P. SARATHYversusSTATE BANK OF INDIA

 A                                    P. SARATHY
                                            v.
                               STATE BANK OF INDIA

                                     MAY 12, 2000

B                [S. SAGHIRAHMAD AND G.B. PATTANAIK, JJ.]


          Limitation Act, 1963-Section 14-Benefit of proceedings pending
   before "court"-Deputy Commissioner ofLabour (Appeals), constituted under
   Section 41(2) of the T.N. Shops and Establishments Act whether a civil court
C for the purposes of benefit under Section 14 of the Act-Held, Deputy
   Commissioner of Labour (Appeals) is a "court" within the meaning ofSection
   14 of the Act and the proceedings pending before him were civil proceedings-
   Hence, the entire period of time from the date of the institution of the
   departmental appeal as also the period from the date of institution of the
D appeal under Section 41(2) before the Deputy Commissioner of Labour
   (Appeals) have to be excluded for computing the period of limitation for
  filing the suit-Suit-Limitation-Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act,
   1947, Section 41(2)-T.N. Shop$ and Establishments Rules, 1948, Rules 9
  and 9-A-Removal from services-Labour Laws.

E          Words and Phrases-"Court"-Meaning of

            Appellant, a promotee Branch Manager, was placed under suspension.
                                                                                       --
     After a regular departmental enquiry, he has removed from service on
     11.01.1983. Appellant challenged the removal before the Local Board of the
     Bank and the same was dismissed by it. The appellant, thereafter, filed an
F    appeal under Section 41(2) of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act
     (Act) before the Deputy Commissioner of Labour (Appeals) and the same was
     also dismissed on the ground that provisions of the Act were not applicable to
     nationalised banks.

           Appellant filed a regular suit on 28.09.1988 for a declaration that his
G removal was illegal, ultra vires and invalid and also for the reinstatement with
     consequential reliefs. This suit was dismissed by the trial court. The first
     appeal, filed by the appellant, was allowed. Respondent, filed a second appeal
     which was allowed by the High Court on the finding that the suit was instituted
     in the civil court beyond the period of limitation prescribed under the
H    Limitation Act without going into the merits of the case. Hence this appeal.
                                          402
                            P. SARA THY v. S.B.I.                          403
      It was contended by the appellant that he was entitled to claim benefit of   A
Section 14 of the Limitation Act on the ground that he had represented to the
Local Board, filed an appal under Section 41 of the Shops and Establishments
Act, and was, therefore, prosecuting "civil proceedings" in a court with due
diligence and the period during which such proceedings were pending, had to
be excluded.
                                                                                   B
      It was contended by the respondent that the benefit of Section 14 was
available only if the proceedings were "civil proceedings" and were pending
in a court; that the Appellate Authority under Section 41(2) of the Shops and
Establishments Act, was not a court and therefore, the benefit under Section
14 of the Limitation Act could not be legally given to the appellant               C
      Allowing the appeal, this Court

      HELD: I.I. The Deputy Commissioner of Labour (Appeals), which is
the Authority constituted under the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments
Act, 1947, has the jurisdiction to adjudicate upon an order by which the           D
services of an employee are terminated. Under Section 41(3) of the Act, the
order passed by him is binding on the employer as also on the employee. Thus,
the Deputy Commissioner of Labour (Appeals) may not be a "civil court"
within the meaning of CPC but it is definitely a court (408-B-DJ

      1.2. Section 14 of the Limitation Act does not speak ofa "civil court"       E
but speaks only of a "court". Any authority and tribunal having the trappings
of a court would be a "court" within the meaning of this Section. (408-G-HJ

       1.3. Admittedly, the appeal filed before the Deputy Commissioner of
Labour (Appeals), was within time. This appeal was dismissed on 01.09.1987
on the ground that the provision of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments        F
Act was not applicable to the nationalised banks as held by the High Court in
C. V. Raman case. This judgement was rendered duriQg the pendency of the
appeal before the Deputy Commissioner of Labour (Appeals).
                                                    [408-8; 405-A-B; 408-EJ

     C. V. Raman v. Bank of India, (1984) 2 LW 34 (Mad), approved.                 G
     Management of Bank of India v. C. V. Raman, (1984) 2 Lab. L.J. 34
[approved in [199813 sec 1051, referred to.

     1.4. The Deputy Commissioner of Labour (Appeals), which was an
authority constituted under Section 41(2) of the Tamil Nadu Shops .and             H
    404                      SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2000) SUPP. I S.C.R.

