- (1.) THIS is a Rule under Art. 227 of the Constitution at the instance of 32 clerical employees of Reliance Jute Mills Co. Ltd. , against an award made by the 2nd Industrial Tribunal, Calcutta, rejecting their application under section 33 (A) of the Industrial Disputes Act on the ground that it had no jurisdiction to deal with that application. The facts which are material for the determination of this case may be briefly stated as follows: as a result of closing down of 301 looms of the Reliance Jute Mills Co. Ltd. , a large number of mechanical workers of that mill were retrenched and at the instance of the retrenched mechanical workers, an industrial dispute was raised and it was referred to the 7th Industrial Tribunal by Order No. 3452-Dis/d/7l/5/55 bearing the date 7th August, 1956. and signed by the Joint Secretary to the Government of West Bengal on the 10th of August, 1956. By Order No. 4168-Dis/d/7l-5/ 55, dated the 17th September, 1956, the State Government in supersession of the previous order referred the dispute to the 2nd Industrial Tribunal. On the 27th September, 1956, the petitioners filed an application before the 2nd Industrial Tribunal alleging that they had been discharged by the opposite party on the 8th of August,1956, during the pendency of proceedings before the 7th Industrial Tribunal without express permission in writing of the 7th Industrial Tribunal and as such the opposite party had contravened the provisions of section 33 of the Industrial Disputes Act. The application filed by the petitioners was under section 33 (A) of the aforesaid Act. Against the application filed by the petitioners two preliminary points were raised on behalf of the opposite party. The first point was to the effect that the industrial dispute between the petitioners and the opposite party had been referred to the 7th Industrial Tribunal not on the 7th August, 1956, but on the 10th August, 1956 on which the order of reference was actually signed by the Joint Secretary. The 2nd objection was on the ground that the 2nd Industrial Tribunal before which the application under section 33 (A) had been filed, had no jurisdiction to deal with it, inasmuch as the act alleged against the opposite party had been committed at the time when the proceeding was pending before the 7th Industrial Tribunal. The learned Judge of the 2nd Industrial Tribunal has upheld the 2nd objection raised on behalf of the opposite party but has overruled the first. Against that order the petitioners have obtained the present Rule.
(2.) ON behalf of the petitioners it is contended that when an industrial dispute is transferred from one Tribunal to another, the order of transfer confers on the transferee Tribunal all powers which vested in the original Tribunal. It is contended that the power to deal with an application under section 33 (A) vested in the 7th Tribunal to which the reference had been made by the State Government, and with the transfer of the reference from the 7th Tribunal to the 2nd Tribunal by the order, dated 17th September, 1956, the power to deal with the application under section 33 (A) had also been transferred. This argument seemed to be very attractive at first sight, but on closer scrutiny, it is found-: to be without substance. The Industrial Disputes Act as it applies to Bengal, does not contain any provision enabling the State Government to transfer a reference from one Tribunal to another but the power is exercised by, the State Government under section 21 of the Indian General Clauses Act. The actual words by which the transfer was made are as follows: "whereas under the Government of West Bengal, Labour Department, Order No. 3452-Dis!d17l-5/55, dated the 7th August, 1956, the said dispute was referred to the 7th Industrial Tribunal. . . . and whereas it is expedient that the said reference should be withdrawn and the said dispute should be referred to another Industrial Tribunal. . . now therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 10 of the said Act, read with section 21 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, and in supersession of the aforesaid Order No. 3452-Dis/d/7l5/ 55, dated the 7th August. 1956, the Governor is pleased hereby to refer the said dispute to the 2nd, Industrial Tribunal. . . . . "
(3.) THE plain effect of this order is to cancel the previous order of reference and to make a fresh order under section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act. The 2nd Industrial Tribunal derived. its jurisdiction under the 2nd order of reference, dated the 17th September, 1956. It is not as if a pending case is transferred from one Tribunal to another, but the true position is that the previous order of reference came to an end with the order of withdrawal, dated the 17th September, 1956, and a new reference came into existence by the order of transfer made on that date. Section 33 (A) provides that if "an employer contravenes the provisions of section 33 during the pendency of proceedings before the Tribunal, any employee aggrieved by such contravention may make a complaint in writing in the prescribed manner to such Tribunal. " The word 'such' has reference to the Tribunal before which the proceedings were pending. In the present case upon the allegations made by the petitioners in the application under section 33 (A) the act alleged against the opposite party was committed on the 8th August, 1956 on which date the proceedings were pending before the 7th Industrial Tribunal. Consequently the second Industrial Tribunal which derived its jurisdiction to deal with the reference under the order of the State Government, dated the 17th of September, 1958, had no jurisdiction to entertain the application filed by the petitioners. The view taken by the learned Judge of the Industrial Tribunal on this point appears to be correct.;