National Coal Workers Congress vs Union of India (UOI) and Others

The Central Government refused to refer a dispute sought to be raised by the writ petitioner u/s 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act on the ground that the claim was stale. Learned counsel for the petitioner argued that there was no period of limitation as such for raising a dispute. May be so, but, that does not mean that in an appropriate case the Central Government or the appropriate Government can not come to a conclusion that a particular claim was stale and hence it does not deserve to be referred u/s 10(1) read with Section 12(5) of the Industrial Disputes Act.

We find on the facts that the claim was rather stale. Remembering that we are not sitting in appeal over the decision of the Central Government and we are exercising only a certiorari jurisdiction, we are satisfied that no interference is called for. We also feel that the view taken by us is supported by the decisions in Gurdial Singh v. Raj Kumar Aneja (2002) 2 SCC 455 and The Secretary Indian Tea Association Vs. Ajit Kumar Barat and Others, Hence we dismiss the writ petition.