Special Leave Petition Civil Nos
6887 88 of 1987
From the Judgment and Order dated 52
1987 of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Writ Appeal Nos 892 and 893 of 1983
PR Ramachandra Rao Dr DY Chandrachud PH Parekh and MKS Menon for the Petitioner
VJ Rao and Y Prabhakara Rao for the Respondents
The Order of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMIAH J
The question arising for decision in this case is whether an employer whose establishment is governed by the Andhra Pradesh Shops  Establishments Act 1966 hereinafter referred to as the State Act  is re quired while retrenching any worker to comply with the provisions of section 25F of the hereinafter referred to as  the central act  or with section 40 of the State Act
The petitioner in this case is a co operative society carry ing on 732 business at Vijayawada in the State of Andhra Pradesh
It retrenched nine of its clerks Respondents 1 to 9 herein
Respondents 1 to 4 Were retrenched on 1101978 and Respond ents 5 to 9 were retrenched on 229
1978 on the ground that the business of the management did not warrant the continu ance of its heavy establishment
All the respondents chal lenged the orders terminating their services in an appeal filed under section 411 of the State Act before the appel late authority
The appellate authority set aside the orders of retrenchment by nine separate judgments delivered on August 1 1979 and directed the reinstatement of the re spondents with full back wages
Aggrieved by the decision of the appellate authority the management the petitioner herein filed nine appeals before the Labour Court Guntur under section 413 of the State Act
The Labour Court allowed the appeals filed against Respondents 5 to 9 and set aside the orders which had been passed by the first appel late authority
It however dismissed the appeals filed against Respondents 1 to 4 holding that the orders of re trenchment were bad in law since employees junior to these respondents had been retained in service
It however directed that any amount paid to Respondents 1 to 4 as notice pay and gratuity etc
under section 40 of the State Act on account of the termination of their services may be deducted from the back wages payable to them
Aggrieved by the decision of the Labour Court Respondents 5 to 9 filed Writ Petition No 163 of 1981 on the file of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and the management the petitioner herein filed Writ Petition No 6151 of 1980 before the High Court against Respondents 1 to 4
The learned Single Judge who heard the said two writ petitions dismissed Writ Petition No 163 of 1981 filed by Respondents 5 to 9 and allowed Writ Petition No 6151 of 1980 filed by the management against Respondents 1 to 4
The learned Single Judge took the view that Respondents 5 to 9 could not claim the benefit of section 25F of the Central Act in a proceeding initiated under section 41 of the State Act and dismissed their writ petition
He however allowed the writ petition filed by the management and remanded the case to the Labour Court to reheat the case after permitting Respondents 1 to 4 to implead four other employees namely Seetharamaiah Rajago pal Rao Krishna Murthy and Khader Hussain who were alleged to be seniors to Respondents 1 to 4 and hearing them on the question of inter se seniority between them and the said four other employees
The learned Judge however observed that if section 25F of the Central Act was applicable to the cases I have no doubt that these orders of termination would have to be set aside because section 25F denies the rights of the employer to terminate the service of an em ployee without payment of retrenchment compensation  and that compensation had 733 not been paid in accordance with section 25F
But he found that section 25F of the Central Act was not applicable to proceedings under the State Act
Aggrieved by the decision of the learned Single Judge Respondents 1 to 4 and Respond ents 5 to 9 filed Writ Appeal Nos
892 Of 1983 and 893 of 1983 respectively before the Division Bench of the High Court
The common contention urged by both the groups of employees who were appellants in these two appeals was that the question of their retrenchment was governed by section 25F of the Central Act and since the orders of retrenchment had not been passed in conformity with the provisions of section 25F of the Central Act the said orders were liable to be Set aside and they were entitled to be reinstated
The Division Bench accepted the above contention of Respondents 1 to 9 and allowed both the appeals holding that the orders of termination were unsustainable
Aggrieved by the decision of the Division Bench of the High Court the petitioner has filed these Special Leave Petitions under Article 136 of the Constitution
The only question which arises for decision in this case as mentioned above is whether the retrenchment of an employee in an establishment governed by the State Act is governed by the provisions of section 40 of the State Act or by the provisions of Chapter V A of the Central Act which deals with lay off and retrenchment
For purposes of conven ience section 40 of the State Act is set out below 40
