Industrial dispute reference cannot be refused on merits; status of workmen must be decided by the tribunal.

Under Section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, the appropriate Government acts administratively and may only form an opinion on whether an industrial dispute exists or is apprehended. It cannot decide the merits of the dispute, including whether the convoy drivers were workmen or employees in an employer-employee relationship; those questions belong to the Industrial Tribunal. A refusal to refer the dispute based on such merits-based determination was therefore unsustainable, and the matter had to be referred for adjudication. The administrative orders were set aside and reference directed.

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Issues: (i) Whether the appropriate Government, while considering a request for reference under Section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, could adjudicate the merits of the dispute and decide whether the convoy drivers were workmen or employees of TELCO. (ii) Whether the refusal to make a reference under Section 10(1) was sustainable, or whether the dispute had to be referred to the Industrial Tribunal for adjudication.

Issue (i): Whether the appropriate Government, while considering a request for reference under Section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, could adjudicate the merits of the dispute and decide whether the convoy drivers were workmen or employees of TELCO.

Analysis: The power under Section 10(1) is administrative in nature. The appropriate Government may form an opinion whether an industrial dispute exists or is apprehended, but it cannot enter upon adjudication of the lis itself. The question whether the persons raising the dispute are workmen, and whether there is an employer-employee relationship, goes to the merits of the dispute and is not for decision by the Government at the stage of reference. Only in exceptional cases, where the demand is patently perverse or frivolous, may reference be declined, but the Government must be slow to usurp the Tribunal's function.

Conclusion: The appropriate Government had no jurisdiction to decide the dispute on merits at the reference stage.

Issue (ii): Whether the refusal to make a reference under Section 10(1) was sustainable, or whether the dispute had to be referred to the Industrial Tribunal for adjudication.

Analysis: Since the core controversy was whether the convoy drivers were workmen or employees of TELCO, the dispute required adjudication by the Industrial Tribunal. The Government's repeated refusal to refer the matter rested on an impermissible merits-based determination and could not stand. The impugned orders were therefore unsustainable, and a reference was necessary so that the industrial dispute could be decided by the proper adjudicatory forum.

Conclusion: The refusal to refer the dispute was invalid and the matter had to be referred to the Industrial Tribunal.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, the High Court judgment and the impugned administrative orders were set aside, and the State was directed to make a reference of the dispute to the appropriate Industrial Tribunal.

Ratio Decidendi: While acting under Section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the appropriate Government may only decide whether an industrial dispute exists or is apprehended and cannot adjudicate the merits of the dispute or determine the status of the disputants as workmen; such questions must be left to the Industrial Tribunal.

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