Conciliation settlement binds covered workmen, and no fresh audit can be ordered without legal basis.

A conciliation settlement on bonus, once certified as fair and reasonable, binds the union and all workmen covered by the dispute even if every member did not individually sign it. The bonus settlement for the 1990-91 accounting year was therefore binding on the petitioner-union and its members. A court will not direct an independent re-audit of a Government company's accounts for the same year merely to support a higher bonus claim where the accounts have already been audited under the statutory framework and no legal basis exists to displace that regime. The request for fresh audit was accordingly not maintainable.

---

---

Issues: (i) Whether the conciliation settlement concerning bonus for the accounting year 1990-91 was binding on the petitioner-union and its members. (ii) Whether the Court could direct an independent re-audit of the respondent-company's accounts for 1990-91 for the purpose of securing additional bonus benefits.

Issue (i): Whether the conciliation settlement concerning bonus for the accounting year 1990-91 was binding on the petitioner-union and its members.

Analysis: A settlement arrived at in the course of conciliation proceedings is binding on the parties and, where certified as fair and reasonable, it binds the workmen covered by the dispute even if all of them were not individually party to the settlement. The record showed that the bonus dispute for 1990-91 had been resolved through conciliation and that the Labour Commissioner had certified the settlement as fair and binding on the workmen of the respondent units.

Conclusion: The conciliation settlement was binding on the petitioner-union and its members.

Issue (ii): Whether the Court could direct an independent re-audit of the respondent-company's accounts for 1990-91 for the purpose of securing additional bonus benefits.

Analysis: The respondent was a Government company subject to the special audit regime applicable to such companies. The accounts for the relevant year had already been audited under the statutory framework, and no legal basis was made out for directing a fresh audit by an independent agency merely to support a higher bonus claim. The settlement on bonus also foreclosed the petitioner's attempt to reopen the matter through a re-audit request.

Conclusion: No direction for independent re-audit could be issued.

Final Conclusion: The petition failed in its challenge to the binding settlement and in its request for a fresh audit, and the dismissal of the original petition followed as a consequence.

Ratio Decidendi: A conciliation settlement certified as fair and reasonable binds all workmen covered by the dispute, and a court will not direct a fresh audit of a Government company's accounts in the absence of a legal basis for bypassing the statutory audit framework.

---