A   Establishments Act, 1947 to hear and decide appeals, was a "court" within
    the meaning of Section 14 of the Limitation Act and the proceedings pending
    before him were civil proceedings. The entire period of time from the date of
    institution of the departmental appeal as also the period from the date of
    institution of the appeals under Section 41(2) before the Deputy Commissioner
    of Labour (Appeals) till it was dismissed, will, therefore, have to be excluded
B   for computing the period of limitation for filing the suit in question. If the
    entire period is excluded, the suit would be within time. (409-F-H; 410-Al

         Thakur Jugal Kishore Sinha v. The Sitamarhi Central Co-operative
    Bank ltd., AIR (1967) SC 1494, relied on.
c       Pritam Kaur v. Sher Singh, AIR (1983) and Bansi Ram v. Shri Khazana,
    P&H 363 AIR (1993) HP 20, impliedly approved.

          Bharat Bank ltd v. Employees of Bharat Bank ltd, (1950) SCR 459:
    AIR (1950) SC 188; Maqbool Hussain v. State of Bombay, (1953) SCR 730:
D   AIR (1953) SC 325 and Brajnandan Sinha v. Jyoti Narain, (19551 2 SCR
    955 : AIR (1956) SC 66, referred to.

            CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 6900 of
    1997.

E         From the Judgment and Order dated 9.8.96 of the Madras High Court
    in S.A. No. 1659of1995.

            S.R. Setia, R. Sundravaradan and K.M. Ramesh for the Appeltant.

            Sanjay Kapoor for the Respondent.
F           The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

          S. SAGHIR AHMAD, J. The appellant was appointed as a clerk in the
    State Bank oflndia (for short, 'the respondent') in 1962. In July, 1977, he was
    promoted to the post of Branch Manager but on 8th of September, 1980, he
G   was placed under suspension. On 31st of July, 1981, a chargesheet was issued
    to him which was followed by the regular departmental proceedings and
    ultimately on I Ith of January, 1983, the appellant was removed from service.
    This order was challenged by the appellant in an appeal filed before the Local
    Board of the Bank on 21st of February, 1983 but by order dated 18th of May,
    1983, the appeal was dismissed. The appellant, thereafter, filed an appeal
H   under Section 41(2) of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947
               P. SARA THY v. S.B.I. [S. SAGHIR AHMAD, J.)                   405
(for short, 'the Act') on 21st of July, 1983. The appeal was filed with the         A
 Deputy Commissioner of Labour (Appeals), Madras. This appeal was dismissed
 on I st of September, 1987 on the ground that the provisions of Tamil Nadu
 Shops and Establishments Act, 1947 were not applicable to the nationalised
 banks as held by the Madras High Court in Management of Bank of India
 v. C. V. Raman, (1984) 2 Lab. L.J. 34. This judgment was upheld by this Court      B
on 21st of April, 1988 and is since reported in [1988] 3 SCC I 05. It was
 because of this decision that the appellant's S.L.P. (C) No. 14963 of 1987
against the order of I st of September, 1988 by which the appeal was rejected
by the Deputy Commissioner of Labour (Appeals) was dismissed. It was at
this stage that the appellant instituted regular suit No. 11099/88 in the City
Civil Court, Madras for a declaration that the removal of the appellant was         C
illegal, ultra vires and invalid. He prayed for a decree for reinstatement with
consequential benefits. This suit was dismissed by the trial court by its
judgment dated 20th of April, 1994. The trial court further held that the suit
was not within limitation. The first appeal filed, thereafter, by the appellant
was allowed on 7th of March, 1995 by the VIII Addi. Judge, Madras with the
finding that the suit was not barred by limitation and that the order of            D
dismissal passed against the appellant was bad. The respondent, thereafter,
filed a second appeal which was allowed by the Madras High Court on 9th
of August, 1996 with the finding that the suit was instituted in the Civil Court
beyond the period of limitation prescribed under the Limitation Act. The High
Court did not go into the merits of the case. It is in these circumstances that     E
the present appeal has been filed.

       The only question which falls for our consideration in this appeal is
whether the suit instituted by the appellant in the City Civil Court, Madras
on 28th of September, 1988, was within time. This suit was filed for the
declaration that the order dated I Ith of January, 1983, by which he was            F
removed from service, was bad in law. The normal period of limitation within
which the suit could have been filed is three years under Article 58 of the
Limitation Act, 1963. There is another Article, namely, Article 113 which is a
residuary Article which provides a period of limitation of three years for filing
a suit for which no period of limitation is provided elsewhere.                     G
      In order to bring a suit within the period of limitation, the appellant
claimed benefit of Section 14 of the Limitation Act on the ground that he had
represented to the Local Board and, thereafter, filed an appeal under Section
41(2) of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947 and was, therefore,
prosecuting "civil proceedings" in a court with due diligence. It is claimed        H
    406                      SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2000] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A   that the entire period during which those proceedings were pending, has to
    be excluded and if this is done, the suit will be well within limitation.

