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Unit 1: Philosophy of Labour Laws

and the workmen’s organisation on the other and the industrial tribunal has got to arrive at some Notes
equitable arrangement for averting strikes and lockouts Which impede production of goods and
the industrial development of the country. The tribunal is not bound by the rigid rules of law.
The process it employs is rather an extended form of the process of collective bargaining and is
more akin to administrative than to judicial function. Adjudication is a procedure for resolving
disputes without resorting to lengthy and expensive court procedure.

Disciplining a workman is one of the key methods of curtailing disputes amongst them and
achieving maximum productivity.

Example: Accordingly, the Supreme Court of India (“SC”) in Hombe Gowda Educational
Trust v. State of Karnataka, stated that giving managers the power to punish a workman according
to law, even if the punishment may result in some hardship is important. But, one needs to bear
in mind that conducting disciplinary proceedings against a workman is most controversial and
often lead to long drawn-out cases. Hence, the management of any industrial establishment must
cautiously approach such proceedings and strictly follow the procedure laid down by judicial
precedents. The present bulletin focuses on the requirements of holding a domestic enquiry with
respect to indiscipline on part of a workman, the procedure to be followed thereunder and the
impact of section 11A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (“the Act”) on domestic enquiries.

1.5.1 The Adjudication Process

Following are the processes of Adjudication:

Commencement

The adjudication process begins when the party referring the dispute to adjudication gives
written notice of its intention to do so. The Scheme for Construction Contracts provides that this
Notice of Adjudication should briefly set out the following:

l z a description of the nature of the dispute and the parties involved;
l z details of where and when the dispute arose;
l z the nature of the remedy being sought;

l z names and addresses of the parties to the contract, including addresses where documents
may be served.
The Notice of Adjudication is the first formal step in the adjudication procedure. Save for the
minimum information set out above, there is no particular requirement as to the form of the
document.

Appointment of the Adjudicator

Following service of the Notice of Adjudication, the next step is to appoint an adjudicator. The
appointment of an adjudicator must be secured within seven days from service of the Notice of
Adjudication. The parties can agree on an individual to act as the adjudicator or, if agreement
cannot be reached, the party who referred the dispute to adjudication may make an application
to an Adjudicator Nominating Body (ANB). This is usually done by completing a form and
paying the required fee. On receipt of a request to nominate an adjudicator, the ANB should
communicate their selection to the party who referred the dispute to adjudication within five
days of the request. In the event that an ANB fails to do this the whole process must begin
again.

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