1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY APPELLATE CIVIL JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 458 OF 2008 Mr. Raghunath Waman Mohite. .... Petitioner. V/s. M/s. Century Automobiles, Pune. .... Respondent. ....... Mrs. Anjali S. Ranade for the Petitioner. Mr. A.V. Lokhande with Mr. R.R. Salvi for Respondent 1. ........ CORAM : DR. D.Y. CHANDRACHUD, J. 02ND APRIL 2008. P.C. :- In Sangham Tape Company V/s. Hans Raj (2004 III CLR 776), the Supreme Court has held, following the earlier decision in Grindlays Bank Ltd. V/s. Central Government Industrial Tribunal (1980 Supp. SCC 420) that while the Industrial Court will have the jurisdiction to set aside an exparte award, nonetheless, having regard to the provisions of Section 17-A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, 2 an application for that purpose must be filed before the expiry of 30 days from the publication thereof. The Tribunal would retain jurisdiction over the dispute referred to it for adjudication only up to that date after which it would be rendered functus officio. Section 17-A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 provides that an award shall become enforceable on the expiry of 30 days from the date of its publication under Section 17. Sub-Rule 2 of Rule 26 of the Industrial Disputes (Bombay) Rules, 1957 provides that where any award order or decision is made exparte, the aggrieved party may make an application interalia to the Labour Court within 30 days of the receipt of a copy of the Award. Under Rule 31A, the Award is required to be published in the Official Gazette or as the case may be by publication on the notice board of the Board, Court or Tribunal. Under sub-Rule (2) of Rule 31A, the State Government is required at the time of such publication to forward a copy of the Award to the parties to the dispute. In the present case, the admitted factual position is as follows :- 3 (i)The reference under Section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 was rejected by an order dated 2nd August 2003; (ii) The Petitioner admitted during the course of his cross- examination to have received a copy of the Award on 10th November 2003, with a further intimation that the publication would be made on 10th December 2003. The Award of the Tribunal was published in the Government Gazette on 10th December 2003; (iii) An application for restoration was filed before the Labour Court on 17th March 2004. The application for restoration was thus instituted well beyond the period of 30 days from the date of the publication of the Award as well as the receipt of a copy thereof by the Petitioner. Upon the expiry of the period of 30 days, the Tribunal was rendered functus officio in view of the judgment of the Supreme Court in Sangham Tape Company (Supra). 4 In these circumstances, the Labour Court was not in an error in dismissing the application for restoration. No case for interference under Article 227 is made out. The Petition is dismissed. ------