1 W.P.No.7159.10 Bsb IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 7159 OF 2010 Pramod Puri, Partner, Servewell Printers ... Petitioner v/s Suresh Laxman Patade & anr. ... Respondents Mr.V.P.Vaidya for the petitioner. Mr.K.S.Bapat i/by M/s.Desai & Desai Associates for Resp. No. 2. Ms Navneet Chalal i/by Mr.A.K.Jalisatgi for Resp. Nos.1A, 1B and C. Mr.P.I.Khemani for Resp. No.5. CORAM: SMT.NISHITA MHATRE, J. DATED: 29TH OCTOBER, 2010 P.C.: 1. The petition has been filed by a person who claims to be a partner of Servewell Printers. He is also a Director of Care Well Printers Pvt. Ltd. A complaint being Complaint (ULP) No.125 of 2006 was filed by the respondent workmen against the petitioner. That complaint has been allowed by 2 W.P.No.7159.10 the Industrial Court. The petitioner has been directed to continue the complainants in service and to pay them wages and legal dues. This order was passed on 12.1.2006. Misc. Application (ULP) No.4 of 2007 was filed by the petitioner. However, that application was verified by him as a Director of Care Well Printers Pvt. Ltd. In this application he has admitted that he was a Director of Care Well Printers Pvt. Ltd. and that “The applicant was engaged in the printing activities by engaging about 21 employees”. It was also pleaded that Care Well Printers Pvt. Ltd. had closed down from 1.3.2006. According to the petitioner, he had engaged an advocate who failed to attend the matter and, therefore, the complaint was decided ex-parte. The miscellaneous application was accompanied by an application for stay of the orders passed by the Industrial Court. The miscellaneous application was decided on 11.7.2008. The Industrial was of the view that there was no need to restore the complaint as the applicant was not interested in pursuing the complaint. 2. Recovery proceedings were also filed by the complainants, the respondent workmen herein, being Misc. Application (Recovery)(U.L.P.) No.3 of 2007. That application was decided on 11.7.2008 by the Industrial Court. The application was allowed and the recovery certificate was 3 W.P.No.7159.10 directed to be issued in terms of the calculations submitted in the application. A review application was filed, which was decided on 13.3.2009. The application was partly allowed and the certificate was directed to be issued in terms of the Annexure “B” Exh.U.32, showing the amounts payable to the respondent workmen as `45,55,425/-. 3. Accordingly, a recovery certificate was issued on 18.8.2008 for the aforesaid sum. An attachment notice was also issued and the property of the Servewell Printers was attached. This property consisted of Gala Nos.304, 306 and 320. Notice of sale of Gala No.306 was also issued. 4. It is only thereafter that the petitioner has rushed to this Court contending that the notice of attachment has wrongly been issued in respect of the property owned by Servewell Printers when the employees were the workmen of Care Well Printers Pvt. Ltd. An amount of Rs.10 lacs have already been deposited in this Court by the petitioner. The petitioner has also contended that Gala No.304 was owned by respondent No.2 who had no nexus with the workmen. 5. Considering the facts and circumstances in this matter, in my opinion, the interest of justice would be met if the 4 W.P.No.7159.10 impugned order dated 12.1.2006 passed in Complaint (ULP) No.125 of 2006 is set aside on the petitioner depositing an additional amount of `5,00,000/- in the Industrial Court within eight weeks from today. 6. The impugned orders dated 12.1.2007 in Complaint (ULP) No.125 of 2006 and dated 11.7.2008 in Misc. Application (Recovery) (ULP) No.4 of 2007, are set aside. The recovery proceedings issued as a consequence of the orders passed in the recovery application shall not be acted upon. 7. Complaint (ULP) No.125 of 2006 is restored to file. 8. The writ petition is disposed of in the following terms and conditions:- (i) The amount which is deposited in this Court by the petitioner shall be transferred to the Industrial Court in Complaint (ULP) No.125 of 2006 by 10.11.2010. The petitioner shall deposit an additional amount of `5,00,000/- in the Industrial Court within six weeks from today in the same complaint. (ii) The amount so transferred i.e. `10,00,000/- shall be 5 W.P.No.7159.10 disbursed to the respondent workmen on the basis of a statement which the petitioner will file on 8.11.2010 before the Industrial Court. The amount shall be disbursed to the workmen immediately it is received by the Industrial Court. (iii) The Industrial Court shall decide the complaint on merit within a year from today. (v) It is clarified that the amount disbursed to the respondent workmen will be subject to the result in the complaint. The amount of `5,00,000/- which will be deposited by the petitioner within eight weeks from today, will be invested in a nationalized bank initially for a period of six months, to be renewed thereafter. (vi) In case the amount of `5,00,000/- is not deposited in the Industrial Court within the stipulated period, all the earlier orders passed by the Industrial Court as well as the recovery certificates will revive. 9. The attachment of two galas i.e. Gala Nos.306 and 320 will be raised only after this amount of `5,00,000/- is deposited in Industrial Court. 10. Writ petition disposed of accordingly. ..... 6 W.P.No.7159.10