Bharatiya Pandian Transport Corporation v. The Principal Secretary

O R D E R This Writ Petition has been filed for the issue of writ of mandamus directing respondent Nos.1 to 3 to grant building / Space inside the campus of the Office by considering the representation made by the petitioner on 17.09.2021.

¶2The second respondent has filed a counter affidavit and the relevant portion in the counter affidavit is extracted hereunder: "2. I state that the recognized unions alone were permitted to have their office within the premises of the respondents. Even that was made based on the request made by ATP, LPF, CITU and TTSF. I state that the petitioner's union does not comes under the purview of recognized union. I state that the union which is registered under the Trade Union Act 1926 and which are recognized by the corporation alone are permitted to negotiate for and on behalf of the workman of the Transport Corporation. I state that there were around 24 unions formed by various individuals according to their whims and fancies. Out of the same, only few unions are permitted to negotiate based on the orders passed by the Hon'ble High Court in W.P.No.1234/1998, dated 10.11.1998. Therefore, those unions were not recognized by the State Transport Corporation. I further submit that the petitioner's union is neither recognized nor authorized to expose the cause of the workman. Moreover, the claim of the writ petitioner for granting building or space inside the campus divisional or zonal office would leads to further conjunctions within the Transport Corporation premises. I state that the Trade Union has to be registered under the Trade Union Act 1926 before the concern authorities. While registering, the Trade Union has to fix its registered office so as to have the business of the trade union. Therefore, the petitioner having consulted and having obtained consent from their members and based on the convenience they had fix their office. However, now the petitioner is seeking to grant building or space inside the campus of the division or zonal office. I state that there is no statutory right available for the petitioner to provide office space. There are 14232 workman working under this respondent. Out of the same, the petitioner is representing only 100 members. The same represents less than 1% of the total work force. Therefore the petitioner cannot claim the office space as a matter of right."

¶3In view of the above, it is clear that such building or space inside the campus will be given only to a recognized union and since the petitioner is not a recognized Union, such right is not available to the petitioner.

¶4The relief sought for by the petitioner cannot be granted by this Court, since the petitioner does not have a legal right. As and when the petitioner becomes a recognized Union, it will be left open to the petitioner to revive the claim before the second respondent Corporation

¶5This Writ Petition is disposed of accordingly. No costs.

21.11.2023 NCC:yes/no Index:yes/no Internet:yes/no tsg To

1.The Principal Secretary Transport Department, Secretariat, Chennai - 600 009.

2.The Managing Director, Tamilnadu State Transport Corporation (Madurai) Limited, Madurai Division / Zone, Bye Pass Road, Madurai.

N.ANAND VENKATESH, J. tsg

21.11.2023

BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 21.11.2023 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.ANAND VENKATESH Bharatiya Pandian Transport Corporation Workers Union, No.66/44, Kambar Street, S.S.Colony, Madurai-625 016, Represented by its General Secretary, A.Lakshmanan ... Petitioner Vs. 1.The Principal Secretary Transport Department, Secretariat, Chennai - 600 009. 2.The Managing Director, Tamilnadu State Transport Corporation (Madurai) Limited, Madurai Division / Zone, Bye Pass Road, Madurai. 3.The General Manager, Tamilnadu State Transport Corporation (Madurai) Limited, Madurai Division / Zone, Bye Pass Road, Madurai. 4.The Public Information Officer / Assistant Manager (HRD), Tamilnadu State Transport Corporation (Madurai) Limited, Madurai Division / Zone, Bye Pass Road, Madurai. 5.Anna Thozhil Sangam(ATP) Transport Divisional, Represented by its General Secretary, Tamilnadu State Transport Corporation ` Zonal Office Campus, Bye Pass Road, Madurai. 6.Tamilnadu Arasu Pokuvarathu Paniyazhar Samellanam(TTSF), Represented by its General Secretary, Tamilnadu State Transport Corporation Zonal Office Campus, Bye Pass Road, Madurai. 7.Arasu Pokuvarathu Madurai Thozhiazhar Sangam (CITU) Represented by its General Secretary, Tamilnadu State Transport Corporation Zonal Office Campus, Bye Pass Road, Madurai. 8.Labour Progressive Federation, Represented by its General Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Zonal Office Campus, Bye Pass Road, Madurai. ... Respondents PRAYER: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of Writ of Mandamus, directing the Respondents 1 to 3 to grant building / Space inside the campus of Division / Zonal Office Madurai to the petitioner for having its office considering the representation dated 17-09-2021 within the period by this Court. For Petitioner : Mr.S.Pon Senthil Kumaran For R-1 & R-2 : Ms.D.Farjana Ghoushia, Special Government Pleader For R-3 : Mr.S.C.Herold Singh