Winifreeda Mills Limited. v. W. Tillekeratne, Arbitrator and Others – sllr 1984 volume 1 page 186

In the case between Winifreeda Mills Limited and W. Tillekeratne (Arbitrator) and others (including a union of workmen), the court addressed whether the Minister of Labour’s reference of an industrial dispute to arbitration was valid despite the earlier dismissal of individual workmen’s applications as time-barred. It was held that applications dismissed for being out of time were not “entertained” within the meaning of section 31 B(5) of the Industrial Disputes Act and thus did not bar the Minister’s statutory power to refer the dispute. The principle reaffirmed was that dismissal of time-barred applications does not engage estoppel by res judicata against a subsequent statutory reference. Reliance was placed on relevant precedents addressing the scope of “entertained” applications and mi