JUDGMENT : Mahesh Chandra Tripathi, J. Heard Shri Shakti Swarup Nigam, learned counsel for the petitioner company and learned Standing Counsel for the first respondent. 2. M/S Radico Khaitan Ltd., Bareilly Road, Rampur through its General Manager is before this Court assailing the validity of the orders dated 1.12.2016 and 10.7.2017 passed by the first respondent i.e. Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal (IV), Agra in Adjudication Case No. 8/2015 (President/Secretary, Distillery Karamchari Union v. M/s Radico Khaitan Ltd. and Ors). 3. Record in question reflects that the petitioner is a registered company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 having its registered office at Bareilly Road, Civil Lines, Rampur. It is engaged in manufacturing of country liquor and Indian made foreign wine. The present establishment is registered under the Contract Labour (R & A) Act, 1970 and the contractors are also registered under Contract Labour (R & A) Act, 1970 and the rules made thereunder. The State Government in exercise of its power under Section 4K of U.P. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (in short, the Act) referred the matter of termination of 111 contract labours to the Industrial Tribunal (IV), Agra to decide as to whether they are the workmen of contractors or principal employer. 4. In the said proceeding the second respondent i.e. Distillery Karamchari Union, Rampur had filed written statement on 28.9.2015 inter alia praying that the order of termination dated 24.3.2014 be declared as illegal and they may be treated as employees of principal employer i.e. petitioner. A specific stand was taken by the petitioner in the said proceeding that all the labourers are contract labourers and at no point of time they were appointed by the petitioner. There was no relationship between the parties as master and servant. In the said proceeding an application was filed by the second respondent on 18.7.2016 for summoning the documents for the period 1980 to March, 2004 relating to payment of wages register and other documents. 5. The petitioner filed the objection stating that under section 13A of Payment of Wages Act, 1937 (in short, the Act of 1937) and Rules 74 and 78 of U.P. Factories Rules, 1950 (in short, Rules of 1950), the requirement of keeping the aforesaid registers is only for a period of three years but due to inadvertent mistake in para-5 of the said objection, it was typed as five years. In this backdrop the first respondent vide order dated 1.12.2016 asked the petitioner to produce the original documents for a period of five years. The petitioner had moved an application for recalling the aforesaid order precisely on the ground that the said order is in teeth of the aforesaid provisions and the requirement of keeping the records is only of three years. By the impugned order dated 10.7.2017 the said application has been rejected by the first respondent and the same has been assailed in the present writ petition. 6. In this backdrop, Shri Shakti Swarup Nigam, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that Section 13A of the Act of 1936 and Rules 74 and 78 of the Rules of 1950 clearly provide that the period for keeping the record is only of three years and once the present reference had been made in the year 2015, then maximum the first respondent could summon the record from the years 2012 to 2015 but due to inadvertent mistake it has been mentioned as five years in the application/objection, which has been filed by the petitioner. In the said proceeding the first respondent cannot take a contrary view. It has also been submitted that in the present matter the written statement had also been filed by the labour contractors and in their written submission they had admitted that all the workmen were employees of the labour contractors and they are not the employees of the principal employer (petitioner). The Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal has erred in law in proceeding to pass the impugned orders and as such, this Court should come for rescue and reprieve to the petitioner. 7. The Court has proceeded to examine the record in question and specially the provisions contained under Section 13A of the Act of 1936 and Rules 74 and 78 of the Rules of 1950. For ready reference, Section 13-A of the Act of 1936 and Rules 74 and 74 of the Rules of 1950 are reproduced herein below :- "13A. Maintenance of registers and records.- (1) Every employer shall maintain such registers and records giving such particulars of persons employed by him, the work performed by them, the wages paid to them, the deductions made from their wages, the receipts given by them and such other particulars and in such form as may be prescribed. Maintenance of registers and records.- (1) Every employer shall maintain such registers and records giving such particulars of persons employed by him, the work performed by them, the wages paid to them, the deductions made from their wages, the receipts given by them and such other particulars and in such form as may be prescribed. (2) Every register and record required to be maintained under this section shall, for the purposes of this Act, be preserved for a period of three years after the date of the last entry made therein. 