In Labour Cases, Workers Should Furnish Their Own Permanent Address Instead Of Union's; Service Of Notice Should Be On Worker : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently took note of practical difficulties which arise in labour disputes, as most cases of workers are filed through the labour unions without mentioning their own permanent addresses. Hence, in many cases, notices are served on the Union, and if the Union is not interested in pursuing the matter, the affected worker goes unrepresented.

"Effective relief can be granted to a worker only if the permanent address of the workman is furnished in the pleadings", the Court observed while hearing an appeal from an award of the Labour Court. There was no representation for the worker in the appeal before the Supreme Court, as what was given was the address of the Union, which did not appear. 

In this backdrop, the bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Rajesh Bindal issued the following directions :

1. In future all the cases to be filed and in all the pending cases, the parties shall be required to furnish their permanent address(es).
2. Even if the representative of the workman is appearing, he shall furnish permanent address of the workman as well.
3. Even in proceedings subsequent to first stage, it shall be mandatory to provide permanent address of the party for his service.
4. Merely mentioning through Labour Union or authorised representatives, who are sometimes union leaders or legal practitioners, will not be sufficient.
5. Service of notice of workman will have to be effected on the permanent address of the workman.

"If any party approaches any authority for a relief, the first thing required to be mentioned is his complete address. Mentioning of address of the representative is secondary as someone may like to appear in person", the Court observed after noting that the statutory forms of all labour laws in relation to filing of cases require the furnishing of the permanent address of the worker.

The Court also noted that the four labour codes- Code on Wages, 2019; Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020;  Industrial Relation Code, 2020; Code on Social Security, 2020 are yet to be enforced.

"With the enforcement of 4 Labour Codes, we are hopeful that in future, when rules are framed, authorities will take care that parties to the dispute furnish their permanent addresses in the cases relating to labour law disputes," the Court observed.

Case Title : M/s Creative Garments Ltd vs Kashiram Verma

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 198

Labour Disputes -Effective relief can be granted to a worker only if the permanent address of the workman is furnished in the pleadings-In future all the cases to be filed and in all the pending cases, the parties shall be required to furnish their permanent address(es)-Merely mentioning through Labour Union or authorised representatives, who are sometimes union leaders or legal practitioners, will not be sufficient-Service of notice of workman will have to be effected on the permanent address of the workman.

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