M/S. SERAJUDDIN & CO. vs THEIR WORKMEN

The Supreme Court held that the reference of an industrial dispute by the State Government of West Bengal was invalid as the appropriate Government under Section 2(a) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, should have been the Central Government. The Court clarified that an industrial dispute involving employees at a head office is not an industrial dispute concerning a mine as defined under the Act. Consequently, the tribunal's jurisdiction to adjudicate the dispute was deemed unauthorized, affirming that disputes not related to a mine fall under the purview of the State Government.