Case: The Bombay Union Of Journalists And Others Vs. The, Hindu', Bombay, And Another

that notice of the meeting dated April 17 convened for the purpose of considering the requisition was ever given to Venkateswaran and if it was not given, by the mere passing of a resolution by other members of the Union the case of the appellants that the claim of Salivateeswaran was supported by Venkateswaran cannot be supported.15. The Tribunal observed that if even after the reference Venkateswaran and Tiwari ceased to support the cause of Salivateeswaran, being the only person who could support the cause, the reference must fail, and in support of that view relied upon the judgment of a Single Judge of the Madras High Court in The Hindu v. The Working Journalists of the Hindu in Madras 1959-2 Lab LJ 348: (AIR 1960 Mad 190) but this decision has since been overruled by a Division Bench of the Madras High Court in the Working Journalists of the Hindu v. Management of the Hindu, 1961-1 Lab LJ 288 : (AIR 1961 Mad 370 ). In that case the Court observed."It must be held that the jurisdiction of the labour court to proceed with the matter wholly depends on whether the industrial dispute referred to it for adjudication existed or was apprehended on the date of the reference and not on any subsequent date. Having regard to the relevant statutory provisions it must be held that the jurisdiction of the labour court to proceed with and adjudicate upon an industrial dispute sterms from and is sustained, until it makes an award and the same becomes enforceable, by the reference itself which has been made on the basis of an industrial dispute existing or apprehended on the date of the reference and that the jurisdiction of the labour court to proceed in the matter is not in any way affected by the fact that subsequent to the date of the reference, the workers or a substantial section of them, who had originally sponsored the cause, had later resiled and withdrawn from it."In our view these observations correctly set out the effect of a subsequent withdrawal of support by the workmen of a cause previously espoused by them.In each case in ascertaining whether an individual dispute has acquired the character of an industrial dispute the test is whether at the date of the reference the dispute was taken up as supported by the Union of the workmen the employer against whom the dispute is raised by an individual workman or by an appreciable number of workmen.If Venkateswaran or Tiwari had prior to the date of the reference supported the cause of Salivateeswaran by their subsequent affidavits the reference could not have been invalidated. But as we have already observed there was, in fact, no support to the cause of Salivateeswaran by Venkateswaran or by Tiwari and therefore the dispute continued to remain an individual dispute.16. The effect of the support to the cause of Salivateeswaran by the Indian Federation of Working Journalists and the claim founded thereon does not call for any detailed consideration. After the reference was submitted and it was pending hearing before the Tribunal a letter was written by the President of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists to the General Secretary of the Bombay Union of Journalists on April 16, 1959, stating that the Federation had lent support to Salivateeswaran in the writ petition filed by "The Hindu" in the Supreme Court and that the Federation did so as it was a test case. Another letter dated April,17, 1959, was addressed by the General Secretary of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists to the General Secretary, Bombay Union of Journalists, Bombay stating that they had advised Salivateeswaran to file a petition before the Presiding officer of the Industrial Court in Bombay and had also intervened in the Supreme Court, and further that the Federation fully supported all actions taken by the Bombay Union of Journalists to get justice for Salivateeswaran. The Secretary of the Union by letter dated July 9, 1959, wrote to the President and Secretary-General of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists that Salivateeswarans case was being heard for a week and that Salivateeswaran was to undergo cross-examination on the next day and that Mahatame, the previous Secretary was to give evidence. He further stated "I am of opinion that we must produce some document whereby it will be possible to prove that the Federation had supported Salivateeswarans case and requested the Federation to send a document in the form of a minute of a meeting or a letter or a resolution and if there was none such on the record, to pass a fresh resolution supporting the Bombay Unions action regarding Salivateeswarans case and to send the same by return of post. Taking a clue from this letter, on July 24, 1959, the President of the Federation sent a copy of the resolution alleged to have been adopted by the members of the Working Committee of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists regarding Salivateeswarans case. The draft resolution sought to support the case of the Bombay Union of Journalists before the Industrial Tribunal, Bombay, and to "direct the Union to fight the case with all its strength." This resolution is alleged to have been passed by circulation after the commencement of the adjudication proceedings. If the dispute was in its inception an individual dispute and continued to be such till the date of the reference by the Government of Bombay, it could not be converted into an industrial dispute by support subsequent to the reference even of workmen interested in the dispute. We have already held that subsequent withdrawal of support will not take away the jurisdiction of an industrial tribunal. On the same reasoning subsequent support will not convert what was an individual dispute at the time of reference into an industrial dispute. The resolution of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists, assuming that it has any value, would not be sufficient to convert what was an individual dispute into an industrial dispute.

