BOMBAY LABOUR UNION REPRESENTING THE WORKMEN OF MESSRS INTERNATIONAL FRANCHISES PVT. LTD. versus MESSRS INTERNATIONAL FRANCHISES PVT. LTD

Citation: [1966] 2 S.C.R. 493 · Decided: 03-11-1965 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: P.B. GAJENDRAGADKAR · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

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Judgment (excerpt)

A BOMBAY 
LABOUR 
UNION 
REPRESENTING 
THE 
WORKMEN OF MESSRS INTERNATIONAL FRANCHISES 
PVT. LTD. 
B 
V. 
MESSRS INTERNATIONAL FRANCHISES PVT. LTD 
November 3, 1965 
[P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, C.J., K. N. WANCHOO, 
M. HIDAYATULLAH AND V. RAMASWAMI, JJ.] 
Industrial Dispute-Rule terminating emplayment of women automa-
tlcally on marriage-Validity of rule-Industrial adjudication 
whether 
·C 
should interfere. 
D 
E 
F 
·G 
H 
The respondent concern had a rule in 
its packing and labelling de-
partment that if a woman employee got married her service would stand 
automatically terminated. The appellant union raised an industrial dis-
pute on this question and it was referred to 
the Industrial Tribunal, 
Maharashtra. The Tribunal held that the rule was justified whereupon, 
the appellant came to this Court by special leave. 
The justification given on behalf of the respondent for the said rule 
was that in the particular department \Vhere the rule ope-rated team v.1ork 
was required for which regular attendance was necessaryi 
and married 
women, for obvious reasons, could 
not be 
expected to 
be regular in 
attendance. It was also contended for the respondent 
that industrial 
adjudication should not interfere with 
the employer's 
right to impose 
. any condition in the matter of employment when he employs new work~ 
men. 
Rule 5(3) of the Indian 
Administrative Service 
(Recruitment) 
Rules. 1964, was referred to as carrying a similar condition. 
HELD : (i) There was nothing to show that married women would 
neceo;sarily he more likely to be absent than unmarried women or widows. 
The only difference was that married women would ask for maternity leave. 
This could be provided for by having a few extra women as leave reserve. 
So far as efficiency was concerned it could hardly be said that married 
women would be less efficient than 
unmarried 
ones or widows. 
The 
economic interest of the concern was also not affected in any material 
way. 
There was thus no good an!l convincing reason why such a rule 
should continue in one department of the pharmaceutical industry. The 
fact that such a rule existed in other concerns also \vas no justification. 
if the rule could not be justified on its own merits. 
The rule, therefore, 
had to be abrogated. [495E, G-H; 496A·B, DJ 
(ii) It is too late in the day to stress the absolute freedom of an em-
pk1yer to impose any condition which he likes on labour. It is always 
open to industrial adjudication to consider the conditions of employment 
of labour and to vary them if it is found necessary. (496 E-FJ 
{iii) Rule 5(3) of the Indian Administrative Service (Recruitment) · 
Rules only lays down that where an unmarried woman 
marries subs<>-
quently, the Central Government may, if the maintenance of the effi. 
ciency of the service so requires, call upon her to resign. This rule do.,. 
not compel unmarried women to resign 
on ma'rriage as a matter of 
course as in the case of the respondent concern. (497 B-C) 
Crv!L APPELLATE JURISDICTION: 
Civil Appeal No. 274 of 
1964. 
494 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1966] 2 S.C.R. 
Appeal by special leave from the award dated May 31, 1963 
of the Industrial Tribunal, Maharashtra in Reference (I.T.) No. 
59 of 1963. 
S. B. Naik and K. R. Chaudhury, for the appellants. 
S. V. Gupte, Solicitor-General, G. B. Pai, J. B. Dadachanji, 
0. C. Mathur and Ravinder Narain, for respondent No. 1. 
A. S. R. Chari, K. Rajendra Chaudhury, M. S. K. Aiyangar 
and M. R. K. Pillai, for respondent No. 2. 
A. S. R. Chari, M. K. Ramamurthi, for interveners. 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
Wanchoo, J. 
The only question raised in this appeal by spe-
A 
B 
c 
cial leave is the propriety of a service condition in the respondent-
concem by which unmarried women in a particular department 
have to resign on their getting married. 
A dispute was raised 
about this condition by the appellant-union on behalf of the 
workmen and was referred to the Industrial Tribunal, Maharash-
D· 
tra, in the following terms :-
"The existing bar on ladies that on their getting 
married they have to leave the service of the company 
should. be removed." 
The respondent is a pharmaceutical concern. 
It appears that 
E 
there is a rule in force in the respondent-concern according to 
which if a lady workman gets married, her services are treated 
as automatically terminated. It appears that such a rule is in force 
in other pharmaceutical concerns in that region and the matter 
came

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