Conditions for terminating the services of an employee and payment of gratuity 1 No employer shall without a reasonable cause and except for misconduct terminate the serv ice of an employee who has been in his employ ment continuously for a period of not less than six months without giving such employee at least one month s notice in writing or wages in lieu thereof and in respect of an employee who has been in his employment con tinuously for a period of not less than five years a gratuity amounting to fifteen days  average wages for each year of continuous employment
Explanation For the purpose of this sub section a the expression wages  does not include overtime wages b the expression average wages  means the daily average of wages for the days an employee actually worked during the thirty days immediately preceding the date of termi nation of service 734 c an employee in an establishment shall be deemed to have been in continuous employment for a period of not less than six months if he has worked for not less than one hundred and twenty days in that establishment within a period of six months immediately preceding the date of termination of the service of that employee d where the total continuous employment is for a fraction of a year or extends over a fraction of a year in addition to one or more completed years of continuous employment such fraction if it is not less than a half year shall be counted as a year of continuous employment in calculating the total number of years for which the gratuity is to be given
2 Where a gratuity is payable under sub section 1 to an employee he shall be entitled to receive his wages from the date of termination of his service until the date on which the gratuity so payable is actually paid subject to a maximum of wages for two months
An employee who has completed the age of sixty years or who is physically or mentally unfit having been so declared by a medical certificate or who wants to retire on medical grounds or to resign his service may give up his employment after giving to his employer notice of at least one month in the case of an employee of sixty years of age and fifteen days in any other case and every such employee and the dependant of an employee who dies while in service shall be entitled to receive a gratuity as provided in sub section 1
He shall be entitled to receive the wages from the date of giving up the employment until the date on which the gratuity so pay able is actually paid subject to a maximum of wages for two months
4 The services of an employee shall not be terminated for misconduct except for such act or omissions and in such manner as may be prescribed
 Sub section 1 of section 40 of the State Act imposes a restriction on the right of the employer of an establishment governed by the State Act to terminate the services of an employee
It says that an employer shall not without a reasonable causes except for miscon 735 duct terminate the service of an employee who has been in his employment continuously for a period of not less than six months without giving such employee at least one month s notice in writing or wages in lieu thereof and in respect of on employee who has been in his employment con tinuously for a period of not less than five years a gratu ity amounting to fifteen days  average wages for each year of continuous employment
In the case of misconduct neither one month s notice or wages in lieu thereof nor gratuity need be paid on the termination of his services
There are no other restrictions on the right of the management to terminate the services of an employee in an establishment governed by the State Act which is enacted by the State legislature in exercise of the powers conferred on it under Entry No 22 of List III of the Seventh Schedule to the Consititution
The Central Act was enacted by the Central Legislature before the commencement of the Constitution and it is also traceable to an Entry in the Government of India Act 1935 corresponding to Entry No 22 of List III of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution
When the Central Act was originally enacted it merely provided for investigation and settlement of industrial disputes by establishing a machinery for collective bargaining mediation and concilia tion investigation arbitration adjudication and other allied matters
Chapter V A lay off and retrenchment making provision for payment of compensation for lay off retrenchment and closure and on transfer of undertakings was not there
It was introduced by way of amendment in the year 1953
Sections 25F 25G 25H and 25J of the Central Act which are relevant for purposes of this case read as fol lows 25F Conditions precedent to retrench ment workmen
No workman employed in any industry who has been in continuous service for not less than one year under an employer shall be retrenched by that employer until a the workman has been given one month s notice in writing indicating the reasons for retrenchment and the period of notice has expired or the workman has been paid in lieu of such notice wages for the period of the notice Provided that no such notice shall be necessary if the retrenchment is under an agreement which specifies a date for the termination of service b the workmen has been paid at the time of retrenchment compensation which shall be equivalent to fir 736 teen days  average pay for every completed year of continuous service or any part thereof in excess of six months and c notice in the prescribed manner is served on the appropriate Government or such authority as may he specified by appro priate Government by notification in the Official Gazette 25G Procedure for retrenchment
