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Bharat Electronics Workers Union v. Bharat Electronics Ltd.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8389 of 2016)Decided 29 Aug 2016
Civil Appeal No. 8389 of 2016
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

Several workmen of Bharat Electronics Ltd. were issued transfer orders, which they challenged through an industrial reference. The Punjab and Haryana High Court (in LPA No. 590 of 2014) had held that the reference as originally framed was not legally tenable and set it aside, but gave the appropriate Government liberty to frame a fresh reference considering the workmen's real grievance, directing that the transfer orders remain in abeyance in the meantime. The Workers' Union then approached the Supreme Court, aggrieved that the High Court had declined to stay the transfers.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court was informed that, following the High Court's order, a fresh reference had already been made to the Central Government Industrial Tribunal, Chandigarh, on 01.02.2016 and was pending; of the 15 affected workmen, 11 had already joined their new postings and only 4 had not. Rather than rule on whether the High Court was right to decline an interim stay, the Court directed the Tribunal to decide the reference and pass its award within four months, ordered that the status quo on posting be maintained for the remaining 4 workmen until then, and recorded both sides' agreement to cooperate with the Tribunal. The appeal was disposed of on these terms.

Lesson Learnt

When a transfer dispute is already pending as a formal industrial reference before a Tribunal, the Supreme Court will often avoid re-deciding interim relief itself and instead fix a strict timeline for the Tribunal to resolve the underlying dispute, while protecting the status quo for the affected workers in the interim.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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