1984 (10) TMI 245

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....he Labour Court for adjudication and it was numbered as Reference No. 55 of 1981. On receipt of the notice of the reference, the workman and the employer both filed, their respective statements. The reference came up for hearing on February 23, 1982 and when it was called out neither the appellant nor his representative one Shri M.L. Gupta was present. The Labour Court directed the matter to be heard ex parte. After making that Order, the Labour Court proceeded to observe that as no evidence has been led by the appellant, there is nothing to show that the termination of service was illegal or invalid, and concluded that the appellant was therefore, not entitled to any relief. Soon thereafter an application was moved by the appellant for rec....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....ellant for setting aside the ex parte award on the sole ground that once an award is published in the Official Gazette, even if it be an ex parte one, the Labour Court has no jurisdiction to entertain an application for setting aside such an award. This was the only question of law going to the root of the matter which was canvassed before the High Court and surprisingly there is not a word about it in the brief speaking Order of the High Court rejecting the writ petition of the appellant in limine. 6. On behalf of the respondent the same contention was canvassed before us. The distressing feature of the situation is that even" though the contention which found favour both with the Labour Court and the High Court is wholly untenable in v....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....d to be endowed with such ancillary or incidental powers as are necessary to discharge its functions effectively for the purpose of doing justice between the parties. The Court then proceeded to examine the scheme of the relevant rules and observed that Rule 22 unequivocally confers jurisdiction on the Tribunal to proceed ex parte. The Tribunal can proceed ex parte if no sufficient cause for absence of a party is shown. This power was interpreted to comprehend that if sufficient cause was shown which prevented a party from appearing, then in the terms of Rule 22, the Tribunal will have had no jurisdiction to proceed ex parte and consequently, it must necessarily have power. to set aside the ex parte award. The Court in terms observed that t....

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

Full Text of the Document

X X   X X   Extracts   X X   X X

....1957 are in pari materia with Rules 22 and 24 of the Industrial Disputes (Punjab) Rules, 1958 which are applicable to the facts of the present case. Therefore, the decision of this Court would mutatis mutandis apply in the matter of interpretation of the Punjab Rules. It must follow as a necessary corollary that the Labour Court as well the High Court denied to itself the jurisdiction vested in it to entertain an application for setting aside an ex parte award and reached an erroneous conclusion. 9. A feeble attempt was made to urge before us that the High Court accepted the view of the Tribunal that on merit no case was made out for setting aside an ex parte Order. We remain unconvinced. In fact the Labour Court was overwhelmed by its e....