C.W.P. No.15090 of 2000 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P. No.15090 of 2000 Date of Decision:08.09.2009 Phool Chand .....Petitioner Versus The Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Gurgaon and another ...Respondents 2. C.W.P. No.15266 of 2000 Ichha Ram .....Petitioner Versus The Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Gurgaon and another ...Respondents Present: Mr. K.K. Aggarwal, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Kapil Aggarwal, Advocate for the petitioner. None for respondent No.2. CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? -.- K. KANNAN J.(ORAL) 1. Both the writ petitions address the same issue of the power of a Labour Court to set aside the ex parte award after the award is published. In both the cases, the respective awards had been passed by the Labour Court setting the same respondent-M/s Haryana Suraj Maltings Limited ex parte on their failure to appear in spite of notice. In both the cases award had been passed on 17.02.1999. The C.W.P. No.15090 of 2000 -2- publication of the respective awards had been made on 05.05.1999. The application for setting aside the awards had been filed two months later on 09.07.1999. The objections that had been taken by the workman were that after the award was published, the Labour Court became functus officio and it could not entertain any plea for setting aside the award. The Labour Court, however, rejected the contention and proceeded to set aside the ex parte awards and directed enquiry on merits to be made. It is against these orders that the writ petitions have been filed. 2. The learned counsel refers to a decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in M/s Sangham Tape Company Vs. Hans Raj 2004 (4) SCT 788 where it was held that the jurisdiction of the Labour Court could be exercised if an application to set aside the ex parte award is filed within 30 days from the date of the award that is, before it becomes enforceable. Thereafter, the Court becomes functus officio and does not retain any jurisdiction in the matter. Apart from the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, there are several other decisions of this Hon'ble Court as well reiterating the same proposition and the learned counsel brings support to his arguments the decisions in The Warring Cooperative Agriculture Services Society Ltd. Vs. The State of Punjab and others 1986(3) SLR 586 and yet another judgment in Mata Ganga Khalsa College for Girls Vs. The Presiding Officer, Labour Court, Ludhiana 2009(3) SCT 607. 3. The Labour Court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the applications filed by the management and the respective orders passed C.W.P. No.15090 of 2000 -3- which are subject of challenge in the above two writ petitions are set aside and the writ petitions are allowed. There shall, however, be no direction as to costs. (K. KANNAN) JUDGE September 08, 2009 Pankaj*