1. S. Z. AHMED (CHAIRMAN).-This application under section 45 of the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 moved by the Wahid Textile . Mills, Karachi is based upon their application under section 34 of the Ordinance filed in the Court on the same day, namely, 27-7-1970. The facts stated in the latter application are that the Wahid Textile Mills is an Industrial unit which is independent of the Bawany Industries Ltd., Karachi, that by virtue of a Memorandum of Settlement executed by the applicants and the respondent-Union on 7-3-1970 in the course of conciliation proceedings, the respondent- Union is debarred from raising any further financial demands during the period of operation of the settlement i.e., up to 7-3-1972, that the workers of the Bawany Industries Ltd., a different industrial unit, resorted to a strike in pursuance of an industrial dispute on 25-7-1970 and that the present respondent, in sympathy with the workers of the Bawany Industries Ltd., also went on strike with effect from 25-7-1970, without raising any dispute with the applicants and without any prior notice of strike given in accordance with law. On this statement of facts, the applicant --Mills, in their application under section 34 of the Ordinance have moved this Court .for adjudication of the dispute and for a declaration that the respondent-Union is debarred from raising any additional financial demands in violation of the aforesaid settlement dated 7-3.1970. In addition, the applicant-Mills have also moved this Court by them present application under section 45 of the Ordinance for prohibiting the continuance of the strike resorted to by the respondent-Union. The case put forward by the respondent-Union is that the applicants, naively, the Wahid Textile Mills are not an independent Industrial Unit but is a part and parcel of the Industrial Unit known as the Bawany Industries Ltd., Karachi, that the Memorandum of Settlement executed on 7-3-1970, referred to by the applicants is not a legal document which binds the respondent-Union, that there exists no industrial dispute between the parties as would entitle the applicant-Mills to make the present, application and that the workers of the - respondent-Union have not struck work, but have been locked out by the applicant-Mills with effect from 25-7-70. The present application under section 45 of the Ordinance is, therefore, to be decided in the light of the respective allegations of the parties as contained in their pleadings as well as in the light of the arguments addressed by their respective Representatives before this Court, There is no doubt that the workers of the Wahid Textile Mills have, in fact, been.on strike since 25-7- 1970, that no notice of strike was given by them to the applicant-Mills before going on strike and that no industrial dispute had been raised by the respondent Urion in accordance with Law before going on the present strike. These are the basic facts in the case. As regards other questions involved in the matter such as whether the applicant-Mills are a part and parcel , of a single Industrial Unit called the Bawany Mills Ltd., Karachi, whether the Memorandum of Settlement executed by the parties dated 7-3-1970, is an illegal document not binding on the respondent- Union etc., are questions which will call for a careful and detailed considera--tion and determination at the proper stage when ' this Court takes up the application under section 34 of the Ordinance for adjudication in due course. For the purpose of deciding this application under section 45 of the Ordinance, the Court has at first to consider if the applicant has made out a prima facie case for invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under sections 34 and 45of the Ordinance and then to move on to other considerations for prohibiting or not prohibiting continuance of the strike resorted to by the respondent-Union. The facts as stated above clearly show that the lightning strike put into effect by the workers of the respondent-Union without prior notices under sections 25 and 28 of the Ordinance and for reasons of sympathy with the workers of the Bawany Textile Mills Ltd., is a kind of strike which is prima facie illegal within the meaning of section 46(I)(a) of the Ordinance. The applicants have produced a copy of the Memorandum of Settlement, dated 7-3-1970 which debars the respondent-Union from raising additional financial demands during the period of operation of the Settlement, namely, for a period of 2 years commencing from 7-3-1970. The respondent-- Union has not alleged that this Settlement has been revoked by any of the parties in the manner prescribed by Law. The respondent-Union has also not filed any affidavit of at least a few of the workmen to show that they did not strike work and that the applicant-Mills had prevented them from continuing their work in the Mills.
2. For the reasons stated above, I am of opinion that the applicant-Mills have made out a prima facie case for invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under section 34 of the Ordinance. The strike resorted to by the workers of Bawany Mills Ltd, is already a subject-matter of applications under sections 34 and 45 of the Ordinance which have been separately moved, by the Bawany, Industries Ltd., Karachi, against Bawany Industries Employees' Union, Karachi, and which are still awaiting disposal by this Court. It appears that the respondent-Union not having raised any demands of its own against the applicant-Mills and having gone on strike only in sympathy with the workers of the Bawany Industries Ltd. (.who are separately agitating their demands before the Bawany Mills Ltd.) no interests of the respondent-- Union are being served by continuing the strike: In the given circumstances, therefore, the strike launched by the respondent-'Union has prima facie, no legal or moral basis nor continuance conducive to the maintenance of industrial peace or to the gaining of any financial advantage by them. Apart from the adverse economic elect which the strike is having on the workers themselves, the national interests are also being injured by the continuance of the strike as the stoppage of the Mills is causing reduction in the Export of Yarn, involving Foreign Exchange, and in the internal revenues of the State. I, B therefore, direct that the strike resorted to by the workers of the respondent-Union shall be discontinued with immediate effect.
3. Other points of dispute, including the legality or otherwise of the strike, will be decided finally when this Court deals with the pending application under section 34 of the Ordinance in due course of time.
4. Announced in open Court.