WPC/180/2026 of PANKAJ SONI Vs STATE OF CHHATTISGARH on 23 September 2026

1. State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Secretary, Labour Department, Government Of Chhattisgarh, Mahanadi Bhawan, Naya Raipur, Atal Nagar, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh

2. State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Labour Commissioner, Block-3, 2nd Floor, Indravati Bhawan, Naya Raipur, Atal Nagar, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

3. Registrar Of Trade Unions, Chhattisgarh Office Of The Labour Commissioner, Block-3, 2nd Floor, Indravati Bhawan, Naya Raipur, Atal Nagar, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

4. Chhattisgarh Theka Mazdoor Congress Registration No. 86, Affiliation No. 11331, Through The General Secretary, Divyanshu Singh, Registered Office- 124, Las Vista, Vip Road, Amlideeh, Raipur, District

5. Chhattisgarh Coal Washeries Karmchari Sangh Registration No. 181, Affiliation No. 12811, Through The General Secretary, Ramesh Chandra Mishra, Registered Office- Intuc Bhavan, Pil, Champa District Janjgir Champa Chhattisgarh.

6. Chhattisgarh Sponge Karmchari Sangh Reg. No. 183, Affiliation No. 12812, Through The General Secretary, Jaiprakash Yadav Registered Office- 124, Las Vista, Vip Road, Amlideeh, Raipur District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

7. Chhattisgarh Asanghathit Mazdoor Congress Reg. No. 365, Affiliation No. 12862, Through The General Secretary, Divyanshu Singh, Registered Office- 124, Las Vista, Vip Road, Amlideeh, District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

8. Chhattisgarh Gramin Khetihar Mazdoor Sangh Reg. No. 367, Affiliation No. 12864, Through The General Secretary, Vansh Bahadur Singh, Registered Office- 124, Las Vista, Vip Road, Amlideeh, District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

9. Chhattisgarh Sanvida Evam Gramin Mazdoor Sangh Reg. No. 5113, Affiliation No. 10085, Through The General Secretary, Jaiprakash Yadav, Registered Office- Intuc Bhavan, Pil, Champa District Janjgir- Champa Chhattisgarh.

10. Chhattisgarh Hotel Dhabha Evam Restaurant Karmchari Sangh Reg. No. 182, Affiliation No. 12810, Through The General Secretary, Ajay Nair, Registered Office- 124, Las Vista, Vip Road, Amlideeh, District

11. Chhattisgarh Steel And Power Karmchari Sangh Reg. No. 513 Affiliation No. 13458, Through The General Secretary, Jaiprakash Yadav, Registered Office- 124, Las Vista, Vip Road, Amlideeh, District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

12. Chhattisgarh Bhawan Nirman Karmchari Sangh Reg. No. 366, Affiliation No. 12863, Through The General Secretary, Divyanshu Singh, Registered Office 124, Las Vista, Vip Road, Amlideeh, District Raipur Chhattisgarh

... Respondent(s) For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Syed Mohammad Sohail Afzal, Advocate appears through video conferencing. For Respondent/State : Mr. Shobhit Mishra, Dy. Govt. Advocate. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad Order on Board 24/09/2026

1. By way of this petition, the petitioner has prayed for following reliefs:- “10.1 Issue a writ of mandamus directing Respondent No.2 (Labour Commissioner) to constitute an independent Special Inquiry (headed by an officer not below Joint Labour Commissioner)into:

(a) Non-maintenance of bank accounts and statutory books by the nine unions;

(b) Cash collections/usage and diversion/ misappropriation of union monies;

(c) Registrar's acceptance of returns despite s.28/ Form D non-compliance and notwithstanding material discrepancies in signatures, office-bearer details (address, age, designation, and count), including cases of conflicting identity of office-bearers and multiple signature variations for the same individual, and change in authenticating authority.

(d) Responsibility of office-bearers and outside facilitators. 10.2 Direct Respondent No.1 (Registrar) to:

(i) Invoke s.28(4) forthwith-seize/inspect account books, registers, vouchers, receipt books, membership registers, and bank records (if any) of the nine unions;

(ii) Issue notices under s. 10 to the unions for cancellation proceedings, citing persistent contraventions and false/irregular returns;

(iii) Refrain from accepting/recording further returns from the said unions until compliance and completion of inquiry. 10.3 Appoint a Court-monitored Committee/Amicus to vet the inquiry's progress; require periodic compliance affidavits by Respondent No.2. 10.4 Direct retrieval of all "audit reports", UDIN records and working papers from the concerned auditors/Registrar's files for the periods FY2021-FY2023; compare figure deltas and "physical verification" claims with actual record position. 10.5 Direct a forensic inquiry by a government-approved agency into the creation and submission of the disputed audit reports, including a comparative analysis of the signatures of office-bearers on documents obtained in 2023 and 2025, and an examination of the Registrar's record- keeping system.”

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner after arguing for some time seeks permission of this Court to withdraw this petition with liberty to file a fresh duly constituted petition.

3. No objection has been raised from other side.

4. Accordingly, the prayer is allowed and the instant petition is dismissed as withdrawn with the aforesaid liberty. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge

Chandrakant