74. Weekly holidays and attendance register- (1) The Manager shall enter the details of weekly holidays lost and compensated for in the prescribed attendance register in Form Nos. 12 and 13: Provided that, if the Chief Inspector of Factories is of the opinion that any muster roll or register maintained as part of the routine of the factory or return made by the Manager gives in respect of any or all the workers in the factory the particulars required for the enforcement of Section 53, he may, by order in writing, direct that such muster roll or register or return shall, to the corresponding extent, be maintained in place of and be treated as the register or return required under this rule for that factory. (2) The register maintained under sub-rule (1) shall be preserved for a period of three years after the last entry in it and shall be produced before the Inspector on demand. 78. (1) The manager of every factory shall keep, legibly written in ink and, if he so desires, separately by departments, a register of workers in Form No. 12 for adults, showing the dates, whether Sundays or week days on which the factory or any department thereof is closed and its employees are not working, the hours of work on each day of all the persons working in the factory, the time of commencing work, the rest period, the time of ending work, the days of absence and the nature of the employment of each person. Entries relating to presence or otherwise of all workers shall be posted group-wise in the register within four hours of the starting time of each working periods of the factory, except on days when workers have been called to work on weekly holidays fixed under Section 52, when such entries shall be made within two hours but the name of each worker shall invariably be shown on the register before he or she is allowed to work in the factory on any day. (2) The manager shall be responsible for the production, on demand of the register, irrespective of the fact whether he (the manager) is present or not in the factory during an inspection. (3) If a manager prefers, he may maintain the separate registers in two parts one for each half of the month. (4) The registers shall be preserved for three years after the close of the year to which they relate." 8. Section 13A (1) of the Act of 1936, which talks about maintenance of registers and records, clearly provides that every employer shall maintain such registers and records giving such particulars of persons employed by him, the work performed by them, the wages paid to them, the deductions made from their wages, the receipts given by them and such other particulars and in such form as may be prescribed. Sub-section (2) of Section 13-A provides that every register and record required to be maintained under this section shall, for the purposes of this Act, be preserved for a period of three years after the date of the last entry made therein. 9. Rule 74 of the Rules of 1950 deals with weekly holidays and attendance register. Sub-rule (1) of Rule 74 provides that the Manager shall enter the details of weekly holidays lost and compensated for in the prescribed attendance register in Form Nos. 12 and 13. Rule 74 (2) provides that the register maintained under sub-rule (1) shall be preserved for a period of three years after the last entry in it and shall be produced before the Inspector on demand. 12 and 13. Rule 74 (2) provides that the register maintained under sub-rule (1) shall be preserved for a period of three years after the last entry in it and shall be produced before the Inspector on demand. Rule 78 (1) provides that the manager of every factory shall keep, legibly written in ink and, if he so desires, separately by departments, a register of workers in Form No. 12 for adults, showing the dates, whether Sundays or week days on which the factory or any department thereof is closed and its employees are not working, the hours of work on each day of all the persons working in the factory, the time of commencing work, the rest period, the time of ending work, the days of absence and the nature of the employment of each person. Sub-rule (2) provides that the manager shall be responsible for the production, on demand of the register, irrespective of the fact whether he (the manager) is present or not in the factory during an inspection. Under sub-rule (3) if a manager prefers, he may maintain the separate registers in two parts one for each half of the month and sub-rule (4) provides that the registers shall be preserved for three years after the close of the year to which they relate. 10. In the present matter on the basis of aforesaid provisions the petitioner had taken categorical objection while moving the application for recalling the order dated 1.12.2016 and in view of the aforesaid provisions, the obligation upon the employer is to preserve the relevant record for a period of three years only. 11. In view of above, the impugned orders dated 1.12.2016 and 10.7.2017 cannot sustain on its face value and they are, accordingly, set aside. 12. The writ petition is allowed and the matter is remanded back to the first respondent to pass an appropriate order in accordance with law afresh after according opportunity of hearing to the second respondent as well as the contractors, who have been arrayed as respondent nos. 3 to 6.