KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) observed that National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC) has jurisdiction to deal with industrial disputes, unfair labour practices and other allied matters.
A division bench of SHC comprised of Justice Shafi Siddiqui and Justice Adnan-ul-Karim gave the observations in the petition of Al-Ghazi Tractors Limited VS Sindh government, Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and others.
Petitioner challenged the order dated 13.10.2020 issued by SHCR chairperson by directing the petitioner company to reinstate their original cadres two of its employees and compensate them financially for the time they stayed away from their jobs.
According to a written court order, the petitioner-company is a trans-provincial establishment and the present matter needs to be looked into by NIRC for the settlement of such industrial dispute and stated NIRC has been constituted by the federal government but its functions and jurisdiction have been explained and elaborated in the provision of section 54 of the IRA, 2012.
According to clause (e), the NIRC has the powers and jurisdiction to deal with the cases of unfair labor practices specified in sections 31 and 32 of the Act on the part of employers, workers, trade unions, either of them or persons acting on behalf of any of them, whether committed individually or collectively, in the manner laid down under section 33 of subsection (9) of section 33 or in such other way as may be prescribed and to take, in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations under section 66, measures calculated to prevent an employer or workman from committing an unfair labor practice, court declared.
In addition to the above powers and jurisdiction, the NIRC has been conferred upon additional powers under the provision of section 57 of the Act (ibid), which includes the powers to punish for contempt of court and may award simple imprisonment which may extend to six months or with fine, which may extend to Rs 50,000 or with both, court stated.
In the same provision, vide clause (2)(b), the Commission has been empowered to withdraw from a labor court of a province any applications, proceedings or appeals relating to unfair labor practice, which fall within its jurisdiction; and (c) grant such relief as it may deem fit including an interim injunction, bench said.
The court clarified that once it is established through any means that the employer or group of employers has an establishment, group of establishments, industry, having its branches in more than one province, then the jurisdiction of NIRC would be exclusive and of overriding and overlaying effects over the provincial labour court for resolving industrial dispute including unfair labor practice, etc related to the employer, having its establishment or branches or industrial units in more than one province and re-course has to be made by the aggrieved party to the NIRC and not to the SHRC under the Act, 2011.
Therefore, it is held that the provision of Act X of 2012 (the IRA 2012) has an overriding effect on the Act, 2011 and all Provincial Labour Laws, order stated.
Court allowing the petition ordered that application filed in SHRC is adopted to be filed before the single bench of NIRC and no question of limitation would arise and ruled that single bench of NIRC may proceed with the application which may be filed under the law within a reasonable time.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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