STATE BANK OF INDIA & ANR. versus S.B.I. EMPLOYEES UNION & ANR.

Citation: [1988] 1 S.C.R. 153 · Decided: 15-09-1987 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: E.S. VENKATARAMIAH, K.N. SINGH · Disposal: Directions issued

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

i 
STATE BANK OF INDIA & ANR. 
A 
v. 
S.B.I EMPLOYEES UNION & ANR. 
SEPTEMBER 15, 1987 
[E.S. VENKATARAMIAH AND K.N. SINGH, JJ.] 
B 
y 
Constitution of India, 1950: Article 134A-Certificate for leave 
to appeal-Issuance of-Conditions to be satisfied-Whether Single 
-
Judge empowered to issue such Certificate on ground that Division 
Bench issued Certificate in similar case. 
• 
c 
) 
The employees of the State Bank of India filed· a writ petition in 
/-\ ). 
the High Court, questioning the right of the management to fix the 
hours of work and of recess and its right to stagger the period of recess, 
and for other consequential reliefs. 
D 
A Single Judge of the High Court allowed the petition, following 
earlier decisions by the Division Bench of the same High Court, and also 
granted a certificate of fitness under Article 134A of the Constitution to 
file an appeal in the Supreme Court, following an earlier order of a 
-1 
Division Bench granting such a certificate in respect of one of those 
E 
earlier decisions. 
-
Revoking the certificate, this Court, 
HELD: The certificate contemplated under Article 134A of the 
Constitution can only be a certificate which is referred to in cl. (l) of F 
-\ 
Article 132 or in cl. (l) of Article 133 or in sub-clause (c) of cl. (l) of 
\._ Article 134 of the Constitution. Article 134A does not constitute an 
independent provision under which a certificate can be issued. It is 
ancilliary to Articles 132(1), 133(1) and 134(l)(c). [lSSE] 
The High Court can issue a certificate only when it is satisfied that G 
the conditions in Article 132 or Article 133 or Article 134, as the case 
may be, are satisfied. [IS6F] 
;. 
The instant case does not fall either under Article 132(1) or under 
sub-clause( c) of Article 134( 1) as it neither involves a substantial ques-
tion of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution nor is it a crimi· H 
153 
154 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1988] 1 S.C.R. 
A 
nal proceeding. It can only fall, if at all, under Article 133(1) and, + 
therefore, the certificate could not have been issued by reason of cl.(3) 
of Article 133 of the Constitution. [lSSE·Fl 
The fact that in a similar case a certificate had been issued by a 
Division Bench of the High Court did not empower the Single Judge to 
B issue the certificate under Article 133(1) in a case decided by him. The 
restriction placed by cl. (3) of Article 133 could not be got over by 
relying upon the order of the Division Bench. [156G·Hl 
'f 
The petition of appeal to be treated as Special Leave Petition 
under Article 136 of the Constitution and posted for preliminary 
C hearing. [157 A] 
D 
E 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Miscellaneous 1 , 
Petition No. 19065 of 1987. 
-1-
IN 
Civil Appeal No. 1713of1987. 
From the Judgment and Order dated 11.6.1987 in Writ Petition 
No. 389 of 1981. 
F.D. Damania, Atul Tewari and Ms. Bina Gupta for the 
petitioners. 
•
The following Order of the Court was delivered: 
-
F 
ORDER 
The certificate on the basis of which this appeal is filed is issued 
}-
by a learned Single Judge of the High Court of Bombay under Article 
134A of the Constitution in respect of an order passed by him in a Writ 
Petition in which the employees of the State Bank of India had ques-
tioned the right of the management to fix the hours of work and the 
G 
hours of recess and its right to stagger the period of recess and had 
prayed for other consequential reliefs. The learned Single Judge 
allowed the petition following certain earlier decisions of the High 
Court rendered by the Division Benches. He however proceeded to +· 
grant a certificate of fitness to file an appeal against his decision before 
this Court following an earlier order of a Division Bench granting such 
H 
a certificate in respect of one of those earlier decisions. He issued the 
S.B.J. v. S.B.I. EMPLOYEES UNION 
155 
i 
certificate under Article 134A of the Constitution without referring to A 
the Article under which the appeal could be filed. Article 134A of the 
Constitution reads thus: 
"134A. Every High Court, passing or making a judg· 
ment, decree, final order, or sentence, referred to in clause 
( 1) of article 132 or clause (1) of article 133, or clause (1) of B 
article 134,-
(a) may, if it deems fit so to do, on its own motion; 
and 
( 
' 
(b) shall, if an oral application is made, by or on c 
) 
behalf of the party aggrieved, immediately after the passing 
or making of such judgment, decree, final order or 
/

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