- (1.)Heard C.V. Vijayakumar, learned counsel appearing for Mr. T.R. Rajaraman, learned counsel for the appellants and Mr. T.R. Rajaraman, learned counsel appearing for the respondents.
(2.)The appellants have come up with the present Writ Appeal being aggrieved by the order dated 14.06.2011 passed in W.P.No.6334 of 2011, wherein, the Writ Petition was allowed setting aside the impugned order dated 29.01.2011 passed by the respondents with a direction to the respondents to deduct membership contribution payable to the Unions from the salary of willing members based on their written authorisation and remit the same into the account of petitioners 1 and 2 from the month of June 2011.
(3.)Facts of the case are as under:
3.1. According to National Textile Corporation Limited (the 1st respondent in the W.P.No.6334 of 2011), which is a Government of India Undertaking, they have seven National Textile Mills in Tamilnadu, i.e. five in Coimbatore District, one in Sivagangai District and the other in Ramnad District. The said Mills were taken over by the Central Government. The employees working in the Mills, viz. Coimbatore Murugan Mills, Pankaja Mills, Sri Rangavilas Ginning, Spinning & Weaving Mills and Kaleeswarar Mills "B" Unit (hereinafter referred to as 'NTC units'), who are members of Coimbatore Periyar Districts Dravida Panjalai Thozhilalar Munnetra Sangam and Sivagangai Mavatta Marumalarchi Panjalai Thozilalar Munnetra Sangam (hereinafter referred to as 'Unions').

3.2. Till 2010, the NTC units were deducting subscription/donation from the members of the Unions who are working in these Mills based on the list given by the NTC units and remitting the same to them by way of cheque, which has been the practice for more than 25 years. On 18.12.2010, the Unions which are affiliated to the four Trade Unions viz. (i) Coimbatore District Mill Workers Union (CITU), (ii) Desia Panjalai Thozilalar Sangam (INTUC), (iii) Koval Erode Mavatta Dravida Panjalai Thozhilalar Matrum Nirvaga Uzhiyar Sangam (LPF) and (iv) Coimbatore Regional Mill Labour Union were declared as negotiating agents, as they had got more than 10% of the votes polled in all the NTC mills in Tamilnadu put together, which was contrary to the earlier practice of giving representation for negotiating to the Unions which had 10% of its members in the respective Mills/Units. This position has been contested in Contempt Petition No.156 of 2011.

3.3. Pursuant to the election, the Management of NTC units wrote a letter on 27.10.2010 to the aforesaid four Unions who have secured a minimum of 10% votes in all the Units put together to furnish the list of their members to enable the Management to deduct and remit subscription from their wages to the Unions. But, no such communication was sent to the Unions.

3.4. According to the Writ Petitioners, their Union is affiliated to Marumalarchi Labour Front (MLF) and they have not secured 10% of the total votes polled in all the NTC units in Tamilnadu. On 08.01.2011, they wrote a letter to the NTC drawing their attention to the judgment of a Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court in State Bank of India, 1989 1 LLJ 554 and requested them to deduct Union subscription/donation for the members of their Union as per their wish and remit the same to them. On 10.01.2011, the Writ Petitioners sent a list of their members together with the authorisation letters signed by the individual workers to NTC units and requested them to deduct the Union subscription. But the Management did not choose to make any such deduction. The Writ Petitioners put forth their grievance in their letter dated 28.01.2011 to the NTC. On 29.01.2011, the NTC made it clear that they will deduct subscription only for the Unions which had secured 10% or more votes out of the total votes polled in the recent election and who had been recognised by the Management. It is the contention of the Writ Petitioners that the Management recognising the Union/Unions which have got 10% of votes in all the seven Mills in Tamilnadu put together has nothing to do with the deduction of Unions subscription from the workers who authorise them and such a facility cannot be confined only to recognised Unions. Contending that the impugned letter dated 29.01.2011 of the NTC is illegal and contrary to law, the Unions filed a Writ Petition in W.P.No.6334 of 2011 seeking to quash the impugned letter bearing Reference No.IR/2011-01 and direct the respondents therein to continue to deduct subscription from its employees including the Writ Petitioners 3 to 6 who are the members of the 1st and 2nd Writ petitioners and remit the same to the 1st and 2nd Petitioner irrespective of whether they have been recognised or not.

3.5. In the counter affidavit filed by the NTC units before the Writ Court, they admitted that the National Textile Corporation was deducting subscription/donations from the members of the Unions who are working with the Mills prior to the Trade Union Election held on 19.12.2010. For the first time since the inception of the National Textile Corporation in Tamilnadu, the Trade Union election was conducted and four unions got selected as recognised Unions to represent the workers for the seven unit Mills of the Corporation situated in Tamilnadu. Prior to the Trade Union Election, the Corporation used to deduct subscription of the members of the Union working in the Mills and after the Trade Union Election, the Corporation had decided to deduct subscriptions/donations only from members of the Union who got elected in the Trade Union election held on 19.12.2010.

3.6. It is the further submission of the NTC units that there are more than eight registered Trade Unions other than the four Unions elected by the workmen and they are functioning at the unit level (individual mills) in the seven unit Mills of the Corporation in Tamilnadu. In the said circumstances, it is very cumbersome for the Corporation to deduct subscriptions/donations of the individual workmen and remit the same to the unrecognized unions and that after the Trade Union election, Corporation is only duty bound to deduct subscriptions/donations of individual workmen of the four recognised Unions and remit the same to the respective Unions.