SARDAR MUHAMMAD IQBAL J.-The Registrar of Trade Unions has registered the employers' Union which is known by the name of National Bank of Pakistan Supervisory Staff Union. The petitioner who is a Supervisor in the National Bank of Pakistan has challenged the order of respondent No. 1 as being without lawful authority and of no legal effect.
2. The facts leading up to this petition are that there is a registered Trade Union known as the National Bank of Pakistan Staff Union. The petitioner is the Secretary and a Supervisor in the Principal office of the National Bank of Pakistan. Under rule 4 of the Rules of National Bank of Pakistan Staff Union, Lahore, any employee of National 'sank of Pakistan including Supervisors and the like (not employer himself) are eligible to be come ordinary members of the Union. The National Bank of Pakistan Staff Union (Regd.) is affiliated to the National Bank of Pakistan Employees Federation West Pakistan (Regd.). The latter body is a bargaining agent for all the employees of the National Bank of Pakistan in West Pakistan.
It is contended that a Trade Union is necessary to be only of the workers or workmen and that a Trade Union of the employers is not contemplated in the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969. He refers to clause (c) of section 3 of the Ordinance, which provides: "Trade Unions and employers' associations shall have the right to draw up their constitutions and rules, to elect their representatives in full freedom, to organise their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes" to high light the point that the employers have only associations whereas the Trade Unions have to be of their employees.
4. Trade Union is defined in clause (xxvi) of section 2 of the Ordinance to mean "any combination of workmen or employers formed primarily for the purposes of regulating the relations between workmen and employers or workmen and workmen or employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade or business and includes a federation of two or more Trade Unions".
The employers can thus also combine together to form a Trade Union to regulate the relations between employers and workmen, or employers and employers, and also for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade or business.
"Two or more registered trade unions may" under sub--section (1) of section 20 of the Ordinance "constitute a federa--tion by executing an instrument of federation and apply for the registration of the federation". The fact that a Trade Union may be constituted by the employers is also manifest from the proviso to subsection (1) of section 20 ibid, which lays down: "Provided that a trade union of workmen shall not join a federation which comprises a Trade Union of employers; nor shall a trade union of employers join a federation which comprises a Trade Union of workmen." The law thus clearly makes provision for the constitution of a Trade Union of the employers quite distinct from the quite of the workmen. The provisions contained in clause (c) of section 3, relied upon by the learned counsel cannot be read detached from the other provisions of the Ordinance.
5. Learned counsel next contended that before a Trade Union can be registered it trust, under clause (d) of section 7 give "the names of the persons forming the executive committee, including the officers, of whom seventy-five percent. shall be from amongst the workers actually engaged or employed in the establishment with which the Trade Union is connected, and the manner of their election" and that if a Trade Union is formed of the employers, compliance with this provision would be impossible.
The argument appears to be quite convincing in the first instance, but analysis of the relevant provisions pertaining to the registration of a Trade Union shows that it is untenable.
It is provided in section 6 as to what are the requirements which must be complied with while submitting an application for the registration of a Trade Union. The application has to be accompanied by a statement showing (i) the name of the Trade Union and the address of its Head Office; (ii) date of formation of the Union; (iii) the titles, names, ages, addresses and occupa--tions of the officers of the Trade Union; (iv) statement of total paid membership; and (v) in case of a federation of Trade pinions the names, addresses and registration number of member-unions. The application is to be made to the Registrar and it is also to be accompanied by three copies of the constitution of the Trade Union together with a copy of the resolution by the members of the Trade -Union adopting such constitution bearing the signature of the Chairman of the meeting. It has also to be accompanied by a copy of the resolution by the members of the Trade Union authorising its President and the Secretary to apply for its registration. If an employers' Union intends to get itself registered, there can be no difficulty to comply with the provisions of section 6 of the Ordinance.
It is, however, provided in section 7: "A Trade Union shah not lie entitled to registration under this Ordinance unless the constitution thereof provides for" "(a) the name and address of tire Trade Union; (6) the objects for which the Trade Union has been formed; (c) the purposes for which the general funds of the Union shall be applicable; (d) the names of the persons forming the executive committee including the officers, of whom seventy---five percent. shall be from amongst the workers actually engaged or employed in the establishment with which the Trade Union is connected, and the manner of their election; (e) the conditions under which a member shall be entitled to any benefit assured. by the constitution of the Trade Union and under which any fine or forfeiture may be imposed on hire; (f) the maintenance of a list of the members of the Trade Union and of adequate facilities for the inspection thereof by the officers and members of the Trade Union; (g) the manner in which the constitution shall be amended, varied or rescinded; (h) the safe custody of the funds of the Trade Union, its annual audit, the manner of audit and adequate facilities for inspection of the account books by the officers and members of the Trade Union ; and
(i) the manner in which the Trade Union may be dissolved".