Where any workman in an indus trial establishment who is a citizen of India is to be retrenched and he belongs to a particular category of workmen in that estab lishment in the absence of any agreement between the employer and the workman in this behalf the employer shall ordinarily retrench the workman who was the last person to be employed in that category unless for reasons to be recorded the employer retrenches any other workman 25H Re employment of retrenched workmen
Where any workmen are retrenched and the employer proposes to take into his employ any persons he shall in such manner as may be prescribed give an opportunity to the retrenched workmen who are citizens of India to offer themselves for re employment and such retrenched workmen who offer themselves for re employment shall have preference over other persons 25J Effect of laws inconsistent with this Chapter1 The provisions of this Chapter shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law including standing orders made under the 
Provided that where under the provi sions of any other Act or rules orders notifications issued thereunder or under any standing orders or under any award contract of service or otherwise a workman is entitled to benefits in respect of any matter which are more favourable to him than those to which he would be entitled under this Act the workman shall continue to be entitled to the more favourable benefits in respect of that matter no withstanding that he receives benefits in respect of other matter under this Act
737 2 For the removal of doubts it is hereby declared that nothing contained in this Chapter shall be deemed to affect the provi sions of any other law for the time being in force in any State insofar as that law pro vides for the settlement of industrial dis putes but the rights and liabilities of employers and workmen insorfar as they relate to lay off and retrenchment shall be deter mined in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter Section 25F of the Central Act deals with the conditions precedent to retrenchment of workmen non compliance with which will be fatal to any order of retrenchment
Section 25G of the Central Act prescribes the procedure for re trenchment and under it an employer shall ordinarily re trench a workman in accordance with the rule of last come first go  unless for reasons to be recorded the employer retrenches any other workman
Section 25H of the Central Act requires the management to show preference to retrenched workmen over others where any workman is retrenched and the management proposes to take into its employ any person again for work where the retrenched workman offers himself for re employment
This indeed is a substantial right
Section 25J of the Central Act which is very material for our pur pose provides that provisions of Chapter V A of the Central Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law including standing orders made under the Industrial Employment Standing Or ders Act 1946
The proviso to sub section 1 of section 25J of the Central Act provides that where under the provi sions of any other Act or rules orders notifications issued thereunder or under any standing orders or under any award contract of service or otherwise a workman is enti tled to benefits in respect of any matter which are more favourable to him than those to which he would be entitled under the Central Act the workman shall continue to be entitled to the more favourable benefits in respect of that matter notwithstanding that he receives benefits in respect of other matter under the Central Act
Sub section 2 of section 25J of the Central Act is more categorical as re gards the effect of Chapter V A of the Central Act on any other law which may be in force in any State
It provides that nothing contained in Chapter V A of the Central Act shall be deemed to affect the provisions of any other law for the time being in force in any State insofar as that law provides for the settlement of industrial disputes but the rights and liabilities of employers and workmen insofar as they relate to lay off and retrenchment shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of Chapter V A of the Central Act
738 The learned Single Judge who decided the writ petitions formulated three points for his consideration namely i whether Respondents 1 to 9 were workmen  ii whether the management could be treated as an industry  and iii whether the three conditions laid down by section 25F of the Central Act would be applicable to the proceedings under the State Act
He found that both the authority under section 411 of the State Act and the authority under section 413 of the State Act had proceeded on the assumption that the Central Act was applicable to proceedings under the State Act
