Fair procedure in industrial dispute transfers: lack of notice and unsupported reasons can invalidate a transfer order.

An order transferring a pending industrial dispute under Section 33-B of the Industrial Disputes Act is vulnerable if it is made without fairness in procedure and without adequate recorded reasons. The appropriate Government may withdraw and transfer proceedings, but where the transfer is made on one side's request, the affected management should be given an opportunity to verify and respond before the decision is taken. The absence of notice, coupled with reasons not supported by the material on record, was treated as fatal illegality. The transfer order was therefore invalid and quashed, and the dispute was directed to continue before the Labour Court at Dhanbad.

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Issues: Whether an order transferring a pending industrial dispute under Section 33-B of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 was valid without giving the management an opportunity of being heard and whether the transfer was supported by adequate reasons.

Analysis: Section 33-B confers discretionary power on the appropriate Government to withdraw and transfer pending proceedings, but once that power is exercised the order must record reasons. The requirement of fairness applies even in administrative action affecting rights, and the absence of notice to the affected party may vitiate the decision where the representation of one side is accepted without verification. The Government transferred the proceeding on the workman's request without informing the management and relied on reasons that were not borne out by the material on record. The Court held that the management should have been given an opportunity to verify and respond, and that non-observance of this fair procedure caused fatal illegality.

Conclusion: The transfer order was invalid and was quashed; the dispute was directed to proceed before the Labour Court at Dhanbad.

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