1. AWARD HIDAYAT HUSSAIN (CHAIRMAN). -In Application No. 463/70 under section 34 of I. R. O. 1969, applicant Mst. Masooma Sultana claims to be the General Secretary of the Pakistan Radio House Employees' Union, a registered Trade Union with Registration No. 1126. According to her, respondents A. M. Ghiaz Ansari the President of the Union and Ashraf Ali Ansari its Joint Secretary are making attempts to oust her from the post of the General Secretary of the Union otherwise than in accordance with the procedure prescribed for the purpose. She has prayed for an award that she is entitled to function as the General Secretary of the Union. In the connected Miscellaneous Application she prayed for interim injunction restraining the Respondents from interfering with her functions. My Learned predecessor Mr. Agha Imdadally (now Mr. Justice Agha Imdadally) heard the representative of the applicant and issued ad interim temporary injunction restraining the respondents from interfering with the rights etc. Of the applicant Mst. Masooma Sultana. This temporary injunction wag issued on 12th December 1970.
2. This Order will dispose of both the applications. Mr. Saeed Pasha Lodhi for the respondents President and the Joint Secretary of the Union, submit as follows:-
(a) The applicant was dismissed from service in terms of letter dated 4th July 1970 and she ceased to be a workman thereafter.
(b) Applicant Mst. Masooma Sultana was not the honorary member of the Union and thus after her dismissal from service she did not remain member of the Union in any capacity and therefore she automatically ceased to be the General Secretary of the Union.
(c) Main application under section 34 was not maintained because a was neither presented by the collective bargaining agent nor by a workman.
3. Mr. Wasi Ahmed for the applicant replied as follows :-
(1) Applicant Mst. Masooma Sultana has not earned any disqualification to prevent her from acting as General Secretary.
(2) It is provided in section 7 (d) of the I. R. O. 1969 that 75% of the persons forming executive committee including the officers shall be from amongst the workers actually engaged or employed in the establishment and it follows from it that 25% of the persons forming the executive committee including the officers may be from those who are not the workers actually engaged in the establishment and hence the dismissal of Mst. Masooma Sultana from service will not mean that she ceased automatically to be the General Secretary of the Union.
(3) This application has been preferred by the collective bargaining agent and Mst. Masooma Sultana has filed it in her capacity as General Secretary of the collective bargaining agent and therefore it is maintainable under section 34.
4. These applications require the determination of the following to points :-
(1) Does the applicant cease to be General Secretary of the applicant Union automatically with her dismissal from service?
(2) Is the application maintainable under section 34 of the I. R. O. 1969?
5. For the determination of the first point section 7 (d) of the I. R. O. 1969 and the constitution of the Union are relevant.
6. From section 7 (d) it is plain that 25% of the persons forming executive committee including the officer may be from such persons as are not actually engaged in the establishment. Mr. Lodhi wants me to hold that the executives and officers always consist of such persons as are the members of the Union. He further wants to have me hold that since the applicant is neither the member of the Union nor the honorary member of the Union and hence she cannot continue either as office of the Union or the member of the executive committee. A copy of the constitution of the Union has been produced by the respondents as Annexures A, A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4 and A-5. It is no where laid down in the constitution that only a member of the Union may be elected on the managing committee. Para. 10 of the constitution is relevant. It runs as follows:-- "The Union shall have one President, one Vice President one General Secretary, one Joint Secretary, one Treasurer and four members of the Managing Committee all of whom shall be elected at a General Body Meeting for a term of one year. In the event of any vacancy in the Managing Committee, It shall be filled by co-option by the Managing Committee subject to confirmation by the General Body is its first meeting after the co-option.
7. I have not found anything in the constitution to hold that only a member of the Union honorary or otherwise may be elected to the Managing Committee and in this view of matter I will hold that by her dismissal from service applicant Mst. Masooma Sultana does not automatically cease to be the General-Secretary of the Union. I may add that it is not disputed that the procedure described for the removal of an officer has spot been followed as yet.
8. Point No. 2.-Section 34 of the L. R. O., 1969 reads as follows:-- "Any collective bargaining agent or any employer or workman may apply to the Labour Court for the enforcement of any right guaranteed or .Secured to it or him by or under any law or any award or settlement."
9. Mr. Lodhi for the respondents contends that applicant Mst. Masooma Sultana is neither collective bargaining agent nor workman nor does she fall within the term employer and hence she cannot maintain this application under section 34 of the I. R. O, 1969. Mr. Wasi Ahmed does not deny that the applicant ceased to be a workman but he replies that the application under section 34 has been filed by the collective bargaining agent. I have gone through the application under section 34 carefully and have come to the conclusion that the application has been filed by the applicant Mst.
10. Masooma Sultana and not by the collec--the bargaining agent through its General Secretary. The title of the application is clear. If the application had beet: preferred by the collective bargaining agent its title have been "Pakistan Radio House Employees' Union, a through its General Secretary Mst. Masooma Sultana" instead it is as follows :-- "Mst. Masooma Sultana the General Secretary of the Pakistan Radio House Employees' Union, Karachi."
11. The objection of Mr. Lodhi that this application has not been preferred by the collective bargaining agent nor by the workman nor by the employer and hence not maintainable is correct. I will therefore dismiss the application under section 34 of I. R. O., 1969 as not maintainable.
12. Miscellaneous Application No. 54/70 has become Infructuous because main application under section 34 has been dismissed. Ad interim injunction issued by my learned Predecessor is vacated.