Case Note & Summary
The petitioner, Shri Gireesh U.G. Menon, was an employee of M/s. Crawford Bayley & Co. and a former member of the Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha (Respondent No. 1). The Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha had filed an application (M.R.T.U. Application No. 14 of 2003) under the Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act, 1971 (MRTU & PULP Act) seeking recognition as the representative union for the employees of M/s. Crawford Bayley & Co. The petitioner, along with other employees, filed affidavits stating that he had resigned from the membership of the Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha on 2.4.2004 and had joined another union, Adarsh Kamgar Sabha. He also informed the union to revoke a resolution dated 19th August, 2003 by which the union had decided to apply for recognition. The petitioner then applied to the Industrial Court to be impleaded as a party in the recognition proceedings. The Industrial Court rejected his application. Aggrieved, the petitioner filed the present writ petition before the Bombay High Court. The legal issue was whether an individual employee who has resigned from the applicant union has a right to be impleaded in proceedings for recognition of a trade union. The petitioner argued that he had a direct interest in the outcome as his choice of union was affected. The respondents contended that recognition proceedings are between the union and the employer, and individual employees have no locus standi. The High Court, after hearing the parties, dismissed the petition. The court held that under the scheme of the MRTU & PULP Act, recognition is a matter between the union and the employer, and an individual employee who has resigned from the union does not have a right to be impleaded. The court noted that the petitioner's remedy, if any, lay elsewhere and not by way of impleadment in the recognition proceedings. The petition was dismissed with no order as to costs.
Headnote
A) Trade Union Law - Recognition of Trade Union - Impleadment of Individual Employee - Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act, 1971 (MRTU & PULP Act) - Section 11 - The petitioner, an employee who resigned from the applicant union, sought impleadment in recognition proceedings. The Industrial Court rejected the application. The High Court held that an individual employee who has resigned from the union has no locus standi to be impleaded in such proceedings, as recognition is a matter between the union and the employer. The court reasoned that allowing such impleadment would disrupt the scheme of the Act. (Paras 1-3)
Issue of Consideration
Whether an employee who has resigned from the applicant union is entitled to be impleaded as a party in proceedings for recognition of a trade union under the MRTU & PULP Act.
Final Decision
The High Court dismissed the writ petition, upholding the Industrial Court's order refusing impleadment. No order as to costs.
Law Points
- Right to be impleaded in recognition proceedings under MRTU & PULP Act is not available to individual employees who have resigned from the applicant union
- locus standi of individual employee in trade union recognition matters
- scope of Section 11 of MRTU & PULP Act