           Learned counsel for the respondent has, on the contrary, contended
    that the benefit of Section 14 can be given only if the proceedings were "civil
    proceedings" and were pending in a court. It is contended that the Appellate
B   Authority under Section 41 (2) of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments
    Act, 194 7, is not a court and, therefore, the benefit under Section 14 could
    not be legally given to the appellant whose suit had been rightly held to be
    beyond time by the trial court as also by the High Court.

C         Section .41 of the Act provides as under:-

            "41. Notice of dismissal.-(!) No employer shall dispense with the
            services of a person employed continuously for a period of not less
            than six months, except for a reasonable cause and without giving
            such person at least one month's notice or wages in lieu of such
D           notice, provided however, that such notice shall not be necessary
            where the services of such person are dispensed with on a charge of
            misconduct supported by satisfactory evidence recorded at an enquiry
            held for the purpose.

               (2) The person employed shall have a right to appeal to such
E          authority and within such time as may be prescribed either on the
           ground that there was no reasonable cause for dispensing with his
           services or on the ground that he had not been guilty of misconduct
           as held by the employer.

               (3) The decision of the appellate authority shall be final and
F          binding on both the employer and the person employed."

          A perusal of the above provisions will show that when a person is
    dismissed from service, he has a right of appeal to such authority and within
    such time as is prescribed under the Act.

G         Rules 9 and 9-A of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishment Rules,
    1948, are quoted below to indicate the manner in which the appeal has to be
    heard and the powers of the Appellate Authority which are exercisable by him
    in disposing of the appeal :

           "9. Appeals under Section 41 (l)-(1) The Deputy Commissioner of
H          Labour in their respective areas assigned to them by the Commissioner
            P. SARA THY v. S.B.I. [S. SAGHIR AHMAD, J.)                    407
     of Labour, shall be the authorities for the purposes of hearing appeals      A
     under sub-section (2) of Section 41 of the said Act :

         Provided that the Commissioner of Labour may, by order in writing,
     on the representation made by either of the parties in this behalf or
     on his own accord, withdraw any case under this Act, pending before
     an authority and transfer the same to another authority for disposal.        B
     Such authority to whom the case is so transferred, may, subject to the
     special direction in the order of transfer, proceed either de-novo or
     from the stage at which it was so transferred.

         (2) Any appeal under sub-section (2) of Section 41 shall be·
     preferred by the person employed within thirty days from the date of C
     service of the order terminating the service with the employer, such
     service to be deemed effective if carried out either personally or ifthat
     be not practicable, by prepaid registered post to the last known
     address when the date of such service shall be deemed to be the date
     when the letter would arrive in ordinary course of post.                  D
          Provided that an appeal may be admitted after the said period of
     thirty days if the appellant satisfies the appellate authority that he had
     sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within that period.

         (3) The procedure to be followed by the appellate authority              E
     (Deputy Commissioner of Labour), when hearing appeals preferred to
     him under sub-section (2) of Section 41 shall be summary. He shall
     record briefly the evidence adduced before him and then pass orders
     giving his reasons therefor. The result of the appeal shall be
     communicated to the parties as soon as possible. Copies of the orders
     shall also be furnished to the parties, if required by them.                 F
     9-A. Re-hearing of appeals.-(1) In any appeal preferred under the
     Act, if the employer or his representative fails to appear on the
     specified date, the appellate authority may proceed to hear and
     determine the appeal ex-parte.
                                                                                  G
        (2) In any appeal preferred under the Act, if the appellant fails to
     appear on the specified date, the appellate authority may dismiss the
     appeal.

         (3) NotwithstandinS, anything contained in sub-rules (I) and (2),
·~
     an order passed under either of those sub-rules may be set aside and         H
    408                     SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2000) SUPP. I S.C.R.

