The Original Industrial Disputes Act

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The original Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter ‘ID Act, 1947’) did not encompass provisions for lay-off compensation. The Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1953 inserted Sec. 25 A to Sec. 25 J of the current Chapter VA and the second amendment the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1976 incorporated Chapter VB into the ID Act, 1947 to overcome the difficulties of not having a uniform mechanism to decide the quantum of compensation. The scope of this essay is to examine and determine whether lay-off is a statutory right under the ID Act, 1947. Whether the ID Act, 1947 confers an inherent common law right to the employer to lay-off his employees was the point of contention in two Supreme Court (hereinafter ‘SC’) cases. The author will analyse both the cases; Dewan Tea Estate v. Their Management and Workmen of Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company of India Ltd. v. The Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company and critically adjudge their arguments to reach a conclusion. ANALYSIS OF WORKMEN OF DEWAN TEA ESTATE V. THEIR MANAGEMENT. The respondents in this case contend that the employers have an inherent right to lay-off their employees in accordance with the power conferred by Sec. 25 (C) . The rationale behind arguing this was that if it succeeds, then only the compensation needs to be paid by the employer rather than paying the full back wages. The Tribunal held that the lay-off was justified on two grounds. The reason of the lay-off came directly under the relevant Standing Order (hereinafter ‘SO’) and hence the source of power to lay-off was justified. The Tribunal held that even if the lay-off is not justified by the SO, the employer had a common law right to declare lay-off, as recognized by Sec. 25(C) of ID Act, 194... ... middle of paper ... ...d provision H.H. Prince Azam Jha Bahadur v. Expenditure Tax Officer, Hyderabad [1972] AIR 2324 (SC); “The following guidelines in Canada as to when to use definitions in Acts appear to be fairly universal: Definitions should only be used sparingly and only for the following purposes- a) to establish that a term is not being used in its usual meaning but in several meanings; b) to avoid excessive repetition, c) to allow the use of an abbreviation; d) to signal the use of unusual or novel term.” In this regard the author argues that definition is not a means of conferring a right or a power to the employer to lay-off his employees. Ibid. Workmen v. Firestone Tyre and Rubber Co of India (P) Ltd (n 5). MA Veiyra v. CP Fernandez [1956] 1 LLJ 547 (Bom). Workmen v. Firestone Tyre and Rubber Co of India (P) Ltd (n 12). Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

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