Industrial Disputes (Central) Rules, 1957

The Supreme Court considered a civil appeal by the Central Bank of India against a High Court order that granted re‑employment relief to a group of workmen who had been retrenched between 1974 and 1976. The workmen filed a writ petition in 1982 invoking Section 25‑H of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, seeking prefere…

M/s. FabriL Gasosa entered into a written settlement with the employees' union in 1986 providing for Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA). The union later gave notice of termination and issued a fresh charter of demands, but did not alter the VDA rate. The employer unilaterally froze VDA and claimed an oral agreement to t…

The Union of India appealed a Bombay High Court judgment that had quashed an order dividing electoral constituencies for the election of a Works Committee under the Industrial Disputes (Central) Rules, 1957. The order sought to create multiple constituencies to represent various sections of workers, even though the M.T…

Brooke Bond India Ltd. and its workmen’s unions were involved in a government‑referenced industrial dispute. The Rashtriya Union’s negotiation committee signed a memorandum of settlement on 16 March 1978, which was later filed for an award. The union’s executive committee subsequently resolved to reject the agreement, …

The case concerned whether an Industrial Tribunal or Labour Court loses its jurisdiction to set aside an ex‑parte award once the award becomes enforceable under Section 17A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The appellant, Haryana Suraj Malting Ltd., sought to have an ex‑parte award against workman Phool Chand recal…

The Supreme Court examined the constitutionality of Section 25‑N of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, which requires prior governmental permission before an employer can retrench workmen in large establishments. The Court held that the right to retrench is an integral part of the employer’s Article 19(1)(g) right to c…

The Supreme Court examined whether bank employees on strike were entitled to wages for the strike period. It held that entitlement to wages requires the strike to be both legal and justified, and that questions of legality and justifiability are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the industrial adjudicator under the …

The appellant, a permanent driver at DAV Public School, was declared surplus and retrenched by the school’s Managing Committee in 2003. The school served a notice under Section 25F(a) of the Industrial Disputes Act but failed to send the statutory notice to the appropriate government authority under Section 25F(c) and …

The Central Government referred an industrial dispute between Grindlays Bank Ltd. and its workmen to the Central Government Industrial Tribunal under s.10 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. After several adjournments, the Tribunal refused a further adjournment on 9 December 1976 and passed an ex‑parte award, relying…

Om Prakash Sharma, a casual worker of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, was terminated after three and a half months and replaced by a junior employee. He raised an industrial dispute and the appropriate Government referred the question of whether his termination violated Section 25H of the Industrial Disputes Act, 194…

Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. (the appellant) had engaged a contractor to transport crushed coal, employing 32 workmen from 1984 to 1994. The workers' union sought regularisation of all 32 workers under clauses of the National Coal Wage Agreement IV, leading to a settlement on 5 April 1997 that regularised only 19 of them, …

Sanwar Mal, a former Class‑IV employee of UCO Bank who resigned in 1988, sought to join the bank's Employees' Pension Scheme introduced in 1995 under a 1993 settlement. The bank refused, invoking Regulation 22 which disqualifies any employee who has resigned, been dismissed or removed from pension benefits. The employe…

The appellant, a clerk promoted to Assistant Manager in UCO Bank, sought reversion to his clerical post after more than a year on probation. The bank granted reversion on conditions that he permanently lose any chance of promotion and be denied stagnation increments. The appellant challenged these conditions, arguing t…

Mis Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a public sector undertaking, gave contract work to the widows and dependents of employees who died in harness after a union demand, without any compassionate appointment scheme. The contracts were later terminated in 1998 due to the company's severe financial distress, prompting…

Harjinder Singh, a workman employed by Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, was retrenched despite seniority over junior employees. The Labour Court awarded him reinstatement with 50% back wages under Section 25G of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The Punjab & Haryana High Court, exercising writ jurisdiction under …

The appellants were officers of Canara Bank who resigned between 1986 and June 1993, i.e., before the statutory settlement dated 29‑Oct‑1993 and the Canara Bank Employees' Pension Regulations, 1995 came into force. They claimed entitlement to a pension in lieu of the Contributory Providable Fund, relying on the pension…

Vijay Kumar Handa, a clerk of UCO Bank, was charged with gross misconduct and dismissed from service in 1999. The appellate authority modified the penalty to removal from service with entitlement to terminal benefits, stating that removal would not disqualify future employment. The bank later challenged the award of th…

The respondent, Pratap Singh, worked as a peon for the Barara Cooperative Marketing‑cum‑Processing Society Ltd from 1973 until his termination in 1985. The Labour Court held the termination illegal and awarded him a lump‑sum compensation of Rs.12,500 in lieu of reinstatement, which he accepted. In 1993 he sought re‑emp…