Statutory service conditions exclude industrial dispute jurisdiction where canteen workers are treated as holding civil posts.

Employees in a statutory canteen were treated as holding civil posts and their service conditions were governed by statutory instructions, so the Industrial Disputes Act was not attracted. On that footing, a reference under Section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 could not confer jurisdiction on the Industrial Tribunal to adjudicate the dismissal dispute. The proper remedy lay in constitutional or administrative proceedings rather than the industrial-dispute framework, and the Tribunal's view on lack of jurisdiction was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the Industrial Tribunal had jurisdiction to adjudicate the dispute concerning dismissal of employees working in a statutory canteen, and whether the employees were excluded from the Industrial Disputes Act because they held civil posts and their service conditions were governed by statutory instructions.

Analysis: The determination turned on the nature of the employment and the governing service regime. The Court noted the respondents' admission that the canteen workers were treated as holding civil posts, were paid monthly salaries, and were regarded as employees under the applicable administrative framework. In that situation, the service conditions stood regulated outside the ordinary industrial-dispute framework. The Court also accepted that where statutory or analogous rules govern the relationship, the remedy under the Industrial Disputes Act is not attracted, and the proper recourse lies in constitutional or administrative remedies. On that footing, the Tribunal's reliance on the inapplicability of the Act to the canteen employees was upheld.

Conclusion: The Industrial Tribunal lacked jurisdiction under Section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and the dismissal of the special leave petition was warranted.

Ratio Decidendi: Where employees are governed by statutory service conditions and are treated as holding civil posts, a reference under Section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 is excluded and the dispute must be pursued through the appropriate constitutional or administrative remedy.

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