Smt. K.A. Annamma vs The Secretary, Cochin Co-operative Hospital Society Ltd

Smt. K.A. Annamma vs The Secretary, Cochin Co-operative Hospital Society Ltd. - Supreme Court Important Judgment 2018 - 

On 12th January, 2018, in the case of Smt. K.A. Annamma v. The Secretary, Cochin Co-operative Hospital Society Ltd. [Civil Appeal No. 197 of 2018], it was held that the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 (KCS Act) and the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 (ID Act) “both possess and enjoy the concurrent jurisdiction to decide any service dispute arising between the Co-operative Society’s Employee and his/her Employer (Co-operative Society).

It was further held that “it is the choice of the Employee concerned to choose any one forum out of the two forums available to him/her under the two Acts (the KCS Act and the I.D. Act) to get his/her service dispute decided. It is, however, subject to satisfying the test laid down under the ID Act that the employee concerned is a “workman”, the dispute raised by him/her is an “industrial dispute” and the Co-operative Society (Employer) is an “Industry” as defined under the ID Act.”