Stale industrial dispute cannot sustain a reference when long unexplained delay shows the dispute is no longer alive.

A reference under Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 depends on an existing or apprehended industrial dispute. Even though no limitation period is prescribed, the Government cannot refer a dispute that has become stale or non-existent after an unexplained and inordinate delay, particularly where no demand, notice, or contemporaneous challenge was made. Long silence may amount to acquiescence and show that the dispute is no longer alive in praesenti. On these facts, the belated claim was treated as not constituting an existing industrial dispute, and the reference was held unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether an industrial dispute raised after an unexplained delay of fourteen years could still be treated as an existing dispute so as to sustain a reference under Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Analysis: Reference under Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 is conditioned on the existence or apprehension of an industrial dispute. Although no period of limitation is prescribed, the power to refer cannot be exercised mechanically in relation to a dispute that has become stale or non-existent. The expression "at any time" does not authorise revival of a buried dispute after long silence, especially where no demand, notice, or contemporaneous challenge was made and the delay remains unexplained. In such circumstances, the employee's inaction may amount to acquiescence, and the appropriate Government may refuse reference because the dispute no longer exists in praesenti.

Conclusion: The belated dispute was not an existing industrial dispute and the reference could not be sustained; the conclusion was against the petitioner.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the High Court's view failed, as the long unexplained delay deprived the dispute of the existence required for a valid reference under the Act.

Ratio Decidendi: A reference under Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 can be made only while the industrial dispute is alive; an unexplained and inordinate delay may render the claim stale and non-existent, defeating the jurisdiction to refer.

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