Industrial dispute can exist without formal written demand; reference remains valid where a real employment dispute is shown.

An industrial dispute under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 may arise without any formal written demand, because the statute requires only a real dispute or difference connected with employment or non-employment. A written demand is not a condition precedent unless the statute expressly makes it so, and the existence of the dispute and the need for reference under Section 10(1) are for the appropriate Government to assess administratively. On the facts, the workman's repeated pursuit of reinstatement through disciplinary, appellate and conciliation stages showed an existing dispute. The reference was therefore valid, the Tribunal erred in rejecting it for want of a formal demand, and the matter was remitted for decision according to law.

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Issues: Whether an industrial dispute can come into existence without a formal written demand by the workman and whether a reference under Section 10(1) was incompetent for want of such demand.

Analysis: Under Section 2(k) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, an industrial dispute arises when there is a real dispute or difference connected with employment or non-employment, and the Act does not require that it must be created in any prescribed form. A written demand is not a condition precedent, except where the statute expressly so provides. The existence of the dispute and the need for reference under Section 10(1) are matters for the appropriate Government to assess administratively. On the record, the workman had persistently sought reinstatement through the disciplinary process, the appellate challenge, and the conciliation proceedings, showing an existing dispute.

Conclusion: The reference was valid and the Tribunal was wrong in treating it as incompetent for want of a formal demand.

Final Conclusion: The award rejecting the dispute was set aside and the matter was sent back to the Tribunal for decision according to law.

Ratio Decidendi: An industrial dispute may exist without a written demand, and a reference under Section 10(1) cannot be invalidated merely because the Tribunal thinks the Government lacked material, so long as a real dispute connected with employment in fact existed.

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