Approbate and Reprobate – Held: A party to a proceeding cannot be permitted to challenge the same but thereafter abide by it out of its own free will; garner benefit from it; get the opposite party to effectively alter its position and then press its challenge after the passage of a considerable length of time – In the present case, the management of FCI filed writ petition challenging the Award passed by the Industrial Tribunal but, depsite having secured conditional interim relief therein, it still chose to implement the impugned Award though it was under no compulsion to do so – Management did not stop short at just reinstating the workmen in service but went further and absorbed them in regular service – Such absorption in service was not at all required under the interim order and was, therefore, squarely attributable to the will and volition of the management of FCI itself – The plea of the management that it was compelled to comply with the Award under the threat of contempt, cannot be accepted as the contempt proceedings were closed long prior to issuance of the orders of ‘reinstatement’ and ‘absorption’ – In effect, the management of FCI chose to acquiesce with and accept the Award passed by the Tribunal in its entirety, though it made such compliance subject to the result of the writ petition – Having allowed the workmen to put in regular service to its own benefit for over two decades, the management cannot claim an indefeasible right to continue with and canvass its challenge to the Award, merely because it made its compliance with the Award conditional long ago – Judgment passed by the Division Bench of the High Court set aside – Order of the Single Judge and the Award passed by the Industrial Tribunal restored, subject to the condition stated – Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 – ss.10(1)(d), 17B, 25F – Acquiescence – Estoppel.
Union of India and others vs. N. Murugesan and others (2022) 2 SCC 25 – relied on.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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