On a consideration of the submissions made on behalf of the management the learned Single Judge felt that it was not possible to hold that Respondents 1 to 9 were not wor kmen  and the management was not an industry  as defined in the Central Act
Having said so the learned Single Judge proceeded to decide the third question namely whether sec tion 25F of the Central Act could be enforced under the provisions of the State Act
The learned Single Judge held that there is no scope either in the language of section 40 or its implication making it obligatory to read the condi tion of section 25F as a part of section 40 of the Shops and Establishments Act  Then he proceeded to hold that since the conditions under section 40 of the State Act had been fulfilled in the case of the Respondents 5 to 9 the termi nation was legal
But in the case of Respondents 1 to 4 since it had been alleged that their juniors had been al lowed to continue in service the learned Judge felt that the matter required further consideration and hence remanded the case because he was of the view that the above question had to be decided before recording a finding on the question whether the termination was for a reasonable cause
The learned Single Judge was however of the view that if section 25F of the Central Act was applicable I have no doubt that these orders of termination would have to be set aside because section 25F denies the right of the employer to terminate the services of an employee without payment of retrenchment compensation  The learned Single Judge gave the following reasons for holding that section 25F was not applicable to proceedings under the State Act i that the statutory authorities created under section 411 and sec tion 413 of the State Act being creatures of the statute had no right to apply the provisions of section 25F of the Central Act to proceedings before them and ii that where as the rights under the Central Act could be agitated by a reference to a Labour Court the right agitated under sec tion 411 and section 413 was a personal right
We find it difficult to agree with the learned Single Judge on both these grounds
It is already seen that the learned Single Judge has found that the Respondents were workmen  and the management was an industry  as defind in the Central Act
We have explained earlier 739 the effect of section 25J of the Central Act
Sub section 1 of section 25J of the Central Act lays down that Chapter V A shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law
The proviso to that sub section however saves any higher benefit available to a workman under any law agreement or settlement or award
Sub section 2 of section 25J however makes a distinction between any machinery provided by any State law for settle ment of industrial disputes and the substantive rights and liabilities arising under Chapter V A of the Central Act where a lay off or retrenchment takes place
It provides that while section 25J would not affect the provisions in a State law relating to settlement of industrial disputes the rights and liabilities of employers and workmen insofar as they relate to lay off and retrenchment shall be determined in accordance with Chapter V A of the Central Act
It is thus seen that section 411 and section 413 of the State Act prescribe alternative authorities to settle a dispute arising out of a retrenchment
Those authorities may exer cise their jurisdiction under the State Act but they have to decide such dispute in accordance with the provisions of Chapter V A
The learned Single Judge omitted to notice the effect of section 25J of the Central Act
Sub section 2 of section 25J of the Central Act which makes the procedure for securing relief under section 411 and 3 of the State Act available to a workman emphasises that the rights and li abilities arising out of retrenchment shall be decided in accordance with Chapter V A of the Central Act
The said rights can be enforced by a workman personally by himself filing an appeal under section 411 of the State Act
It is not necessary that a reference should be sought under the Central Act by collective action of workers
The effect of section 25J2 of the Central Act has been considered by this Court in Sawattain Ramprasad Mills Co Ltd vs Baliram Ukandaji and Another  In that case the question for decision was whether the CP and Berar Indus trial Disputes Settlement Act 1947 was applicable to the case involving the determination of the rights and liabili ties of the management and workmen in the case of lay off or whether the provisions of Chapter V A of the Central Act were applicable
The Court found that the CP and Berar Industrial Disputes Settlement Act 1947 contained no provisions either for recovery of money or for compensation for lay off and held that if a workman had a claim arising in a lay off it could only be dealt with under the Central Act
In that case no question similar to the one involved here was however in issue
