Case: Savita Chemicals Pvt. Ltd Vs. Dyes &amp; Chemical Workers Union

may be, in connection with these matters which were not expressly so covered and referred to in the settlement and thus matters which were expressly not so covered could be made the subject matter of grievance by the parties concerned during the currency of such settlement and if a strike is resorted to by the union of workmen on that ground, it could not be said that the said strike would be hit by the provisions of Section 24(1)(i) of the Act. As a result of the aforesaid conclusion, it must be held that the impugned strike notice was not violative of Section 24(1)(i) of the Act so far as the grievance regarding computation of privilege leave was concerned. The Labour Court had patently erred in mis-reading the relevant provisions of the Act and the express terms of the settlement while reaching the conclusion that the impugned notice refers to the grievance regarding non-implementation of the settlement terms in connection with privilege leave and had, therefore, violated the aforesaid provisions of the Act. This patent error was rightly set aside by the High Court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 227. 17. It was further contended by learned senior counsel for the appellant that, in any case, the impugned strike notice was also violative of the aforesaid provisions, in connection with the settlement regarding demand No. 26 providing for medical check-up. It, therefore, becomes necessary to look at the terms of the settlement on the said demand. It reads as under : "Demand No. 26 : Medical Check Up : The Company shall get at its expense all the confirmed workmen medically examined i.e. X-ray, blood and Urine examination and medical check up at the beginning of the year and the reports obtained. If during this check up any workman is found suffering from any ailments arising out of the chemicals of gas emanating from the process in the factory the management will bear the medical expenses for his immediate and initial treatment." So far as this contention is concerned, Shri Bhandare, learned senior counsel for the appellant is on a still weaker footing. The settlement regarding medical check up deals with the rights of the workmen to get medical re-imbursement and the procedure for the medical examination of the workmen suffering from any ailment or disease. This right would arise under the settlement in connection with those workmen who have already got afflicted by occupational ailments. This has nothing to do with the grievance found in the impugned strike notice regarding the health hazards suffered by the workmen and preventive measures required to be taken by the company in this connection. This grievance found in the notice is based on the dictum "prevention is better than cure". The settlement regarding demand No. 26 pertaining to medical check up deals with the procedure to be followed and the rights available to the workman after he has suffered from occupational diseases. The strike notice referred to an independent grievance in connection with the situation wherein a disease on proper preventive measures could be avoided. It also referred to various health hazards due to the working conditions of the workmen. These grievances are entirely foreign to the terms of the settlement regarding medical check up. We fail to appreciate as to how the Labour Court could persuade itself to hold that the terms of settlement regarding demand No. 26 were also sought to be contravened by the impugned demands in the notice. The said finding of the Labour Court, to say least, was totally contrary to the express terms of the settlement of demand No. 26. Such a patently erroneous finding had to be set aside by the High Court in writ proceedings and no fault can be found with the High Court in undertaking such an exercise. The valiant attempt of Shri Bhandare, learned senior counsel for the appellant, for getting the impugned strike declared as illegal on this ground is found to be wholly without any substance. It must, therefore, be held that the impugned strike notice was not violative of provisions of Section 24(1)(i) of the Act and had nothing to do with settlement on demand Nos. 14 and 26. The third point for determination is to be answered in negative against the appellant and in favour of Respondent No. 1. Point No. 4 : 18. So far as this point is concerned, placing reliance on various decisions of this court namely, Harish Vishnu Kamath v. Syed Ahmad Ishaque and others, 1955(1) SCR 1104, Nagendra Nath Bora and another v. The Commissioner of Hills Division & Appeals Assam and others, 1958 SCR 1240 and Sadhu Ram v. Delhi Transport Corporation, AIR 1984 SC 1467 , learned senior counsel for the appellant submitted that unless there was a patent error committed by the Labour Court, the High Court under Article 227 could not have interfered with the findings of the Labour Court as if it was hearing an appeal. There cannot be any dispute on the said settled legal position. Under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, the High Court could not have set aside any finding reached by the lower authorities where two views were possible and unless those findings were found to be patently bad and suffering from clear errors of law. As we have already discussed earlier while considering point Nos. 1 and 3, the finding reached by the Labour Court on the relevant terms were patently erroneous and de hors the factual and legal position on record. The said patently illegal findings, could not have been countenanced under Article 227 of the Constitution of India by the High Court and the High Court would have failed to exercise its jurisdiction if it had not set aside such patently illegal findings of the Labour Court. Consequently, on this point the appellant has no case. Point No. 4 is, therefore, answered in negative against the appellant and in favour of the respondent. Point No. 5 :

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]When we examine the impugned strike notice, we find that all these four basic requirements ofhave been complied with in the present case. The name and address of the Trade Union which served the notice are clearly mentioned, the date of the notice is also indicated, the name of the addressee of the notice and his address are also mentioned, namely, it has been addressed to the Factory Manager of the company who wasof the company at the relevant time and under whom the workmen proposing to go on strike were actually working. It is also clearly mentioned as to from which date the strike is proposed to be resorted to, as it is mentioned that the strike would be resorted to on the expiry of 14 days from the date of the receipt of the letter cum notice. It is also clearly mentioned that the letter will be treated as notice for going on proposed strike. Then follows the heart of the notice, namely, reasons why the proposed strike has to be resorted. Thus, all the basic requirements ofhave been satisfied. Even the Labour Court took the view that the substance of the notice had to be seen and not its form. Still, however, it persuaded itself to hold that the notice was not in the prescribed form. The said finding of the Labour Court was patently illegal and was rightly reversed by the High Court in the impugned judgment.