1. This Constitutional Petition is pending admission since 20-5-1985. In the first instance pre- admission notice has been issued to respondent No.1, who is Registrar, Trade Unions, Government of Sind. He is represented by the Additional, Advocate-General, Sind. Subsequently Mr. Shafi Muhammad Muhammadi Advocate voluntarily appeared and filed Power on behalf of respondent No. 2 namely National Beverages Progressive Workers Union. Both these respondents have filed Affidavits controverting some allegations made in the memorandum of Petition, petitioner is a Registered Trade Union and the main grievance of the petitioner is that respondent No. 1 Registrar, Trade Unions has illegally and in contravention of provisions of Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 registered respondent No. 2 namely National Beverages Progressive Workers Union as Trade Union and further in that context powers of Registrar have been illegally exercised by Assistant Director Registration.
2. Accordingly to the petitioner respondent No. 2 as fourth Union applied for registration and has been registered as such under Registration Certificate No.5564 issued on 22-4-1985. This registration of respondent No. 2 is called in question on the ground that the same is in contravention of proviso to section 3(a) read with section 7(2)(b) of Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969. Section 3 mentioned above relates to Trade Union and freedom of Association giving right to Workers to join Associations of their own choosing subject only to the rules of the Organisation concerned. Proviso to it requires that no Worker shall be entitled to be a member of more than one Trade Union at any one time. Section 7(t)(b) mentioned above provides that a Trade Union shall not be entitled to registration under this Ordinance, where there are two or more registered Trade Unions unless it has as its members not less than one-5th of the total number of Workmen employed in such establishment. The whole procedure regarding registration of Trade Unions prescribed under Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 is covered by sections 5 to 10 thereof. Section 5 provides that any Trade Union may, under the signature of its President and the Secretary apply for a registration of the Trade Union under the Ordinance. Section 6 specifies requirements for such application for registration. Section 7 contemplates requirements for registration, which are specified in detail.
3. Section 7-A relates to disqualification for being an officer of a Trade Union and section 7-B requires Trade Union to maintain registers. Section 8 relates to the registration and contemplates that the Registrar, on being satisfied that the Trade Union has complied with all -the requirements of this Ordinance, shall register the Trade Union in a prescribed register and issue a registration certificate in the prescribed form within 15 days. This section further empowers Registrar to raise objections and communicate the same in writing to the Trade Union seeking registration and when those objections have been complied with he may register the Trade Union and may reject the same. If the Registrar rejects the application or does not dispose of the application within the period of 15 days or does not issue a certificate of registration within specified time, the Trade Union may take an appeal to the Labour Court. That Court for reasons to be stated may pass an order directing the Registrar to register the Trade Union and to issue Certificate of registration or may dismiss the appeal.
4. It is very clear from the provisions mentioned above that the legislature has laid down positively that registration of a Trade Union is strictly a matter between Trade Union seeking registration and the Registrar and another Trade Union has legally speaking no say in the matter and has no locus standi to raise any objection at that stage. This becomes more clear when it is found that only the affected Trade Union whose application for registration is rejected is allowed to file appeal before the Labour Court to the exclusion of all others. It is, therefore, clear that no other Trade Union has any concern or say in the matter of registration of another Trade Union. It is the duty of Registrar under section 8 to see that if all the requirements of Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 have been completed then he must register the Union, which has applied for registration but if there is contravention of the relevant provisions then he may raise objections himself. There is no bar express or implied in section 8 in the way of any other Trade Union to bring it to the notice of the Registrar any contravention of relevant provisions of Industrial Relations Ordinance if committed by the Union, which has applied for registration. Registrar who is competent to raise objection sue motu is also competent to look into the objections raised by any other interested party which helps him in completing the task of registration strictly according to law.
5. Section 9 of Industrial Relations Ordinance provides that Registrar on registering a Trade Union under section 8 shall issue a certificate of registration in the prescribed Form which shall be conclusive evidence that the Trade Union has been duly registered under the Ordinance.
6. Legislature on purpose has not allowed interference in the matter of registration of a Trade Union by other Trade Unions for the reason that there is provision for determination of Collective Bargaining Agent. Section 22 of Industrial Relations Ordinance contemplates that if there is only one registered Trade Union and if it has as its members not less than one-third of the total number of Workmen then upon an application made in this behalf, that Union shall be certified by Registrar to be Collective Bargaining Agent. If there are more than one registered Trade Unions, on an application made in this behalf by any such, Trade Union, which has as its members not less than one-third of the total number the Registrar shall hold a secret ballot to determine which of such Trade Unions shall be the Collective Bargaining Agent. Here again the procedure is very comprehensive and the Registrar would see that all the lists of the members of Trade Union are checked and only genuine registered Workers are allowed to vote and in that exercise the Trade Union which has the largest possible majority of genuine Voters would win and be declared as Collective Bargaining Agent. Objections such as dual membership of Workers in the Unions, and who are genuine members and which are genuine parties would automatically be sorted out at this stage. Ballot would see that the Union with largest genuine membership would win and other Unions would automatically be eliminated in the process and would be relegated to oblivion. That is why law does not allow objections to be raised by other Trade Unions at the time of registration.
7. I am, therefore, of the view that petitioner has no locus standi and the relevant law does not afford any legal right to the petitioner to make a complaint in respect of registration of another Trade Union except that if there was any contravention of relevant legal provisions, the same could have been brought to the notice of the Registrar. Apart from that no legal right of the petitioner has been infringed as such it cannot file this Constitutional Petition because it has no locus standi. Moreover, this extraordinary writ jurisdiction is not to be invoked to embark upon factual enquiries or disputes with regard to facts. In this Petition allegation is made that same Workers are members of more than one Union. In the affidavit filed on behalf of Registrar this allegation is denied and it is further stated that those two persons mentioned in the memorandum of petition produced satisfactory evidence to show that they were genuine members of respondent No. 2 and in consequence their names were cancelled from the list of National Beverage Mazdoor Union. In any case this is a question of fact, which cannot be gone into writ petition.
8. It was contended that powers of Registrar have been exercised invalidly by Assistant Director, Registration. In the counter-affidavit filed on behalf of the Registrar it is stated that the proceedings of Referendum were initiated by the officer of the Registrar under section 22(2) of Industrial Relations Ordinance and subsection (13) of section 22, the Registrar is competent to authorise any officer in writing to perform all or any of his functions.
9. For the facts and reasons mentioned above I have come to the conclusion that no interference is called for and dismiss this petition in limine.
10. M.B.A.