SAYAJI IRON & ENGG. CO. LTD. & ORS. Vs. D.C. VKINAND & ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner has in this petition challenged the interim part Award dated April 23, 1986, passed by the Industrial Tribunal Gujarat at Baroda in a complaint filed under section 33-A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Act for short). The facts in the background of which this interim award came to be passed are as follows:

(2.) Petitioner company terminated services of the respondents workmen. A complaint, therefore, came to be filed under section 33-A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947(Act for short) challenging the orders of termination passed by the petitioner company. The Industrial Tribunal by its award dated May 29, 1985 reinstated the respondents in service with full back wages, This was a common award passed in all the complaints filed on behalf of the respondents. This common award passed by tribunal came to be challenged by the petitioner company by filing special civil applications in this Court. It was conceded by the petitioner company before this court that the termination orders passed by the petitioner company against the respondents were penal in nature and such orders could not have been passed without holding proper enquiry. However, no evidence was led before the tribunal to support the orders of termination. The parties in the aforesaid special civil applications agreed before this court that the matter be remanded to the Tribunal and opportunity be given to the petitioner company to prove misconduct of the respondents before the Tribunal by leading oral and documentary evidence. In other words, petitioner company was given an opportunity to prove legality and justifiability of the termination orders passed by it. This court, therefore, by its order dated March 4, 1986, quashed and set aside the common award passed by the Tribunal and directed it to dispose of the complaints made by the respondents within two months from the date of the receipt of the order. Liberty was given to the respondents to move the tribunal for interim relief and the tribunal was directed to consider the applications made by the respondents on merits and pass appropriate order.

(3.) After the matter came to be remanded, the respondents made application for interim relief. The respondents' prayer for interim relief was partly allowed by the tribunal and the Tribunal directed the petitioner company to pay to the respondents 50 per cent of their wages for the first three months from the date of the discharge that is from Nov. 4, 1984 and 75 percent of the wages till final disposal of the complaints, petitioner company being aggrieved by this interim award made by the tribunal, has approached this court by way of this petition.