Patna High Court
Jayant Kumar Sharma And Ors vs The State Of Bihar And Ors on 2 May, 2025
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.2661 of 2015
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1. Jayant Kumar Sharma, Son of Late Shiv Charan Sharma at Zerbehra, Post
Basudeopur, P.S. Kotwali, District - Munger, P.N. No. 2275
2. Ashok Kumar Son of Late Suresh Prasad Singh at Mughal Bazar, Post
Basudeopur, P.S. Kotwali, District - Munger, P.N. No. 2290
3. Anil Kumar Yadav Son of Late Arjun Prasad Yadav at Haji Sujan, Post -
Munger, P.S. Kotwali, District - Munger, P.N. No. 1360
4. Sachchidanand Prasad Son of Late Pulakdhari Prasad Yadav at Shankarpur,
Post - Shankarpur, P.S. Mufassil, District - Munger, P.N. No. 1493
5. Jai Krishna Mandal Son of Late Bodh Narayan Mandal at Mughal Bazar,
Post Basudeopur, P.S. Kotwali, District - Munger, P.N. No. 1404
6. Ajit Kumar Mishra Son of Late Balmiki Mishra at Basudeopur, Post
Basudeopur, P.S. Kotwali, District - Munger, P.N. No. 1459
7. Arbind Kumar Sinha Son of Late Surya Narayan Prasad at Basudeopur
Kayasth Tola, Post Basudeopur, P.S. Kotwali, District - Munger, P.N. No.
890
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State Of Bihar through the Principal Secretary, Labour Resources
Department, Government of Bihar, New Secretariat, Patna
2. The Labour Commissioner - Cum - Registrar, Trade Union Act, 1926, Bihar
Labour Resources Department
3. The Joint Labour Commissioner, Labour Resources Department,
Government of Bihar, New Secretariat, P
4. The Indian Tobacco Company Limited ITC , Munger through its Branch
Manager
5. Dr. (Prof.) Azfar Shamshi, the President, Munger Tobacco Manufacturing
Workers Union, Registration No. 68, M/s I.T.C. Limited, Munger
6. Siyaram Prasad Yadav @ Siyaram Yadav aged 66 years(M), S/o Lakhanlal
Yadav, Resident of Village - Shankarpur, P.S. Shankarpur, District Munger
... ... Respondent/s
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : M/s Ranjan Kumar Sinha
Anshuman Singh, Advocates
For the Respondent/s : Mr Prabhakar Jha, GP 27
Mr. Shankar Kr. Thakur, AC to GP 27
For the Respondent No.4: M/s Mrigank Mauli, Sr. Advocate
Indrajeet Bhushan
Manish Kumar, Advocates
Fro the Respondent No.5: M/s Rama Kant Sharma, Sr. Advocate
Ajit Kumar Sinha,
Amresh Kumar, Advocates
For the Intervenor : M/s Sharda Nand Mishra
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
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Jitenddra Kumar, Advocates
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CORAM: HONOURABLE JUSTICE SMT. G. ANUPAMA CHAKRAVARTHY
ORAL JUDGMENT
Date : 02-05-2025
Re. I.A. No. 1 of 2024
1. I.A. No. 1 of 2024 has been filed by one
Siyaram Prasad Yadav @ Siyaram Yadav seeking
impleadment as a party respondent in the present
writ petition, on the ground that he has been
elected as the President of the Tobacco
Manufacturing Workers Union (T.M. Workers Union),
Registration No. 68 ITC Ltd., pursuant to the
election held on 12.03.2023, wherein he and other
office bearers were duly elected.
2. Considering the averments made in I.A.
No. 1 of 2024 and in the interest of justice, this
Court deems it appropriate to implead Siyaram
Prasad Yadav @ Siyaram Yadav as respondent No.
6 in the present writ petition.
3. Accordingly, I.A. No. 1 of 2024 is
allowed.
4. The petitioner has filed the present Writ
application for the following reliefs:
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
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"i. For issuance of a writ in
the nature of mandamus directing the
respondent nos.2 to 6 to hold the AGM
of the Union bearing Registration No.68
which has completed its 3 years term
on 23.05.2014. The election of which
should have been conducted by the
respondents mentioned above prior to
the expiry of term,
(ii) For directing the
respondent Company to declare holiday
for holding election as provided in the
constitution under the supervision of
the respondent- Labour Superintendent
or Labour Officer or Government
Officers,
(iii) For quashing the letter
no.3420 dated 17.11.2014 issued by
the Labour Commissioner-cum-
Registrar, Labour Union, Bihar
(Respondent no. '2') by which he has
refused and direct to hold the AGM and
election of Munger Tobacco
Manufacturing Workers Union,
Basudeopur, Munger declaring it as time
barred without any provisions thereof
and,
iv) Further, pray for issuance
of any other appropriate writ(s),
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
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order(s), direction(s) and/or relief(s) for
which they are entitled to in the given
facts and circumstances of the case."
