Jammu & Kashmir High Court – Srinagar Bench
Jammu And Kashmir Bank Ltd vs Industrial Tribunal Cum Labour Court on 1 January, 2025
Author: Rajnesh Oswal
Bench: Rajnesh Oswal
HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH
AT SRINAGAR
OWP No. 417/2019 [WP (C) No. 1163/2019]
Reserved on: 17.12.2024
Pronounced on: 01.01.2025
1. Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd.
Corporate Headquarters,
M. A. Road, Srinagar.
2. Assistant Vice President J&K Bank Ltd.,
Corporate Headquarters, Srinagar.
3. Associate Executive Establishment HRDD
J&K Bank Ltd., Corporate Headquarters,
Srinagar.
4. Zonal Head J&K Bank (Jammu North)
Doda, Jammu.
5. Cluster Head (Cluster III) Jammu North
Kishtwar, Jammu.
6. Branch Manager
J&K Bank Main Branch Doda, Jammu.
7. Branch Manager
J&K Bank Goha Marmat Doda, Jammu.
Through its Attorney Holder, Namely,
Peerzada Umer Amin
S/o Peerzada Mohammad Amin
R/o Tarbal Nawakadal, Srinagar.
...Petitioner(s)
Through: Mr. Rabinder Singh, Adv.
VERSUS
1. Industrial Tribunal Cum Labour Court
J&K at Srinagar through its
Presiding Officer.
2. Qaiser Qalandar,
S/o Farid Ahmad Zargar,
R/o Mohammad Irfanabad Doda Jammu.
...Respondent(s)
Through: Mr. S. R. Khawar, Adv.
Mr. Aabid Hameed, Adv.
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CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJNESH OSWAL, JUDGE
JUDGMENT
1. The respondent No. 2 had filed an application under Section 2-A (2)
read with section 10 of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 with the
respondent No. 1, praying thereby that the voluntary vacation/cessation
order be declared as null and void and the petitioner-Bank be directed
to reinstate him in services with immediate effect with all the
consequential service benefits.
2. The petitioners filed their response and raised a preliminary objection
with regard to the jurisdiction of the Industrial Tribunal cum Labour
Court of J&K at Srinagar on the ground that the ‘appropriate
Government’ in respect of “Banking” is a Central Government in terms
of Section 2(a) of the Act (supra), therefore, the Tribunal being the
State Industrial Tribunal/Labour Court has no jurisdiction to try the
matter. After hearing the parties, the respondent No. 1 vide its order
dated 13.03.2019 rejected the preliminary objection raised by the
petitioners by arriving at a conclusion that the State Government is the
‘appropriate Government’ for the bank and the Industrial Tribunal-
Labour Court established by the State Government shall have the
jurisdiction to adjudicate the application filed by the respondent No.2.
To arrive at the above-mentioned conclusion, the respondent No. 1
placed reliance upon the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of
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India in case titled as “Nashik Workers Union vs. Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited” reported in (2016) 6 SCC 224.
3. The petitioner-bank has impugned the order dated 13.03.2019 passed
by the respondent No. 1 through the medium of present petition on the
ground that the reliance placed upon the judgment in case titled
“Nashik Workers Union vs. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited” (supra)
by the learned Tribunal is misplaced, as in case of ‘banks’ it is only the
Industrial Tribunal, established by the Central Government, which has
the jurisdiction to deal with the Industrial disputes.
4. The respondent No. 2-the applicant before the Tribunal has objected to
the petition by asserting that the J&K Bank is an authority and
instrumentality of the State and was created by Maharaja of Jammu &
Kashmir. Further, the UT Government has a major shareholding of
nearly 59.3% in the J&K Bank ltd. and thus it has both financial and
administrative control over the Bank.
5. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
6. The following issues arise for determination:
A. Whether in case of industrial dispute between Jammu &
Kashmir Bank Ltd. and its workman, the Central Government
or the State Government i.e. Government of UT of J&K is the
‘appropriate Government’ in terms of Section 2(a) of the Act
(supra)?
B. Whether the Industrial Tribunal-Labour Court established by
the State Government of J&K, now Government of UT of J&K,
has the jurisdiction to adjudicate the industrial dispute between
the J&K Bank Ltd. and its workman?