It is not possible in the case of a Trade Union of employers to comply with the requirement that seventy-five percent. of the officers should be from amongst the workers. It per se applies to a Trade Union of the workmen. Does it mean that the non-compliance compliance with this provision, the observance of which is otherwise not possible will disentitle a Trade Union of the employers to be registered although the same law provides for its formation Section 7 does not say that a Trade Union shall not be registered unless it satisfies the requirements mentioned therein. It says that it shall be entitled which means that it, unless complies with the provisions cannot claim as of right to be registered.
It is one thing to say that a "Trade Union shall not be entitled to registration" and quite another to provide that a "Trade Union shall not be registered" under the Ordinance. Whereas in the latter case there is a bar to the registration, in the former one a Trade Union cannot claim as of right to be registered. A Trade Union in the peculiar circumstances of its own case may be registered in the discretion of the Registrar even if it is not able to comply with all the requirements contained in clauses (a) to (i) of section 7. The intention of the Legislature in enacting clause (d) being applicable to one set of circumstances or situation and that being a Trade Union of workmen, it cannot be pressed into service to contend that it negatives the possibility of a Trade Union of the employers to be constituted. To hold so would be to destroy the definition clause of "Trade Union" and also other provisions which laid down for the formation of a Trade Union of the employers. It is a cardinal principle of interpretation of statute that no word used in it is superfluous and that it should be so interpreted as not to render any provision redundant or useless. In Quebec Railways, Light, Heat and Power Company Limited v. Vandry and others (AIR 1920 P C 181) it was held that- "effect must be given if possible to all the words used, for the Legislature is deemed not to waste its words or to say anything in vain."
It was earlier held in Queen v. The Bishop of Oxford ((1879) 4 P B D 245 at p. 261) that:- "A statute ought to be so construed that no part of it shall be `superfluous, void or nugatory'."
6. It was next contended that there is no collective bargain--ing agent of the employers and that being so an industrial dispute on their behalf cannot be raised under the Ordinance because one is not deemed to exist unless it is raised by the Collective bargaining agent. Reliance was placed on section 43 which reads as:- "No industrial dispute shall be deemed to exist unless it has been raised in the prescribed manner by a collective bargaining Agent."
The collective bargaining agent as defined in section 2 (v) is constituted or elected under section 22 only by the workmen. The employers cannot participate in their election obviously for the reason that the collective bargaining agent represents only the workmen and not the employers. It is, therefore, in this context that section 43 has to be interpreted and is applicable only to industrial dispute which as raised on behalf of the- workmen and not the one which is raised by the employers. Section 43 is unhappily worded. It is well settled that want of skill in drafting a provision does not go to the root of the matter and should not affect the correct interpretation of the statute.
It is at pages 221 and 222 of Maxwell's Interpretation of Statutes, Eleventh Edition:- "Where the again object and interpretation of a statute ace clear, it must not be reduced to a nullity by the draftsman's own skillfulness or ignorance of the law, except in a case of interest or the absolute intractability of the language used.
If section 43 is literally interpreted and applied, it may lead to absurdity because under the Ordinance an industrial dispute can exist between the employers and the employers and it also provides for its settlement.
An industrial dispute under clause (xiii) of section 2 of the Ordinance means "any dispute or difference between employers and employers or between employers and workmen or between workmen and workmen which is connected with the employment or non-employment or the terms of employment or the condition of work of any person". Since there can be more than one employers in an establishment or a factory (with this aspect we would presently deal) there may be a dispute or difference between such employers connected with the employment or non--- employment or the terms of employment or the conditions of work of any person. The Ordinance provides for the determination of such disputes. The Trade Union of the employers can make this dispute as a subject-matter of determination by the Labour Court. The only difference between an industrial dispute raised by a Trade Union of workmen and the Trade union of employers is that whereas the former has the benefit of having the dispute settled through the agency of bargaining agent by conciliation and by settlement, a Trade Union of employers can have the dispute resolved only by means of an application to the Court under section 34 which lays down that "any party to an Industrial dispute relating to a matter arising out of any right guaranteed or secured to an employer or workman- by or under any law for the time being in force or an award or settlement may apply to the Labour Court for adjudication of the dispute. If an employer has a dispute with the other employer and the same is connected with the employment, or unemployment or the terms of employment, or the conditions of his work, he may have the dispute settled by a resort to the provisions of section 34 of the Ordinance. The award of the Labour Court given under section 37 will be binding on the parties under section 39 and would remain effective for the period not exceeding two years, as may be specified in the award. If any money becomes due on an award to any person he becomes entitled to its-recovery and section 51. An employers' union has restricted benefits against another employer as compared to the benefits which the Trade Union constituted of the workmen has against the employers. The conditions of service of a workman cannot to his disadvantage be changed during the pendency of proceedings as provided in section 47, and in case any employer contravenes the provisions of this section, he shall be punishable under section 60 with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both. There is, however, no provision for safeguarding the conditions of service of one employer against another. The fact that the employers have limited, restricted or less benefits than the workmen under the Ordinance would not make any difference so far as the formation of a trade union by them or its registration is concerned.