5. The main prayer in the present writ
petition is for issuance of a direction to the
respondents to conduct the election of the Munger
Tobacco Manufacturing Workers Union, Registration
No. 68, Indian Tobacco Company Ltd., Munger,
forthwith, for the purpose of electing its
representatives, in accordance with law and under
the provisions of the Trade Unions Act. It is averred
that the term of the President, i.e., respondent No.
5, Dr. (Prof.) Azfar Shamshi, and other office
bearers of the said Union expired in the month of
May, 2014, and that the continued delay, in
holding elections depriving the workers of their
lawful welfare benefits to which they are legally
entitled.
6. For the purpose of disposal of the
present case, it is relevant to note that through I.A.
No. 1 of 2024, the applicant, (respondent No. 6)
Siyaram Prasad Yadav @ Siyaram Yadav, has
brought on record, subsequent developments
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
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along with annexures issued by the Labour
Commissioner-cum-Registrar, Trade Unions,
Government of Bihar. It is submitted that in
accordance with Rule 5(c) of the relevant Rules,
the Executive Committee members had made
requisition notice to the then President, respondent
No. 5 (Dr. Azfar Shamshi), to convene the Annual
General Meeting. Upon his failure to do so within
seven days, thereafter, a joint notice was issued
by the Executive Committee to give 15 days'
notice to all union members and a copy also sent
to the Branch Manager, ITC Ltd., Munger. Due to
the continued inaction of respondent No. 5,
elections of the Munger Tobacco Manufacturing
Workers Union (Reg. No. 68, ITC Ltd., Munger) was
scheduled and held on 12.03.2023, as per the
letter dated 05.03.2023 (Annexure I/2). A general
notice was also issued which published the date of
nominations, i.e., on 07.03.2023, scrutiny and
inquiry to the nomination paper on 09.03.2023,
returning nomination paper by 11.03.2023 upto
2:00 PM, and publication of the final candidate list
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
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on 11.03.2023 at 5:00 PM.
7. It is further submitted that the
election results were published on 12.03.2023
(Annexure I/4), and the names of elected office
members of the said Trade Union was
communicated to all concerned authority including
the Branch Manager, ITC Ltd., Basudevpur, Munger.
Subsequently, the applicant (now respondent No.
6) sent an application on 17.03.2024 (Annexure
I/5) confirming the names of the newly elected
office members. Additionally, an RTI application
was filed by one of the union members, Sri Sanjit
Kumar Pandey, in response to which, the Labour
Resources Department, Government of Bihar,
intimated the names of the newly elected
President and other office bearers.
8. It is also submitted that both
respondent No. 5 and respondent No. 6 submitted
their respective annual returns to the Labour
Commissioner-cum-Registrar, Trade Union, Bihar.
Upon consideration, the authority, by order dated
23.01.2024
(Annexure I/7), held that the report
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
submitted by respondent No. 5 was false and was
in violation of Section 28(1) of the Trade Unions
Act, 1926, as it contained incorrect information and
omitted the names of office bearers. Conversely,
the annual return submitted by respondent No. 6
was found to be correct and in compliance with the
law.
9. It is submitted that some members
of the TM Works Union (Registration No. 68),
Basudevpur, Munger, filed a complaint before the
Labour Commissioner-cum-Registrar, Trade Unions,
Bihar, and the Branch Manager, ITC Ltd.,
Basudevpur, Munger, alleging that respondent No.
5, Md. Azfar Shamshi, was not permitting eligible
factory workers to become union members. Acting
on the complaint, a report was called from the
Superintendent of Police (S.P.), Munger, who in turn
directed the Officer-in-Charge, Basudevpur, to
conduct an inquiry. Upon inquiry, it was found that,
under Section 5(c) of the Act, a requisition notice
was submitted to Prof. Azfar Shamshi to call for a
general meeting, which was not complied.
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
Following the lapse of the statutory period of 15
days elections were conducted on 12.03.2023 in
the presence of an Election Officer and Supervisor.
The result declared Siyaram Yadav as President
along with ten other elected office bearers, and the
outcome was communicated to all concerned
authorities. Subsequently, by letter dated
22.11.2023 (Annexure I/9), issued under the
signature of the Deputy Registrar, Labour Unions,
Labour Resources Department, Bihar, confirmed
the validity of the election held on 12.03.2023
based on the report submtited by the S.P., Munger
vide Memo No. 394 dated 05.08.2023.
