Jamshedpur, Feb. 15: The Tata Workers? Union (TWU), an Intuc-affiliated recognised union of Tata Steel, has decided to move the Supreme Court to challenge the state labour commissioner?s order of declaring the union polls held on January 15 as ?null and void?.

Sources said the union is seeking legal advice from experts in Ranchi. The union will soon move a petition challenging the order at the apex court.

State labour commissioner-cum-trade union registrar Nidhi Khare on February 4 had issued orders rejecting the union poll and declared the election process as ?unconstitutional? and a gross violation of the union constitution.

TWU officials, requesting anonymity, said they have handed over the necessary documents to the legal experts for filing a petition at the apex court.

?The union poll was conducted as per the constitution. How can the polls be rejected when it was conducted under the supervision of an Intuc observer?? said a senior union functionary, adding that the petition will be filed soon.

Two union officials S.N. Singh and Shailesh Singh of the rival faction, had filed a petition at the Jharkhand High Court a week before the union poll alleging irregularities in the election process.

The court, in turn, authorised Khare to take suitable action.

After the court order, Khare had issued a notice to the union to postpone the election till January 20.

But the union went ahead with the election on the scheduled date and elected R.B.B. Singh as the new union president.

Meanwhile, the rival faction led by Raghunath Pandey, the former deputy president of the union, said the new executive committee has no right to function as the poll has been rejected by the state labour department.

He demanded a fresh poll and reinstatement of the old executive committee.

The state labour commissioner has also served a showcause notice to union officials and asked them to reply to the anomalies in the election process within two-months, otherwise affiliation to the union would be withdrawn.

The opposition camp members said the two previous elections in 1997 and 2000 were held under the supervision of the state labour department.