7. It was also contended that the Supervisors of the National Bank of Pakistan being not the employers could not form a Trade Union of the employers. They were, according to the submission of the petitioner's counsel, workmen and already the members of the National Bank of Pakistan Staff Union which was formed in the year 1962 and had been registered under the Trade Unions Act of 1926.
The question whether the Supervisors are the employers or the workmen is a question of fact.
"Worker" and "workmen" as defined in clause (xxviii) of section 2 means "any person not falling within the definition of employer who is employed (including employment as an apprentice) in an establishment or industry for hire or reward either directly or through a contractor whether the terms of employment be expressed or implied, and, for the, purpose of any proceedings under this Ordinance in relation to an industrial dispute includes a person who has been dismissed, discharged, retrenched, lay off or removal has led to that dispute". The employer is expressly excluded from the category' of a worker or the workman. An employer in relation to an establishment, as defined in clause (viii) of section 2 means "any person or body of persons, whether incorporated or not, who or which employs workmen in the establishment under a contract of employment". It also includes "any person responsible for the Management, supervision and control of the establishment". Under sub-clause (e) of clause (vii) ibid, an employer includes "in relation to any other establishment, the proprietor of such establishment and every director, manager, Agent or other officer or person concerned With the Management of the affairs thereof".
There can, therefore, be more than, one employer in one establishment. It is for this reason that an industrial dispute as defined in clause (xiii) means "any dispute or difference between employers and employers" etc. The National Bank of Pakistan Supervisory Staff Union has been registered us an employers' Union presumably on the ground that a Supervisor is a "person concerned with the Management of the-affairs of the National Bank of Pakistan. If a Supervisor falls within this category, he is indeed as employer and if so he cannot be a workman.
The petitioner is s supervisor and asserts that the Supervisors do not fall within the definition of an employer. The question whether or not a Supervisor is a person concerned with the management, supervision and control of they establishment of National Bank of Pakistan depends for its determination on facts which can only be ascertained through an enquiry. We do not ordinarily hold an enquiry into such questions and there does not seem any extraordinary reason to do so in the present case.
8. The petition merits to be dismissed also on the ground that there are adequate provisions in the Ordinance itself to challenge the registration of respondent-Union. The Registrar has, on registering the respondent-Union under section 8, issued a certificate of registration under section 9. The registration can be questioned under section 10 of the Ordinance which provides: "The Registrar may, op. the application of a registered Trade Union or on the direction of the Labour Court made on a written complaint from the Registrar for any unfair labour practice as specified in section 15 and section 16 on the part of 4 Trade Union or for violation of any provision of this Ordinance, cancel its registration. The National Bank of Pakistan Staff Union could apply to the Registrar for cancellation of the registration of the National Bank of Pakistan Supervisory Union, if it had the basis to say that be has in doing so violated any of the provision of the Ordinance. It is further provided in section 11 that "any Trade Union aggrieved by a decision given under section 10 may appeal to the Labour Appellate Tribunal which may uphold or reject the decision". The petitioner, however, in his individual capacity, could not submit an application to the Registrar under section 10 or an appeal. under section 11 to the Labour Appellate Tribunal.
9: There is yet another aspect of the case. It is open to the Staff Union to raise an industrial dispute pertaining to supervisors through its collective bargaining agent. The question whether or not a supervisor is a workman and his dispute can be raised by a collective bargaining agent can be determined to proceedings under the Ordinance itself. The collective bargaining agent can initiate proceedings under section 26 only if an industrial dispute is likely to arise between the employer and any of the workmen. The management may refuse to arrange a meeting if it thinks that Supervisors are not workmen and that being so there is no industrial dispute between the employers and the workmen. The collective bargaining agent may in such a situation serve a notice of strike under section 28 on the other party. The conciliator may call a meeting of the parties for the purposes of settlement. The management may again refuse resulting in the failure of the conciliation and if it further refuses to refer the matter to arbitration the workmen may go on strike which may result into a reference of the dispute to the Labour Court under subsection (3) of section 32. The Labour Court which is required to give an award under section 32(4) will then have to decide that question whether or not any industrial dispute arises and in deciding that question it can take into consideration the fact whether or not the Supervisor are the employers.
10. Moreover the scheme of the Industrial- Relation Ordinance, 1969, is to set up a particular machinery by the use of which alone the formation of Trade Unions, the regulation of relation between employers and workmen and the avoidance and settlement of any differences or disputes arising between them or matters connected therewith and ancillary thereto can effectively be had. The Ordinance prescribes both the remedy and the manner in which it may be enforced. In our view the only remedies open to the petitioner against the order of the Registrar whereby he re'8istered the respondent-Union, whether by means of an application under section 10 to the Registrar for cancellation of registration or an appeal to the Labour Appellate Tribunal under section 11, are to be found within the four corners of the Ordinance. Since an effective and appropriate machinery is a provided by the Act itself, we would not like to exercise the extraordinary jurisdiction conferred on us by Article 98 of the Constitution of 1962.
The upshot of the above discussion is that the petition fails and is hereby dismissed in limine.