In Pest Control India Pvt Ltd vs The Labour Court Guntur and Another 1984 1 Andhra Weekly Reporter 277 the Andhra Pradesh 740 High Court has very recently laid down that in considering whether the termination of service of an employee by way of retrenchment is legal or justified it is open to the au thority under section 41 of the State Act to determine whether section 25F and section 25G of the Central Act were complied with or not and to set aside the orders of termina tion and to grant appropriate relief if it is found that there was no compliance with sections 25F and 25G of the Central Act
The Division Bench of the High Court while reversing the decision of the learned Single Judge has relied on the above decision
We shall now proceed to consider the merits of the contention that the State Act which is a later Act and which has received the assent of the President should prevail over the provisions of Chapter V A of the Central Act
The above contention is based on Article 2542 of the Constitution and the argument is that the provisions of section 40 which deal with termination of service in a shop or an establish ment contained in the State Act which is enacted by the State Legislature in exercise of its powers under Entry 22 of List III of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution being repugnant to the provisions contained in Chapter V A of the Central Act which is an earlier law also traceable to Entry 22 of the List II1 of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution should prevail as the assent of the President has been given to the State Act
It is true that the State Act is a later Act and it has received the assent of the President but the question is whether there is any such repugnancy between the two laws as to make the provisions of the Central Act relating to retrenchment ineffective in the State of Andhra Pradesh
It is seen that the State Act does not contain any express provision making the provisions relating to retrenchment in the Central Act ineffective insofar as Andhra Pradesh is concerned
We shall then have to consider whether there is any implied repugnancy between the two laws
Chapter V A of the Central Act which is the earlier law deals with cases arising out of lay off and retrenchment
Section 25J of the Central Act deals with the effect of the provisions of Chapter V A on other laws incon sistent with that Chapter
Sub section 2 of section 25J is quite emphatic about the supremacy of the provisions relat ing to the rights and liabilities arising out of lay off and retrenchment
These are special provisions and they do not apply to all kinds of termination of services
Section 40 of the State Act deals generally with termination of service which may be the result of misconduct closure transfer of establishment etc
If there is a conflict between the spe cial provisions contained in an earlier law dealing with retrenchment and the general provisions contained in a later law generally dealing with terminations of service the existence 741 of repugnancy between the two laws cannot be easily pre sumed
In Maxwell on the Interpretation of Statutes 12th Edn  at page 196 it is observed thus Now if anything be certain it is this said the Earl of Selborne LC in The Vera Cruz at p 68 that where there are general words in a later Act capable of reasonable and sensible application without extending them to subjects specially dealt with by earlier legislation you are not to hold that earlier and special legislation indirectly repealed altered or derogated from merely by force of such general words without any indication of a particular inten tion to do so
 In a later case Viscount Haldane said We are bound   to apply a rule of construction which has been repeat edly laid down and is firmly established
It is that wherever Parliament in an earlier statute has directed its attention to an individual case and has made provision for it unambiguously there arises a presumption that if in a subsequent statute the Legislature lays down a general principle that general principle is not to be taken as meant to rip up what the Legislature had before provided for individually unless an intention to do so is specially declared
A merely general rule is not enough even though by its terms it is stated so widely that it would taken by itself cover special cases of the kind I have referred to
 We respectfully agree with the rule of construction expounded in the above passage
By enacting section 25J2 Parliament perhaps intended that the rights and liabili ties arising out of lay off and retrenchment should be uniform throughout India where the Central Act was in force and did not wish that the State should have their own laws inconsistent with the Central law
If really the State Legislature intended that it should have a law of its own regarding the rights and liabilities arising out of re trenchment it would have expressly provided for it and submitted the Bill for the assent of the President
The State Legislature has not done so in this case
Section 40 of the State Act deals with terminations of service general ly
In the above situation we cannot agree with the conten tion based on Article 2542 of the Constitution since it is not made out that there is any implied repugnancy between the Central law and the State law
