IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P.No.12647 of 2009 Date of Decision:- 08.03.2010 Kila Raipur Cooperative Agricultural Service Society Ltd. ....Petitioner(s) vs. Presiding Officer and another ....Respondent(s) *** CORAM:- HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH *** Present:- Mr.Balwinder Singh Sehra, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr.S.N.Sehgal, Advocate, for the respondent. *** AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. (Oral) Prayer in the present writ petition is for setting aside of the Award dated 8.10.2002 (Annexure P-1) as also order dated 11.9.2008 (Annexure P-2). It is the contention of the counsel for the petitioner that the reference which has been made by the Appropriate Government on a demand notice submitted by the respondent-workman is erroneous as the reference has been sent by the Appropriate Government against the Kila Raipur Cooperative Agricultural Service Society Ltd. through its Secretary and President, Kila Raipur Cooperative Agricultural Service Society Ltd., Kila Raipur, Tehsil and District Ludhiana as respondents whereas the Society which has come up in the present writ petition is known as Raipur Cooperative Agricultural Service Society Ltd., Kila Raipur, Tehsil and District Ludhiana, which again is under liquidation and, therefore, the C.W.P.No.12647 of 2009 -2- present writ petition has been preferred through a Liquidator. The petitioner-Society is not disputing the fact that respondent No.2-workman was not an employee of the petitioner-Society. His contention is that because of the wrong mentioning of the name of the Society in the reference, the petitioner-Society was never served before the Labour Court and, therefore, in the absence of any service, it could not contest the claim made by the workman leading to the passing of the Award dated 8.10.2002 (Annexure P-1) by the Labour Court, Ludhiana. The ex-parte Award was passed against the petitioner due to non-service of the notice on it. The respondent-workman did not put-forth his claim after passing of the Award and it was only in the year 2006 when the petitioner-Society came to know of the passing of the Award dated 8.10.2002 an application was moved by it before the Labour Court for setting aside the ex parte Award. On consideration of the application, the said application was dismissed by the Labour Court Ludhiana vide its order dated 11.9.2008 (Annexure P-2) holding therein that the Management has not produced any documentary evidence on record to show that the name of the Society was Raipur Cooperative Agricultural Service Society Ltd. as alleged in the application, as also on the ground that the application has been moved by the petitioner- Society after a period of 30 days from the date of publication of the Award and, therefore, the Labour Court, Ludhiana, had become functus officio and could not entertain the application. Counsel for the petitioner contends that the Award passed by the Labour Court dated 8.10.2002 (Annexure P-1) and the order dated 11.9.2008 (Annexure P-2), therefore, deserve to be set aside. C.W.P.No.12647 of 2009 -3- On the other hand, counsel for the respondent contends that upto the passing of the Award dated 8.10.2002, workman-respondent No.2 had put-forth his claim under Sections 29 & 33(c)(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) on which notice of the reference was also issued. He contends that the contention of the counsel for the petitioner that after the passing of the Award, no steps were taken by the workman cannot be accepted. However, he is unable to controvert the fact that there is a defect in the reference as the name of the Society has been wrongly mentioned in the reference itself. He prays that liberty may be granted to workman-respondent No.2 to file an application for correction/amendment of the reference to the Appropriate Government so that the matter could be properly adjudicated upon and the rights of the parties determined. I have heard counsel for the parties and gone through the records of the case. In view of the undisputed fact that there is a defect in the reference wherein the name of the Society has been wrongly mentioned as Kila Raipur Cooperative Agricultural Service Society Ltd. instead of Raipur Cooperative Agricultural Service Society Ltd., the Award dated 8.10.2002 (Annexure P-1) passed by the Labour Court, Ludhiana cannot be sustained and is accordingly set aside. In the light of the setting aside of the Award passed by the Labour Court, no directions on order dated 11.9.2008 (Annexure P-2) need be passed by this Court. Liberty is, however, granted to respondent No.2-workman to file an application before the Appropriate Government for correction/amendment of the reference so that correct reference can be made to the Labour Court, which can thereafter proceed to C.W.P.No.12647 of 2009 -4- decide the reference in accordance with law. The writ petition stands disposed of accordingly. March 08, 2010 ( AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) poonam JUDGE