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Constitutional Petition No. S‑15 ‑ of 1987, decided on 16th February, 1987.

‑‑‑S.22(4) & (5)‑‑Constitution of Pakistan (1973), Art. 199‑‑Collective Bargaining Agent, determination of‑‑Verification of list of employees and preparation of list of voters for purpose of holding secret ballot‑ No particular procedure provided for enquiry to be held by Registrar Trade Unions under S.22 of the Ordinance in regard to verification of lists submitted by employer or Trade Unions‑‑Question whether a person is or is not a workman, held, was a question of fact to be determined by Registrar himself in whatever manner he likes depending upon circumstances of each case.

Mirza Muhammad Kazim for Petitioners.

Nemo for Respondents.

Pre‑admission notice was issued to respondents No.l to 3 but none of them is present. However, I have heard Mr. Mirza Muhammad Kazim, learned counsel for the petitioners.

The sole grievance of the petitioners relates to a list of workers prepared by the Registrar, Trade Unions, Sind, Karachi (respondent No.1), in connection with the referendum which is about to be held for determination of a collective bargaining agent for the workers of Hotel Holiday Inn. The contention of Mr. Mirza Muhammad Kazim, learned counsel for the petitioners is, that certain persons have been wrongly excluded from the list of workers prepared by the respondent No.1 for the purpose of taking part at the referendum as those persons are workers and eligible to cast their vote at the referendum. According to the learned counsel, the Registrar has prepared such list of workmen without holding any enquiry or verification of their names.

It may be pointed out that section 22, subsection (4) of I.R.O. provides that on being required by the Registrar, every employer shall submit a list of workmen employed in the establishment and provide such facilities for verification of the list submitted by him and the trade unions as the Registrar may require. Subsection (5) of section 22 provides for verification of list submitted by trade unions in this behalf and preparation of a final list of voters after such verification. There is no doubt that section 22, subsections (4) and (5) envisage submission of lists of workmen by the employer and the trade unions and its verification by the Registrar but the learned counsel for the petitioners has failed to point out any material from which it can be established that the list of workmen was prepared by the respondent No.1 without any verification. In absence of such material being placed on record of this petition, this Court cannot hold an enquiry into the facts while exercising constitutional jurisdiction. Moreover no particular procedure is provided for the A enquiry which may be held by the Registrar Trade Unions under section 22 of the I.R.O. in regard to verification of the lists which may be submitted to him by the employer or the trade unions.. Therefore, the question whether a person is or is not a workman is a question of fact which is to be determined by the Registrar himself in whatever manner he likes, depending upon the circumstances of each case.

For the aforesaid reasons, I find this petition completely misconceived and dismiss the same in limine.

A. E. / H‑31 / K.

Petition dismissed.

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