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ISSUE A:
“Whether in case of industrial dispute between Jammu & Kashmir
Bank Ltd. and its workman, the Central Government or the State
Government i.e. Government of UT of J&K is the ‘appropriate
Government’ in terms of Section 2(a) of the Act (supra)?”
7. Section 2(a) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 provides that
“appropriate government” means
in relation to any industrial dispute concerning any industry
carried on by or under the authority of the Central Government,
or by a railway company or concerning any such controlled
industry as may be specified in this behalf by the Central
Government or in relation to an industrial dispute concerning
a Dock Labour Board established under section 5A of the Dock
Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1948 (9 of 1948),
or the Industrial Finance Corporation of India Limited formed
and registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), or
the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation established under
section 3 of the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 (34 of
1948), or the Board of Trustees constituted under section 3A
of the Coal Mines Provident Fund and Miscellaneous
Provisions Act, 1948 (46 of 1948), or the Central Board of
Trustees and the State Boards of Trustees constituted under
section 5A and section 5B, respectively, of the Employees’
Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (19 of
1952), or the Life Insurance Corporation of India established
under section 3 of the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956
(31 of 1956), or [the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited
registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956)], or
Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation
established under section 3 of the Deposit Insurance and Credit
Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961 (47 of 1961), or the Central
Warehousing Corporation established under section 3 of the
Warehousing Corporations Act, 1962 (58 of 1962), or the Unit
Trust of India established under section 3 of the Unit Trust of
India Act, 1963 (52 of 1963), or the Food Corporation of India
established under section 3 or a Board of Management
established for two or more contiguous States under section 16
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of the Food Corporations Act, 1964 (37 of 1964), or [the
Airports Authority of India constituted under section 3 of the
Airports Authority of India Act, 1994 (55 of 1994)], or a
Regional Rural Bank established under section 3 of the
Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 (21 of 1976), or the Export
Credit and Guarantee Corporation Limited or the Industrial
Reconstruction Bank of India [the National Housing Bank
established under section 3 of the National Housing Bank Act,
1987 (53 of 1987)], or an air transport service, or a banking or
an insurance company, a mine, an oilfield] [, a Cantonment
Board,] or a 6 [major port, any company in which not less than
fifty-one per cent. of the paid-up share capital is held by the
Central Government, or any corporation, not being a
corporation referred to in this clause, established by or under
any law made by Parliament, or the Central public sector
undertaking, subsidiary companies set up by the principal
undertaking and autonomous bodies owned or controlled by
the Central Government, the Central Government, and]
(ii) in relation to any other industrial dispute, including the
State public sector undertaking, subsidiary companies set up
by the principal undertaking and autonomous bodies owned or
controlled by the State Government, the State Government:
Provided that in case of a dispute between a contractor and the
contract labour employed through the contractor in any
industrial establishment where such dispute first arose, the
appropriate Government shall be the Central Government or
the State Government, as the case may be, which has control
over such industrial establishment;
8. Section 2(bb) of the Act (supra) provides that the “banking company”
means ” means a banking company as defined in section 5 of the
Banking Companies Act, 1949 (10 of 1949), having branches or other
establishments in more than one State, and includes [the Export-Import
Bank of India,] [the Industrial Reconstruction Bank of India,] [the
Small Industries Development Bank of India established under section
3 of the Small Industries Development Bank of India Act, 1989 (39 of
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1989),] the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India [ acorresponding new bank constituted under section 3 of the Banking
Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (5 of
1970) 5 [, a corresponding new bank constituted under section 3 of the
Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act,
1980 (40 of 1980), and any subsidiary bank]] as defined in the State
Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959 (38 of 1959);]
9. Section 5 (c) of the Act No. 10 of 1949 provides that the “banking
company” means any company which transacts the business of banking
in India. Section 5 (b) of the Act No.10 of 1949 defines banking as
accepting, for the purpose of lending or investment, of deposits of
money from the public, repayable on demand or otherwise, and
withdrawable by cheque, draft, order or otherwise. Section 5(d) of the
Act (supra) provides that the company means as defined in section 3 of
the Companies Act, 1956.
10. Section 3(1)(i) of the Companies Act, 1956 provides that company
means a company formed and registered under this Act or an existing
company as defined in clause (ii).