A           the appeal reheard on good cause being shown within one month of
            the date of the said order, notice being serviced on the opposite party
            of the date fixed for such rehearing."
         It is not disputed that the appeal filed before the Deputy Commissioner
    of Labour (Appeals), Madras was within time.
B          Deputy Commissioner of Labour (Appeals), Madras, which is the
    Authority constituted under the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act,
    1947, has the jurisdiction to adjudicate upon an order by which the services
    of an employee are terminated. He has the jurisdiction to decide whether the
    order of dismissal, passed by the employer, was valid or it was passed in
C   violation of any statutory rule or principles of natural justice. Under Section
    41(3), the order passed by him is binding on the employer as also on the
    employee. Thus, the Deputy Commissioner of Labour (Appeals) may not be
    a "civil court" within the meaning of the Code of Civil Procedure but it is
    definitely a "court".
D         This appeal was dismissed on 1st of September, 1987 on the ground that
    the pro\isions of Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947, were not
    applicable to Nationalised Banks as held by the Madras High Court in the
    judgment since reported in 1984 (2) Lab.L.J. 34. This judgment was rendered
    during the pendency of the appeal before the Deputy Commissioner of Labour
E   (Appeals), Madras.
            Sub-section (1) of Section 14, Limitation Act, provides as under:
           "( 1) In computing the period of limitation for any suit the time during
           which the plaintiff has been prosecuting with due diligence another
           civil proceeding, whether in a Court of first instance or of appeal or
p          revision, against the defendant shall be excluded, where the proceeding
           relates to the same matter in issue and is prosecuted in good faith in
           a Court which, from defect of jurisdiction or other cause of a like
           nature, is unable to entertain it."
          It will be noticed that Section 14 of the Limitation Act does not speak
G of a "civil court" but speaks only of a "court". It is not necessary that the
    court spoken of in Section 14 should be a "civil court". Any Authority or
    Tribunal having the trappings of a court would be a "court" within the
    meaning of this Article.

         In Thakur Jugal Kishore Sinha v. The Sitamarhi Central Co-operative
H   Bank Ltd and another, AIR ( 1967) SC 1494, this Court, while considering the
               P. SARA THY v. S.B.l. [S. SAGHIR AHMAD, J.]                   409

question under the Contempt of Courts Act, held that the Registrar under the        A
Bihar and Orissa Co-operative Societies Act, was a court. It was held that the
Registrar had not merely the trappings of a court but in many respects he was
given the same powers as was given to an ordinary Civil Court by the Code
of Civil Procedure including the powers to summon and examine witnesses
on oath, the power to order inspection of documents and to hear the parties.
The Court referred to the earlier decisions in Bharat Bank Limited v.               B
Employees ofBharat Bank Ltd, [1950) SCR459 =AIR (1950) SC 188; Maqbool
Hussain v. State of Bombay, [1.953] SCR 730 = AIR (1953) SC 325 and
Brajnandan Sinha v. Jyoti Narain, [ 1955] 2 SCR 955 =AIR (1956) SC 66. The
Court approved the rule laid down in these cases that in order to constitute
a court in the strict sense of the term, an essential condition is that the court   C
should have, apart from having some of the trappings of a judicial tribunal,
power to give a decision or a definitive judgment which has FINALITY and
AUTHORITATIVENESS which are the essential tests of a judicial
pronouncement.

      In Pritam Kaur v. Sher Singh, AIR (1983) Punjab and Haryana 363, the          D
proceedings before the Collector under the Redemption of Mortgages (Punjab)
Act (2of1913) were held to be civil proceedings. It was held that the "court",
contemplated under Section 14 of the Limitation Act, does not necessarily
mean the "civil court" und.:r the Code of Civil Procedure. It was further held
that any Tribunal or Authority, deciding the rights of parties, will be treated     E
to be a "court". Consequently, benefit of Section 14 of the Limitation Act was
allowed in that case. This decision was followed by the Himachal Pradesh
High Court in Shri Bansi Ram and others v. Shri Khazana, AIR (1993)
Himachal Pradesh 20.

       Applying the above principles in the instant case, we are of the opinion F
that the Deputy Commissioner of Labour (Appeals), which was an Authority
constituted under Section 41 (2) of the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments
Act, 1947 to hear and decide appeals, was a "court" within the meaning of
Section 14 of the Limitation Act and the proceedings pending before him were
civil proceedings. It is not disputed that the appellant could file an appeal G
before the Local Board of the Bank, which was purely a departmental appeal.
In this view of the matter, the entire period of time from the date of institution
of the departmental appeal as also the period from the date of institution of
the appeal under Section 41 (2) before the Deputy Commissioner of Labour
(Appeals) till it was dismissed, will, therefore, have to be excluded for
computing the period of limitation for filing the suit in question. If the entire H
    410                      SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2000] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A period is excluded, the suit, it is not disputed, would be within time.
            It was for these reasons that we have allowed this appeal by our short
    order dated 28th of July, 1998 f~!r which the reasons are recorded by us in
    detail.

B R.K.S.                                                         Appeal allowed.