Union of India & Ors. vs K. Suri Babu

Held: Standing Orders made under the 1946 Act are Rules specific to workmen in an industrial establishment – 1946 Act, Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and other such legislations of this period, are worker friendly legislations, enacted to regulate the working conditions of workmen – Standing Orders grant a protection to a workman, inter alia, when he faces a disciplinary proceeding initiated by the employer – Employer is undoubtedly on a much powerful position than a workman and has much stronger bargaining power and consequently the statute has been made to create a balance – The protection of the 1946 Act, cannot be denied to a workman merely for the reason that the employer grants him other services benefits such as pension, gratuity etc. under CCA Rules – A standing order is no ordinary order – It has a statutory mandate – CCA Rules, 1965 are the general Rules whereas Standing Orders are the Special Rules and will override any other general Rule including CCA Rules, 1965 – Moreover, the Standing Orders cover a wide area of activities of a workman and are workmen specific yet in view of s.13B of 1946 Act, a specific notification can be made applying CCA Rules, 1965 to that specific aspect – But a notification is necessary – In the present case, there is nothing on record to show that after the standing orders, which stood certified in the year 1973 and were in force, any subsequent modification was made or any order passed curtailing these standing orders, u/s.10 of the 1946 Act – In the absence of notification u/s.13B of the 1946 Act, there is no fault with the order of the High Court holding that it will be the standing orders and not the CCA Rules, 1965 which will be applicable – Service conditions of respondents will be governed by the Standing Orders as far as the disciplinary proceedings are concerned – Order passed by the High Court upheld – Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 – Service Law. [Paras 7, 8, 11, 17, 18, 20 and 21]

Service Law – Special Rules vis-à-vis General Rules – Standing Orders under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 vis-à-vis Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965:

Held: Standing Orders have the nature of Special Rules – Only in those cases, where the Special Rules fail to lay down provisions for dealing with certain subjects, can the General Rules be pressed into service – The CCA Rules are General Rules which apply to all Government Servants – In the present case, when the Standing Orders for the Department clearly laid down a procedure to be followed in cases of Disciplinary proceedings under Order Nos. 38, 39 & 40, there was no reason for the Department to initiate the said proceedings under the CCA Rules – NFC, Hyderabad failed to place on record any modification made u/s.10 of the 1946 Act to show that the Standing Orders certified for NFC-Hyderabad would not be applicable to the respondent. [Paras 19, 20]

Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 – Objective and purpose – Discussed.

LIST OF CITATIONS AND OTHER REFERENCES

Sudhir Chandra Sarkar v. Tata Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. [1984] 3 SCR 325: (1984) 3 SCC 369; U.P. State Electricity Board and Another v. Hari Shankar Jain and Others, AIR 1979 SC 65 – relied on. Salem-Erode Electricity Distribution Co. (P) Ltd. v. Employees’ Union [1966] 2 SCR 498, Management, Shahdara (Delhi) Saharanpur Light Railway Co. Ltd. v. S.S. Railway Workers Union [1969] 2 SCR 131; Agra Electric Supply Co. Ltd. v. Sri Alladdin and Others (1969) 2 SCC 598; Western India Match Co. Ltd. v. Workmen [1974] 1 SCR 434: (1974) 3 SCC 330; Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. v. Petroleum Coal Labour Union & Ors. [2015] 5 SCR 474 : (2015) 6 SCC 494 – referred to. Air India v. Union of India ILR (1991) 1 Del 88 – referred to. OTHER CASE DETAILS INCLUDING IMPUGNED

ORDER AND APPEARANCES