Dismissed¶34

Trade Union of Oil and Natural Gas Commission Workers, Cachar Project, Silchar, Assam v. the Union of India and 5 Ors.

Gauhati HC15 Jul 2026WP(C)/4734/2023

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Gauhati High Court; WP(C)/4734/2023; Justice Devashis Baruah; Trade Union of ONGC Workers Cachar Project Silchar; Sri Ashok Baidya; Sri Hiresh Chakraborty; rival claims to General Secretary; two factions claiming control of trade union; ONGC respondents 2, 3 & 4 locked union office; writ petition not entertained; dispute held to be civil dispute for competent civil court; dismissal without prejudice to either group; space to be provided to union once control dispute resolved; no statute or precedent cited.

What did the court decide?

The dispute between the two groups as to who controls the Petitioner Trade Union is apparently a civil dispute which can only be adjudicated before the competent Court of Civil Jurisdiction. ¶33

Trade Union of Oil and Natural Gas Commission Workers, Cachar Project, Silchar, Assam Vs the Union of India and 5 Ors. — Gauhati HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Dismissed

¶34

Issue for consideration

Whether the writ petition challenging the locking of the Petitioner Trade Union's office by Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 4 ought to be entertained by this Court, in view of the dispute between two factions claiming control of the union. +1 more

¶34

Court's answer

This Court is not inclined to entertain the instant writ petition.

¶34

Ratio / Principle

The dispute between the two groups as to who controls the Petitioner Trade Union is apparently a civil dispute which can only be adjudicated before the competent Court of Civil Jurisdiction.

¶33

Key takeaways

Once the issue as to who controls the Petitioner Trade Union is resolved, the Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 4 would be required to provide the space for the Trade Union; the learned Senior Counsel for Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 4 submitted that they are not adverse to providing the space once the dispute is resolved.obiter¶35
The dismissal of the instant writ petition on the ground of not being entertained shall not prejudice either of the groups claiming to control the Petitioner Trade Union from approaching the competent Court of Civil Jurisdiction.obiter¶38

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Gauhati High Court (Hon'ble Mr. Justice Devashis Baruah), Order in WP(C)/4734/2023, dated 16.07.2026 as printed. The Trade Union of Oil and Natural Gas Commission Workers, Cachar Project, Silchar, represented by Sri Ashok Baidya as General Secretary, filed a writ petition challenging the locking of the union office by Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 4 (ONGC functionaries). The record showed Respondent No.6, Sri Hiresh Chakraborty, also claiming to be General Secretary, i.e., two factions/groups claiming control of the union. Holding that the dispute as to who controls the union is 'apparently a civil dispute which can only be adjudicated before the competent Court of Civil Jurisdiction', the Court declined to entertain the writ petition and dismissed it, observing (i) that the dismissal shall not prejudice either faction from approaching the competent civil court, and (ii) that once the control issue is resolved, Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 4 would be required to provide space for the union, to which those Respondents expressed no objection. No statutes or precedents were cited.

Page No.# 1/5

GAHC010180012023

undefined

THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)

¶5

Case No. : WP(C)/4734/2023

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TRADE UNION OF OIL AND NATURAL GAS COMMISSION WORKERS, CACHAR PROJECT, SILCHAR, ASSAM REPRESENTED BY SRI ASHOK BAIDYA, AGED ABOUT 60 YEARS, GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE SAID UNION, RAILWAY 2ND GATE, P.O.- TARAPUR, SILCHAR, DIST.- CACHAR, ASSAM, PIN- 788003.

¶7

VERSUS

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THE UNION OF INDIA AND 5 ORS

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TO BE REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS, ETC., NEW DELHI, 110001.

¶10

2:OIL AND NATURAL GAS COMMISSION (ONGC) TO BE REPRESENTED BY CHAIRMAN ONGC

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PLOT NO. 5A-5B NESON MANDELA ROAD

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VASANT KUNJ NEW DELHI 110070.