The result of the above discussion is that if the employees are 742 workmen  and the management is an industry  as defined in the Central Act and the action taken by the management amounts to retrenchment  then the rights and liabilities of the parties are governed by the provisions of Chapter V A of the Central Act and the said rights and liabilities may be adjudicated upon and enforced in proceedings before the authorities under section 411 and section 413 of the State Act
We may incidentally observe that the Central Act itself should be suitably amended making it possible to an individ ual workman to seek redress in an appropriate forum regard ing illegal termination of service which may take the form of dismissal discharge retrenchment etc
or modification of punishment imposed in a domestic enquiry
An amendment of the Central Act introducing such provisions will make the law simpler and also will reduce the delay in the adjudica tion of industrial disputes
Many learned authors of books on industrial law have also been urging for such an amend ment
The State Act in the instant case has to some extent met the above demand by enacting section 41 providing for a machinery for settling disputes arising out of termination of service which can be resorted to by an individual work man
In this connection we have one more suggestion to make
The nation remembers with gratitude the services rendered by the former Labour Appellate Tribunal which was manned by some of our eminent Judges by evolving great legal princi ples in the field of labour law in particular with regard to domestic enquiry bonus gratuity fair wages industrial adjudication etc
The Industrial Disputes Appellate Tribu nal Act 1950 which provided for an all India appellate body with powers to hear appeals against the orders and awards of Industrial Tribunals and Labour Courts in India was repealed in haste
If it had continued by now the labour jurisprudence would have developed perhaps on much more satisfactory lines than what it is today
There is a great need today to revive and to bring into existence an all India Labour Appellate Tribunal with powers to hear appeals against the decisions of all Labour Courts Industrial Tribunals and even of authorities constituted under several labour laws enacted by the States so that a body of uniform and sound principles of Labour law may be evolved for the benefit of both industry and labour throughout India
Such an appellate authority can become a very efficient body on account of specialisation
There is a demand for the revival of such an appellate body even from some workers  organisa tions
This suggestion is worth considering
All this we are saying because we sincerely feel that the Central Act passed forty years ago needs a second look and requires a compre hensive amendment
743 It is not disputed that section 25F of the Central Act has not been complied with in this case and hence the Divi sion Bench of the High Court was right in holding that all the terminations were illegal
All the respondents are therefore entitled to be reinstated in service with furl back wages as held by the authority under section 411 of the State Act
These petitions are dismissed
PSS Petitions dismissed


Summary:
Sub section 1 of section 40 of the Andhra Pradesh Shops and Establishments Act 1966 interdicts the employer governed by the Act from terminating the services of an employee without complying with the conditions laid therein
Section 25F of the lays down conditions precedent to retrenchment of workmen noncompliance with which will be fatal to any order of retrenchment
The petitioner society retrenched the respondents on the ground that the business of the management did not warrant the continuance of its heavy establishment
In an appeal under section 411 of the Act the appellate authority set aside the orders and directed reinstatement of the respondents
The Labour Court set aside the orders of the appellate authority in respect of some of the respondents
A Single Judge of the High Court found that the respond ents were workmen  and the management was an industry  as defined in the but dismissed the writ petition holding that they could not claim the benefit of section 25F of the in a proceeding under section 41 of the State Act being of the view that there was no scope either in the language of section 40 of the State Act or its implication making it obligatory to read the condition of section 25F of the Central Act as 729 part of section 40 of the State Act that the statutory authori ties created under section 411 and section 413 of the State Act being creatures of the statute had no right to apply the provisions of section 25F of the Central Act to proceedings before them and that whereas the rights under the Central Act could be agitated by a reference to a Labour Court the right agitated under section 411 and section 413 was a personal right
The Division Bench on appeal by the respondents held that the orders of termination were unsustainable
It took the view that the question of their retrenchment was gov erned by section 25F
