V.S.KOTWAL, J. - (1.)A small meeting convened on 3rd August, 1980 when the sun was blazing and the workers of the Crompton Graveas Factory were on way to report to the duty a speech was delivered by one Dr. Samant who is claimed to be a labour leader, which is claimed and alleged ultimately to have given a pathetic and tragic twist which was perhaps not in contemplation of the persons who had assembled there, though it carries with it a good deal of controversy.
(2.)The workers of the said factory are governed by a union which is known as Cromption Greaves Employees Union (briefly referred to hereinafter the "rival union"). It is alleged that the union led by the petitioner wanted to have reins of the said factory and that it was the cherished desire of several workers of this union should desert ties with the said rival union and should extend allegiance to their union. The said meaning was convened, as is disclosed or reflected through the record, wherein some grievances were ventilated by the leader which included that some of the workers have been retained as temporary workers even though they had put in quite a sizeable number of years of service in the factory. The other grievance, as usual, related to the wages and the conditions of service. It was echoed time and again in the said speech that it is high time that the management should take note of such grievances and try to rectify and give redress to the aggrieved workers. This meeting was over by 4.30 or 5.00 p.m. when everyone appears to have dispersed including the speaker Dr. Samant.
(3.)There was a disquieting lull for about 4 to 5 hours when no body had even speculated the impending tragedy that was to occur. It is alleged that some of the persons went to the house of one Udyakumar Samant whose only fault at that time appeared to be that he happened to be the brother of one Prabhakar Samant who was the office-bearer of the said rival union. It is alleged that the miscreants stealthily entered the house and attacked the said Udyakumar who was in a vulnerable position and unarmed and he was stabbed practically to death. It is then alleged that while this scene was being enacted at the house of said Udaykumar Samant within the limit of Bandra Police Station, another incident was witnessed at the Kanjur Marg Railway Station where it is alleged that another batch of miscreants wielded knives and other weapons and assaulted some persons as a result of which three persons sustained injuries out of whim nor Nokte succumbed to the said injuries in the Sion Hospital.