Bharat Hotels Limited vs GNCT of Delhi and Another

Hon''ble Mr. P.K. Bhasin, J.—With the consent of counsel for the petitioner and respondent No. 2-workman, this writ petition has been heard today itself finally in view of the fact that only a short law point is involved as to whether the labour Court is expected to decide the question about the validity of a domestic inquiry, when it is challenged by the dismissed workman, as a preliminary issue or the same has to be decided along with ail other issues arising out of the pleadings of the parties.

The labour Court in the present case has declined to decide the workman''s challenge to the validity of the domestic inquiry being relied upon by the petitioner-management as a preliminary issue. The respondent No. 2 workman is also not wanting that, issue to be decided as a preliminary issue and his counsel has submitted that by treating only one Issue as a preliminary issue and inviting a decision on that preliminary issue alone at first instance the mandate of the Legislature as enshrined in the Industrial Disputes Act for the disposal of all labour disputes within a period of three months from the making of the reference would be defeated. It has also been argued that whenever any finding is given on the preliminary issue that becomes challengeable before the superior Courts and in that process, years and years are consumed and the final adjudication of the disputes is delayed.

The learned Labour Court in the present case while declining to treat the issue of enquiry as a preliminary Issue has placed reliance on a Single Judge Bench judgment of this Court in Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Healthcare Limited Vs. Presiding Officer Labour Court-IX and Another, .

I have gone through the said judgment of the Single Judge Bench of this Court and find that the real dispute in that case was whether the writ petition should he entertained at the stage when the preliminary issue of inquiry only is decided by the industrial adjudicator or the aggrieved party should be left to challenge the findings on the inquiry issue also after a final award in the reference proceedings is passed, The question whether the challenge to the validity of a domestic inquiry has to be considered as a preliminary issue or not was not the point for consideration in that case.

The question whether or not the inquiry issue is to be treated us a preliminary issue, has been settled long time back by the three Judges Bench of the Supreme Court in the case of The Cooper Engineering Limited Vs. Shri P.P. Mundhe, . It was held that whenever the validity of domestic Inquiry is under challenge before the industrial adjudicator it has to decide that controversy as a preliminary issue.

This writ petition is therefore allowed. The impugned order of the Labour Court is set aside. The Labour Court shall now decide the issue of inquiry as a preliminary issue.