In the special leave petition it was contended on behalf of the management that the provisions of section 40 which deal with termination of service in a shop or establishment contained in the State Act which is a later Act being repugnant to the provisions contained in Chapter V A of the Central Act which is an earlier law should prevail as the assent of the President has been given to the State Act
Dismissing the special leave petition HELD 11 The High Court was right in holding that section 25F of the having not been complied with all the terminations were illegal
The respondents were therefore
entitled to be reinstated in service with full back wages
743A 12 If the employees are workmen  and the management is an industry  as defined in the and the action taken by the management amounts to retrench ment  then the rights and liabilities of the parties are governed by provisions of Chapter V A of that Act and the said rights and liabilities may be adjudicated upon and enforced in proceedings before the authorities under section 411 and section 413 of the Andhra Pradesh Shops and Estab lishments Act
In the instant case the Single Judge of the High Court had found that the respondents were workmen  and the management was an industry  as defined in the Central Act
741H 742A 738C 13 Sub section 1 of section 25J of the lays down that Chapter V A shall have effect notwith standing anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law
The proviso to that sub section however saves any higher benefit available to a workman under any law agreement or settlement or award
Sub section 2 of section 25J which makes a distinction between any machinery provided by any State law for settlement of industrial disputes and the substantive 730 rights and liabilities arising under Chapter V A of the Central Act provides that while that section would not effect the provisions in a State law relating to settlement of industrial disputes the rights and liabilities of em ployers and workmen insofar as they relate to lay off and retrenchment shall be determined in accordance with Chapter V A of the Central Act
It is thus apparent that section 411 and section 413 of the State Act prescribe alternative authori ties to settle a dispute arising out of a retrenchment
Those authorities may exercise their jurisdiction under the State Act but they have to decide the rights and liabilities arising out of retrenchment in accordance with the provi sions of Chapter V A
The said rights can be enforced by a workman personally by himself filing an appeal under section 411 of the State Act
It is not necessary that a reference should be sought under the Central Act by collective action of workers
739A E Sawatram Ramprasad Mills Co Ltd vs Baliram Ukandaji and Another  and Pest Control India Pvt Ltd vs The Labour Court Guntur and Another 1984 1 Andhra Weekly Reporter 277 referred to
21 There is no repugnancy between the two Acts
The State Act which is a later law does not contain any ex press provision making the provisions relating to retrench ment in the Central Act ineffective insofar as Andhra Pra desh is concerned
740E 22 Where there is a conflict between the special provi sions contained in an earlier law dealing with retrenchment and the general provisions contained in a later law general ly dealing with terminations of service the existence of repugnancy between the two laws cannot easily be presumed
740H Chapter V A of the Central Act which is the earlier law deals with rights and liabilities arising out of lay off and retrenchment
Section 25J of that Act deals with the effect of the provisions of Chapter V A on other laws incon sistent with that Chapter
Sub section 2 of section 25J is quite emphatic about the provisions relating to the rights and liabilities arising out of lay off and retrenchment
By enacting that provision Parliament intended that such rights and liabilities should be uniform throughout India where the Central Act was in force and did not wish that the States should have their own laws inconsistent with the Central law
These are special provisions and they do not apply to all kinds of termination of services
If the State Legisla ture intended that it should have a law of its own regarding the rights and liabilities arising 731 out of retrenchment it would have expressly provided for It
The State Legislature had not done so in the instant case
Section 40 of the State Act deals with termination of serv ice generally
In such a situation it cannot be said that there was any implied repugnancy between the Central law and the State law
740F 741F 740G 741FG Maxwell on the Interpretation of Statutes 12th Edn
p 196 referred to
The Act should be suitably amended making it possible to an individual workman to seek redress in an appropriate forum regarding illegal termination of service which may take the form of dismissal discharge retrenchment etc
or modification of punishment imposed in a domestic enquiry
There is also a great need to review and to bring into existence an all India Labour Appellate Tribunal with powers to hear appeals against the decisions of all Labour Courts industrial Tribunals and even of authorities constituted under several labour laws enacted by the States so that a body of uniform and sound principles of labour law may be evolved for the benefit of both industry and labour through out India 742B G