High Court rejects Bata's plea against govt

Footwear major Bata India has suffered a setback after the Delhi High Court rejected its plea challenging the decision of the Centre to refer the dispute regarding dismissal of its 200 shop managers to National Tribunal.

A Bench headed by Justice Manmohan Singh said that the reference made by the central government has been made as per the Act.

"I find that the impugned notification or reference is not passed in violation of the provisions of Section 7B of the Act (Industrial Disputes Act). It satisfies clearly both the threshold requirements (although the satisfaction of one is sufficient) for formation of the opinion by Central Government for the reference," the court said.

The court also rejected the contention of Bata India that unless a question of national importance has arisen, the matter can't be referred to national tribunal.

"I find that once the present case is tested on the second requirement of the Section 7B, the conclusion is inescapable, which is, the petitioner is operating through its various shops all over India. The said branches of the petitioner company can be stated to be industrial establishments, situated in more than one state and the reference of the dispute to the National Tribunal by the Central Government is not bad at least on the count of non-applicability of the provision envisaged under Section 7B of the Act," the court said.

The court also turned down the contention of the Bata India that shop managers are not workmen, saying, "this Court is examining a limited aspect whether the Central Government has rightly referred the matter to the National Industrial Tribunal under Section 7B(1) of the Act and in these proceedings, this Court is not inclined to decide the matter on merit on the basis of facts pleaded by the parties".