Special statutory control over cooperative society employees barred recovery of disputed ex gratia benefits through industrial machinery.

A special statutory regime governing co-operative society employees prevailed over the industrial recovery mechanism: claims for ex gratia payment tied to service conditions and allowances could not be pursued under Section 6H(1) where no existing adjudicated right existed and the entitlement was disputed. The Court held that the U.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1965, the service regulations, and the Registrar's binding orders formed a complete code for such matters, and the Labour Commissioner could not disregard those statutory restrictions. The private agreement and later resolutions were also unenforceable because they conflicted with the regulations and lacked the necessary statutory footing. Past payments already made were left undisturbed, but no future entitlement was recognised.

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Issues: (i) whether the Additional Labour Commissioner could entertain a claim under Section 6H(1) of the U.P. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for ex gratia payment when the dispute concerned employees of a co-operative bank governed by the U.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1965 and the service regulations framed thereunder; (ii) whether the private agreement and subsequent resolutions creating the claim were enforceable despite the Registrar's orders under Section 128 of the U.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1965 and the service regulations.

Issue (i): whether the Additional Labour Commissioner could entertain a claim under Section 6H(1) of the U.P. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for ex gratia payment when the dispute concerned employees of a co-operative bank governed by the U.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1965 and the service regulations framed thereunder.

Analysis: The dispute was held to concern service conditions and payment structure of employees of a co-operative society, a field governed by the special statutory scheme of the U.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1965 and the U.P. Cooperative Societies Employees Service Regulations, 1975. The statutory framework, including the Registrar's powers, the arbitration mechanism, and the regulatory control over allowances and pecuniary benefits, was treated as a complete code for such matters. The Court held that the industrial dispute machinery could not be invoked to adjudicate a claim that was not an existing adjudicated right and that arose from a contested and disputed arrangement. The claim under Section 6H(1) was therefore outside jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The claim was not maintainable before the Additional Labour Commissioner and his order was without jurisdiction.

Issue (ii): whether the private agreement and subsequent resolutions creating the claim were enforceable despite the Registrar's orders under Section 128 of the U.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1965 and the service regulations.

Analysis: The agreement for ex gratia payment was found not to satisfy the statutory requirements of a binding settlement and, in any event, it conflicted with the service regulations and the Registrar's repeated directions prohibiting such payment without permission. The Registrar's orders annulling the resolutions were treated as statutory orders having finality under the Act, and the Labour Commissioner was held not competent to disregard them. The Court also held that ex gratia payment was not part of contractual remuneration and could not be claimed as a continuing right for future years. While past payments already made were not ordered to be recovered, the alleged entitlement itself was rejected.

Conclusion: The agreement and resolutions were not enforceable as a legal basis for recovery of ex gratia payment, and no future entitlement existed.

Final Conclusion: The statutory regime governing co-operative societies prevailed, the labour recovery proceeding failed, and the ex gratia claim could not be sustained, though past payments were left undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a special statute and its service regulations comprehensively govern the employment conditions of co-operative society employees, a disputed claim for pecuniary benefits not founded on an existing adjudicated right cannot be enforced through industrial recovery machinery, especially when contrary to binding statutory restrictions and the Registrar's valid orders.

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