- (1.) THIS petition under Article 226 of the Constitution has been filed by the Reserve Bank of India and its Deputy Chief Officer, Mr. Tek Chand Vaswani in the following circumstances.
(2.) A dispute between the Punjab National Bank, Ltd. , respondent 2, and its workmen as presented by the All India Punjab National Bank Employees' Federation, respondent 3, arising out of the absorption by the bank of a number of employees of the Bharat Bank, Ltd. , on the Punjab National Bank's taking over the banking buainess of the Bharat Bank, was referred by the Government under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act for adjudication by an industrial tribunal in the person of Mr. Ram Kanwar.
(3.) ON 22 November 1954, a letter was addressed by the tribunal to the Manager, Reserve Bank of India, Delhi, requesting him to attend the tribunal on 3 December 1954, and to bring with him the inspection report of the Bharat Bank, Ltd. , for the year 1950-51. An officer of the bank was duly sent with the letter dated 8 December 1954, in which it was stated that the officer was bringing a copy of the inspection report in question together with its appendices, and it was stated that the inspection report was intended for the confidential information of the tribunal, and a request was made for its return as soon as possible as no spare copy was available. It is not disputed that the copy of the report which was thus furnished to the tribunal was enclosed in a sealed cover which still remains unopened.;