10. It is further submitted that
respondent No. 5, aggrieved by the order (Memo
No. 459 dated 23.01.2024), filed a review
application. Upon consideration, it was found that
Dr. Azfar Shamshi was neither a general nor an
honorary member of the Trade Union as per
Section 22 of the Trade Unions Act, 1926. Thus, His
claim as elected President was found contrary to
the Act. The annual report submitted by him was
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
again rejected by order dated 09.08.2024 (Memo
No. 4291) (Annexure I/10), and the communication
was sent to intervenor-respondent No. 6.
Additionally, a social worker, namely, Manoram
Majumdar sought information under the RTI Act
and the S.P., Munger, informed vide letter dated
15.06.2023 about the election which was held on
12.03.2023 and confirmed the election of Siyaram
Yadav as President and other office bearers.
11. A counter affidavit has also been
filed on behalf of the State of Bihar (respondent
Nos. 1 to 3). In Paragraph No. 7 of the said
affidavit, it is stated that several representations
were received by the Department in relation to the
present dispute, including those representations
submitted by the petitioners. After due
examination of all documents available on record,
along with the representations submitted by the
petitioners, the Labour Commissioner-cum-
Registrar, Trade Unions, Bihar (respondent No. 2),
passed a reasoned and speaking order contained
in Memo No. 3420 dated 17.11.2014. By the said
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
order, the claim of the petitioners for holding
elections of the Unions was rejected, relying on the
judgment of the Division Bench of the Hon'ble
Patna High Court dated 10.02.1995 passed in
CWJC No. 6834 of 1994 (Bokaro Steel
Workers Union vs. The State of Bihar &
Others), reported in (1995) 1 PLJR 400.
Wherein, it was held that there is no provision
under the Trade Unions Act, 1926, which empowers
the Registrar to exercise any superintendence or
control over the internal affairs or day-to-day
functioning of a trade union. The order dated
17.11.2014 was duly communicated to both Unions
of ITC, Munger, and the same is under challenge
before this Hon'ble Court.
12. It is submitted by Learned counsel
for the State that the writ petition itself is not
maintainable as per the Division Bench Judgment
of this Court passed in Bokaro Steel Workers
Union (supra). Hon'ble Division Bench has held in
paragraph No. 22 as follows:
"22. On an examination and
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
analysis of the Patna decision (Mukund
Ram Tanti's case), the Allahabad, Andhra
and the Madras decisions, I come to the
following conclusions:
(i) In a dispute between two
rival factions claiming to be the office-
bearers of a trade union, it is open to the
Registrar to hold an enquiry for the
purpose of maintaining and updating the
registers required to be maintained under
Section 8 of the Act.
(ii) His decision in this regard
shall neither confer any right on any
person or group of persons nor divest any
person or group of persons of any lawful
rights.
(iii) Consequently the Registrar
has no authority or power to issue any
direction asking/advising the Labour
Department of the Government or the
employer to recognize and treat any
particular person or group of persons as
the duly elected office-bearers of the
union in dealing with that union.
(iv) The Registrar, Trade
Unions, has no authority or power to direct
the holding of election of the office-
bearers of a union under his own
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
supervision or under the supervision of his
nominee.
(v) In the absence of any
provisions in the Trade Unions Act, any
dispute of his kind can only be resolved by
means of a suit filed before a civil Court.
(vi) The adjudication in a suit
at least in this State is normally a slow and
time consuming process and does not
constitute a wholly satisfactory remedy for
resolving the dispute.
(vii) The Legislature will,
therefore, be well advised to address itself
to this lacuna in the Trade Unions Act and
to take steps to remedy it which has been
long over due"
13. In the light of the aforesaid
judgment, it is clear that the Registrar is not
empowered to the interfere into the affairs of
Union and he can only hold an enquiry for the
purpose of maintaining and updating the register
as required under Section 8 of the Act and such
disputes can only be decided by suit before a Civil
Court.
Patna High Court CWJC No.2661 of 2015 dt.02-05-2025
disclose that the last election of the Munger
Tobacco Manufacturing Workers Union Registration
68 Indian Tobacco Company Ltd., Munger was held
on 12th March, 2023, for a tenure of three years.
However, the counter of Respondent No. 5 disclose
that election was held on 02.10.2024.
15. In view of the aforesaid discussion,
this Court is of the considered opinion that the
next election shall be conducted in accordance
with law. Furthermore, it is observed that the
Registrar as well as the Union is not empowered to
interfere with the internal management and affairs
of ITC Ltd.
16. With the above observations, the
writ petition stands disposed of.
17. Interlocutory Application(s), if any,
shall stand disposed of.
Spd/- (G. Anupama Chakravarthy, J)
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE NA
Uploading Date 07.05.2025
Transmission Date