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

Explanation:
0[ds]8. The dispute, in the present case, being prima facie, an individual dispute, that it had been taken up by the Union of employees of "The Hindu Bombay or by an appreciable number of employees of "The Hindu" Bombay.By its constitution the Bombay Union of Journalists is a Union not of employees of one employer, but of all employees in the industry of journalism in Bombay. Support of the cause, by the Union, will not in our judgment convert the individual dispute of one of its members unto an industrial dispute. The dispute between "The Hindu" Bombay and Salivateeswaran was in respect of alleged wrongful termination of employment; it could acquire the character of an industrial dispute only if it was proved that it was, before it was referred, supported by the Union of the employee of "The Hindu" Bombay or by an appreciable number of itsthe present case members of the Union who were not workmen of the employer against whom the dispute was sought to be raised, seek by supporting the dispute to convert what is prima facie an individual dispute into an industrial dispute. The principle that the persons who seek to support the cause of a workman must themselves be directly and subtantially interested in the dispute in our view applies to this class of case also: persons who are not employees of the same employer cannot be regarded as so interested, that by their support they may convert an individual dispute into an industrial dispute. The mere support to his cause by the Bombay Union of Journalists cannot therefore assist the claim of Salivateswaran so as to convert it into an industrialis true that the Executive Committee of the Bombay Union of Journalists had in August 1956. resolved to support the cause of Salivateeswaran, but that resolution was in respect of the application under Act 45 of 1955. The Union appeared before the Authority appointed by the Government of Bombay and also in this Court in the petition under Art 32 of the Constitution, but that support cannot, in our judgment assist the claim now made by Salivateeswaran. The proceedings under S. 17 of the Working Journalists (Conditions of Service) Act terminated when the Authority refused to proceed with the petition. Again, there is nothing to show that Venkateswarna had participated in any of theseevidence in support of this resolution is very unsatisfactory. For reasons to be presently set out, we are of the view that the evidence tends to establish the plea raised by the first respondent that the record of the alleged resolution was fabricated with a view to support the case ofis difficult to accept the testimony of Mahatame that even though minutes of the Executive Committees meetings were maintained, records relating to the General Body meetings were not preserved. Mahatames explanation that the agenda was cyclostyled and thereafter destroyed is too crude to be accepted. Other circumstances to which we will presently advert make it abundantly clear that the story about the resolution having been passed on April 17, 1958, isdocumentary evidence which should normally have been in existence if the case that the Union passed a resolution on April 17, 1958, was true, has not been produced on the plea either that it was not maintained or that it was destroyed. Even on the case of the appellants, there is nothing to show that notice of the meeting dated April 17 convened for the purpose of considering the requisition was ever given to Venkateswaran and if it was not given, by the mere passing of a resolution by other members of the Union the case of the appellants that the claim of Salivateeswaran was supported by Venkateswaran cannot beour view these observations correctly set out the effect of a subsequent withdrawal of support by the workmen of a cause previously espoused by them.In each case in ascertaining whether an individual dispute has acquired the character of an industrial dispute the test is whether at the date of the reference the dispute was taken up as supported by the Union of the workmen the employer against whom the dispute is raised by an individual workman or by an appreciable number of workmen.If Venkateswaran or Tiwari had prior to the date of the reference supported the cause of Salivateeswaran by their subsequent affidavits the reference could not have been invalidated. But as we have already observed there was, in fact, no support to the cause of Salivateeswaran by Venkateswaran or by Tiwari and therefore the dispute continued to remain an individualresolution is alleged to have been passed by circulation after the commencement of the adjudication proceedings. If the dispute was in its inception an individual dispute and continued to be such till the date of the reference by the Government of Bombay, it could not be converted into an industrial dispute by support subsequent to the reference even of workmen interested in the dispute. We have already held that subsequent withdrawal of support will not take away the jurisdiction of an industrial tribunal. On the same reasoning subsequent support will not convert what was an individual dispute at the time of reference into an industrial dispute. The resolution of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists, assuming that it has any value, would not be sufficient to convert what was an individual dispute into an industrial dispute.