1991 PLP 857 (PLC(CS))

Abdul Hafiz Khan for Respondents. Date of hearing: 9th May, 1991. This is an appeal against the order of the learned Labour Court No. IV dated 10-10-1989, whereby the grievance petition of the appellant was dismissed as not maintainable on the ground that he had not filed departmental appeal before filing grievance petition under section 25-A of I.R.O., 1969. .

2. I have heard Mr. Gohar Iqbal for the appellant and Mr. Abdul Hafiz Khan for the respondents and have also gone through the record and proceedings of this case.

3. Mr. Gohar Iqbal has relied upon the case of Trustees of the Port of Karachi v. Abdul Ghani 1983 SCMR

769. In that case the workman had moved the Labour Court under section 25-A of I.R.O., 1969 without first filing the appeal to the competent Authority under the Karachi Port Trust Act, 1886. The KPT raised the plea that the grievance petition was not maintainable without first filing appeal under the Karachi Port Trust Act. Their Lordships, however, observed:-- "There is no provision in the Karachi Port Trust Act, 1886, which can be read to exclude the applicability of the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969, and for that matter section 25-A of the Ordinance. It is true that an appeal is provided under section 23 of the Karachi Port Trust Act, 1886, but there is no apparent bar against the availability of section 25-A of the Ordinance; and ought it be said that the two remedies are available, side by side, as prima facie the Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969, by its scope, over-reaches an establishment which satisfies the definition of employer, worker or workman and the establishment. On this view of the matter, it is difficult to accept that the Karachi Po-t Trust Act is a special act qua its workmen which are governed by it."

4. Similar view was taken by this Tribunal in appeal No. KAR-27 of 1990 decided on 29-11-1990 in the case of Ghulam Mohiuddin v. Muslim Commercial Bank Limited. This Tribunal held as under:- "I do not find that there is any provision under section 25-A of I.R.O., 1969, putting such a pre-condition. The only condition by section 25-A is that before filing petition, the aggrieved person had to bring his grievance to the notice of the employer. This he could do even by way of `Appeal' or by way of `Grievance Notice'. The management was at liberty to treat the grievance notice as appeal and decide the matter and the workman can also treat an `Appeal' as `Grievance Notice' and file grievance petition without giving any other grievance notice:'

5. In view of the above legal position I set aside the impugned order of the learned Labour Court and remand the case back to learned Labour Court to decide the case on merits after giving opportunity to both the parties to lead evidence. H,B.T./1918/Lb. S ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Case remanded.