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3:GENERAL MANAGER (HR) I/C-HR-ER ONGC CACHAR PROJECT SRIKONA SILCHAR CACHAR

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Page No.# 2/5

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PIN- 788026.

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4:THE ASSET MANAGER ONGC AAFB-EA SILCHAR ASSET SRIKONA PIN- 788026.

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5:CHIEF LABOUR COMMISSIONER GOVT. OF INDIA SHRAMEV JAYATE BHAWAN

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G-4 SECTOR-10 DWARKA NEW DELHI 110075. 6:HIRESH CHAKRABORTY S/O LATE H.K. CHAKRABORTY

¶19

R/O- SIB BARI ROAD ROMANI MOHAN LANE

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P.O.- TARAPUR DIST.- CACHAR ASSAM

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PIN- 788003

¶22

For the Petitioner(s) : Ms. L. Wajeeda, Advocate

¶23

For the Respondent(s) : Mr. G. N. Sahewalla, Sr. Advocate Ms. K. Bhattacharyya, Advocate Mr. A. Dasgupta, Sr. Advocate Ms. B. Das, Advocate

¶24

Page No.# 3/5

¶25

BEFORE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH O R D E R

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16.07.2026

¶27

Heard Ms. L. Wajeeda, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner. Mr. J. K. Goswami, the learned counsel appears on behalf of the Respondent Nos.1 & 5; Mr. G. N. Sahewalla, the learned Senior Counsel assisted by Ms. K. Bhattacharyya, the learned counsel appears on behalf of the Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 4 and Mr. A. Dasgupta, the learned Senior Counsel assisted by Ms. B. Das, the learned counsel appears on behalf of the Respondent No.6.

¶28

The present writ petition has been filed by a Trade Union through one Sri Ashok Baidya who claims to be the General Secretary of the said Trade Union. On the other hand, it is seen from the records that the Respondent No.6, namely, Sri Hiresh Chakraborty also claims that he is the General Secretary of the Petitioner Trade Union.

¶29

The materials on record also show that there is a dispute between two groups claiming right of control over the Petitioner Trade Union and it is under such circumstances, the Respondent No.2 had been compelled to take steps for locking the office of

¶30

Page No.# 4/5

¶31

the Trade Union. Under such circumstances, the Petitioner Trade Union represented by Sri Ashok Baidya has filed the present writ petition challenging the action on the part of the Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 4 in locking the office of the Petitioner Trade Union.

¶32

This Court has duly heard the learned counsels appearing on behalf of the parties and has perused the materials on record. From the perusal of the materials on record, it is apparent that there are two factions/groups who claim to control the affairs of the Petitioner Trade Union, namely, the Trade Union of Oil and Natural Gas Commission Workers, Cachar Project, Silchar.

¶33

It is the opinion of this Court that the dispute between the two groups as to who controls the Petitioner Trade Union is apparently a civil dispute which can only be adjudicated before the competent Court of Civil Jurisdiction.

¶34

Considering the above, this Court is not inclined to entertain the instant writ petition.

¶35

Before parting with the record, this Court, however, finds it pertinent to observe that once the issue as to who controls the Petitioner Trade Union is resolved, the Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 4 would be required to provide the space for the Trade Union. In this aspect, Mr. G. N. Sahewalla, the learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of the Respondent Nos.2, 3 & 4 submitted

¶36

Page No.# 5/5

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that the said Respondents are not adverse to providing the space once the dispute as to who controls the Petitioner Trade Union is resolved.

¶38

This Court further observes that the dismissal of the instant writ petition on the ground of not being entertained shall not prejudice either of the groups who claims to be controlling the Petitioner Trade Union to approach the competent Court of Civil Jurisdiction.

¶39

JUDGE

¶40

Comparing Assistant

Trade Union of Oil and Natural Gas Commission Workers, Cachar Project, Silchar, Assam v. the Union of India and 5 Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

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Trade Union of Oil and Natural Gas Commission Workers, Cachar Project, Silchar, Assam v. the Union of India and 5 Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

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What the court decided

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Procedural history

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