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PETITIONER: STATE BANK OF INDIA & ANR.

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: S.B.I EMPLOYEES UNION & ANR.

DATE OF JUDGMENT15/09/1987

BENCH: VENKATARAMIAH, E.S. (J) BENCH: VENKATARAMIAH, E.S. (J) SINGH, K.N. (J)

CITATION:  1987 AIR 2203            1988 SCR  (1) 153  1987 SCC  (4) 370        JT 1987 (3)   579  1987 SCALE  (2)575

ACT:      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.

HEADNOTE:      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.      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 Division Bench granting such a certificate in respect of one of those 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.  (1) of  Article 132  or in  cl. (1)  of Article 133  or in  sub-clause (c) of cl. (1) 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(1)(c). [155E]      The High  Court can issue a certificate only when it is satisfied that  the conditions in Article 132 or Article 133 or Article 134, as the case may be, are satisfied. [156F]      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  question of  law as  to the interpretation of the Constitution nor is it a crimi- 154 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. [155E-F]

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    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  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-H]      The petition  of appeal  to be treated as Special Leave Petition under  Article 136  of the  Constitution and posted for preliminary hearing. [157A]

JUDGMENT:      CIVIL  APPELLATE   JURISDICTION:  Civil   Miscellaneous Petition No. 19065 of 1987.                                IN      Civil Appeal No. 1713 of 1987.      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:                             O R D E R      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  questioned  the right of  the management  to fix  the hours  of work and the 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  a certificate  in respect  of  one  of  those earlier decisions. He issued the 155 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           judgment,  decree,   final  order,   or  sentence,           referred to  in clause  ( 1)  of  article  132  or           clause (  1) of  article 133,  or clause  ( 1)  of           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  behalf of  the party aggrieved, immediately           after the  passing or  making  of  such  judgment,           decree, final order or sentence,           determine, as soon as may be after such passing or           making, the  question whether a certificate of the           nature referred  to in clause ( 1) of article 132,           or clause  ( 1) of article 133 or, as the case may           be, sub-clause  (c) of  clause (1) of article 134,           may be given in respect of that case."      The certificate  contemplated under Article 134A of the Constitution can  only be a certificate which is referred to in clause  ( 1)  of Article 132 or in clause ( 1) of Article 133 or  in sub-clause  (c) of  clause ( 1) of Article 134 of the Constitution. This is quite obvious from the language of Article 134A  of the  Constitution. This case does not fall,

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either under  Article 132(1)  or  under  sub-clause  (c)  of Article 134(1) as it neither involves a substantial question of law  as to  the interpretation of the Constitution nor it is a criminal proceeding. It can only fall. if at all, under Article 133(1)  of the  Constitution.  Article  133  of  the Constitution reads thus:                "133. (1)  An appeal shall lie to the Supreme           Court from  any judgment, decree or final order in           a  civil   proceeding  of  a  High  Court  in  the           territory of  India if  the High  Court  certifies           under Article 134A-                (a) that  the  case  involves  a  substantial           question of law of general importance; and                (b) that in the opinion of the High Court the           said 156           question needs to be decided by the Supreme Court.                (2) Notwithstanding  anything in article 132,           any party  appealing to  the Supreme  Court  under           clause ( 1) may urge as one of the grounds in such           appeal that  a substantial  question of  law as to           the interpretation  of this  Constitution has been           wrongly decided.                (3) Notwithstanding anything in this article,           no  appeal   shall,  unless   Parliament  by   law           otherwise provides,  lie to the Supreme Court from           the judgment,  decree or  final order of one Judge           of a High Court."      Clause (3)  of Article  133 says  that  notwithstanding anything in  that Article  no appeal shall unless Parliament by law  otherwise provides lie to the Supreme Court from the judgment, decree  or final  order of  one Judge  of the High Court. Before  the  introduction  of  Article  134A  of  the Constitution  by   the  Forty-fourth  Amendment  of  L)  the Constitution there was no express provision in Articles 132, 133 and  134 of  the Constitution  regarding  the  time  and manner in  which an  application for a certificate under any of those articles could be made before the High Court. There was also  a doubt as to the power of the High Court to issue a certificate  suo motu under any of those articles. Article 134A was enacted to make good the said deficiencies. Article 134A does  not constitute  an  independent  provision  under which a  certificate can  be  issued.  It  is  ancillary  to Article 132(1),  Article 133(1) and Article 134(1)(c) of the Constitution. That  is the  reason for  the use of words "if the High  Court certifies  under article  134A"  in  Article 132(1)  and   Article  133(1)  and  for  the  use  of  words "certifies under  article 134A"  in Article  134(1)(c).  The High Court can issue a certificate only when it is satisfied that the conditions in Article 132 or Article 133 or Article 134 of the Constitution as the case may be are satisfied. In the instant  case such  a certificate  could not  have  been issued by  reason of  clause  (3)  of  Article  133  of  the Constitution by the learned Single Judge.      The fact  that in a similar case a certificate had been issued by  a Division  Bench of the High Court consisting of two Judges  in a  case decided by the Division Bench did not empower the  Single Judge  to issue  the  certificate  under Article 133(1) of the Constitution in a case decided by him. The restriction  placed by  clause (3) of Article 133 of the Constitution could not be got over by relying upon the order of the Division Bench. 157      We, therefore,  revoke the certificate This petition of appeal A  may,  however,  be  treated  as  a  Special  Leave

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Petition under  Article 136  of the  Constitution and posted for preliminary hearing. N P V 158