E submitted that the refusal by the Government to make a reference was

perfectly within its jurisdiction inasmuch as, in the opinion of the

Government, there

was no existence of any industrial dispute.

After conclusion

of the hearing, we took the view that the

Government should be given one more chance to consider the ques-

F ti

on of making a reference and, accordingly, we by our order dated

March

30, 1989 directed the Government to reconsider the question of

referring the dispute raised

by the convoy drivers to the Industrial

Tribunal under section

10 of the Act, keeping the appeal pending

before us.

13 The learned Counsel, appearing on behalf of the Government,

has produced before

us an order dated April 13, 1989 of the Govern­

ment whereby the Government has, upon a reconsideration of the

matter, refused to make a reference under section

10( l) of the Act. In

refusing to make a reference, the Government has adjudicated the

dispute on its merits.

+

-

-

•

DRIVERS MAZDOOR SANGH v. STATE OF BIHAR {DUTT, J.] 807

-~ It is true that in considering the question of making a reference

A

B

under section 10(1), the Government is entitled to form an opinion as

to whether an industrial dispute "exists or is apprehended", as urged

by Mr. Shanti Bhusan. The formation of opinion as to whether an

industrial dispute "exists or is apprehended" is not the same thing as to

adjudicate the dispute itself on its merits. In the instant case,

as

already stated, the dispute is as to whether the convoy drivers are _,-\employees or workmen of TELCO, that is to say, whether there is

,rrclationship of employer and employees between TELCO and the

convoy drivers. In considering the question whether a refen, ~

should be made or not, the Deputy Labour Commissioner and/or the

Government have held that the convoy 5frivers are not workmen and,

accordingly, no reference can be made. Thus, the dispute has been

decided by the Government which is, undoubtedly, not permissible.

~· .•.

c

It is, however, submitted on behalf of TELCO that unless there

is relationship of employer and employees

or' in other words, unless

those who are raising

the disputes are workmen, there cannot be any D

existence of industrial dispute within the meaning of the term as

defined

in section 2(k) of the

Act. It is urged that in order to form an

opinion as to whether an industrial dispute exists or is apprehended,

one of the factors that has to be considered by the Government is

whether the persons who are raising the disputes are workmen or not

within the meaning of the definition as contained

in section 2(k) of the

E

Act .

Attractive though the contention is,

we regret, we are unable to

accept the same.

It is now well settled that, while exercising power

under section

10( 1) of the Act, the function of the appropriate

Government

is an administrative function and not a judicial or quasi-F

judicial function, and that

in performing this administrative function

the Government cannot delve into the merits of the dispute and take

upon itself the determination of the lis, which would certainly be

in

excess of the power conferred on it by section

10 of the Act. See Ram

Avtar Sharma v. State of Haryana, [1985) 3 SCR 686; M.P. Irrigation

Karamchari Sangh v. The State of M.P., [1985) 2 SCR 1019 and G

Shambhu Nath Goyal v. Bank of Baroda, Jullundur, [1978) 2 SCR 793.

Applying the principle laid down by this Court in the above

decisions, there can

be no doubt that the Government was not justified

in deciding the dispute. Where, as

in the instant case, the dispute is H,

808 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S.C.R.

A whether the person raising the dispute are workmen or not, the same ~

cannot be decided by the Government in exercise of its administrative

function

under section

10(1) of the Act. As has been held in M.P.

Irrigation Karamchari Sangh's case (supra), there may be exceptional

cases in which

the

State Government may, on a proper examination of

B

c

the demand, come to a conclusion that the demands are either

perverse or frivolous and do not merit a reference. Further, the

Government should be very slo»: to attempt an examination of the

demand with a view to declining reference .and Courts will always ~

vigilant whenever the Government attempts to usurp the powers of the '

Tribunal for adjudication of valid disputes, and that to allow the

Government to do so would be to render section 10 and section 12(5)

of the Act nugatory.

We

are, therefore, of the view that the

State Government, which "f'

is the appropriate Government, was not justified in adjudicating the

dispute, namely, whether the convoy drivers are workmen or emp-

D loyees of TELCO or not and, accordingly, the impugned orders of the

Deputy Labour Commissioner acting on behalf of the Government

E

F

G

and that of the Government itself cannot be sustained.

It has been already stated that we had given one more chance to

the Government to reconsider the matter and the Government after +­

reconsideration has come to the same conclusion that the convoy

drivers are

not workmen of TELCO thereby adjudicating the dispute itself. After having considered the facts and circumstances of the case

and having given our best consideration in the matter, we are of the

view

that the dispute should be adjudicated by the Industrial Tribunal

and, as the Government has persistently declined to make a reference

under section

10(1) of the Act, we think we should direct the Govern-

ment to make such a reference. In several instances this Court had to

direct the Government to make a reference under section 10( 1) when

the Government had declined to make such a reference and this Court

was of the view that such a reference should have been made. See

Sankari Cement Alai Thozhilalar Munnetra Sangam v. Government of

Tamilnadu, [1983] 1 LLJ 460; Ram Avtar Sharma v. State of Haryana,

[1985] 3 SCR 686; M.P. Irrigation Karamchari Sangh v. The State of

M.P. [1985] 2 SCR 1019 and Nirmal Singh v. State of Punjab, [1984] 2

LLJ 396.

In the circumstances, we direct the State of Bihar to make a

H reference

under section

10( 1) of the Act of the dispute raised by the

-

-

DRIVERS MAZDOOR SANGH v. STATE OF BIHAR [DUTT, J.] 809

-~ Telco Convoy Drivers Mazdoor Sangh by its letter dated October 16, A

· 1986 addressed to the General Manager TELCO (Annexure R-4/ 1 to

the Special Leave Petition), to an appropriate Industrial Tribunal

within one month from today.

The appeal

is allowed and the judgment of the High Court and

the impugned orders are set aside. There will, however, be no order as

-1 ~~costs.

'T.N.A. Appeal allowed.

B