11. Section 3(1)(ii) of the Companies Act, 1956 provides that “existing
company” means a company formed and registered under any of the
previous companies laws specified below: –
(a) any Act or Acts relating to companies in force before the Indian
Companies Act, 1866 (10 of 1866), and repealed by that Act ;
(b) the Indian Companies Act, 1866 (10 of 1866) ;
(c) the Indian Companies Act, 1882 (6 of 1882) ;
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(d) the Indian Companies Act, 1913 (7 of 1913) ;
(e) the Registration of Transferred Companies Ordinance, 1942 (54 of
1942) ; and
(f) any law corresponding to any of the Acts or the Ordinance aforesaid
and in force in the merged territories or in a Part B States (other than the
State of Jammu and Kashmir), or any part thereof, before the extension
thereto of the Indian Companies Act, 1913 (7 of 1913) ; or in the State of
Jammu and Kashmir, or any part thereof, before the commencement
of the Jammu and Kashmir (Extension of Laws) Act, 1956 (62 of
1956), insofar as banking, insurance and financial corporations are
concerned, and before the commencement of the Central Laws
(Extension to Jammu & Kashmir) Act, 1968 (25 of 1968), insofar as
other corporations are concerned ; and
(g) the Portuguese Commercial Code, insofar as it relates to “sociedades
anonimas”;
12. The Jammu and Kashmir Bank ltd. was incorporated as a public limited
company under the Jammu and Kashmir Companies Regulations Number 11 of
1977 on 01.10.1938 i.e. much before the commencement of the Central Laws
(Extension to Jammu & Kashmir) Act, 1968 (25 of 1968). Thus, the Jammu and
Kashmir Bank Ltd is an “existing company” within the meaning of the
Companies Act and is a ‘company’ in terms of the Companies Act, 1956.
Further, section 2 (20) of the Companies Act 2013, provides that the company
means company incorporated under this law or any previous law. The Jammu
and Kashmir Bank ltd. is involved in the business of ‘banking’, having its
branches all over the country and as such has all the attributes of ‘banking
company’ as defined under the Act No.10 of 1949, which finds reference in the
Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
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13. Thus, this court is of the considered view that in case of industrial dispute
between the Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd. and its workman, the appropriate
Government would be ‘the Central Government’. The issue No.1 is decided
accordingly.
ISSUE B:
“Whether the Industrial Tribunal-Labour Court established by
the State Government of J&K, now Government of UT of J&K,
has the jurisdiction to adjudicate the industrial dispute between the
J&K Bank Ltd. and its workman?”
14. As this court has arrived at the conclusion that the central government is
appropriate government in case of an industrial dispute between the petitioner
bank and its workman, therefore as a natural consequence, the Industrial
Tribunal-Labour Court, established by the central government ordinarily shall
have the jurisdiction to adjudicate the industrial dispute between the petitioner-
bank and its workman. The perusal of proviso to section 10 of the Industrial
Disputes Act, 1947 reveals that the dispute, where the Central Government is
the appropriate Government, it shall be within the competence of that
Government to refer the dispute to a labour court or Industrial Tribunal, as the
case may be, constituted by the State Government. Thus, the Central
Government can refer the dispute to a labour court or Industrial Tribunal,
constituted by the State Government, but otherwise the Industrial Tribunal-
Labour Court, established by the central government ordinarily shall have the
jurisdiction to adjudicate the industrial dispute between the petitioner- bank and
its workman. Accordingly, it is held that in case of an industrial dispute between
the J&K Bank Ltd. and its workman, only the labour court or Industrial tribunal,
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established by the Central Government, shall have power to adjudicate the same
but the Central Government may refer the dispute to labour court or Industrial
Tribunal established by the State Government and in that eventuality only, the
labour court or Industrial Tribunal established by the State Government shall
have jurisdiction to adjudicate the same.
15. The perusal of the order impugned reveals that the learned Tribunal has
not considered the controversy in its right perspective and has relied upon the
judgment, which was not at all applicable in the instant case.
16. In view of the above, the petition is disposed of by directing the respondent
No. 1 to return the application filed by the respondent No.2 to him and thereafter
the respondent No.2 shall be at liberty to get the dispute settled in accordance
with law. Needless, to say that the period of limitation shall not come in the way
of the respondent No.2 in availing the remedy under the Industrial Disputes, Act
1947, in accordance with law.
17. Disposed of.
(RAJNESH OSWAL)
JUDGE
SRINAGAR
01.01.2025.
Sakeena
Whether the order is reportable: Yes/No
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