WESTERN INDIA MATCH COMPANY, LIMITED Vs. INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) AN industrial dispute between the appellant, the management of Western Indian Match Co., Ltd., and the respondents, its employees, was referred for adjudication by the Government of Madras to the industrial tribunal, Madras, on 14 May 1957. The dispute thus referred was in regard to the calculation of the loss sustained by the workers who were formerly drawing stores quota of more than Rs. 13. On this reference, the tribunal made its award on 24 July 1957. Against the award, the appellant moved this Court by its application for special leave under Art. 136 of the constitution but the said application was Constitution but the said application was dismissed on 30 September 1957. Thereafter, the appellant moved the High Court at Madras by a writ petition under Art. 226 of the constitution. It was urged by the appellant before the High Court that by the refusal of the tribunal to examine the conciliation officer as suggested by the appellant, the appellant had no fair or effective opportunity to prove its case and so, the trial before the tribunal was unfair.

(2.) ON the other hand, the respondents contended that the dismissal of the appellant's application for special leave constituted a legal bar against the maintainability of the writ petition filed by the appellant before the High Court. If was also pleaded that on the merits, the appellant had not made out any case for the issue of a writ of certiorari.

(3.) BEFORE dealing with the second question already formulated, it is necessary to set out the material facts leading to the present dispute. The appellant runs a match factory at Madras among other places in India. Its labour strength is about 1, 682. Prior to 1953, the appellant was paying to each of its workmen a sum of Rs. 1-9-0 as grain allowance and was, besides, supplying stores at pre-war prices in addition to his basic wages. The stores quota of the workers was fixed with the result that out of 1, 682 workers, 1, 460 had stores quota of Rs. 13 per month and the remaining 222 had stores quota ranging between Rs. 14 and Rs. 26. In 1953, however, a dispute arose between the appellant and the respondents and it was referred for adjudication. One of the issues under reference was the fixation of dearness allowance in lieu of the existing stores benefit system. By the award made in the said reference, the stores benefit system was abolished and the appellant was directed to pay the entire dearness allowance in cash. The tribunal fixed the dearness allowance of four annas one pie per point above one hundred points of the Madras cost of living. This allowance was in lieu of the stores quota, grain allowance and the dearness allowance of two annas per rupee of basic wages which was then being paid. Aggrieved by this award, the respondents preferred an appeal before the Labour Appellant Tribunal. It was urged on their behalf that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to abolish the stores quota system and it was argued that the cash value determined by the award in lieu of stores quota was very law. The Labour Appellate Tribunal rejected the respondents' plea and confirmed the award.Pending these proceedings, the appellant had made an offer in its counter-statement and consistently with the said offer, it drew up a memorandum of 6 May 1954, working out the effect of the award. The relevant calculations made by the appellant showed that 29 time-rated workers had lost amounts ranging from seven annas to Rs. 24-11-0 and compensation to such workers was accordingly determined on 6 May 1954 which was the date when the memorandum was drawn. Accordingly, the appellant offered to make good the loss suffered by the said workmen retrospectively from 1 November 1953 to 31 March 1954 and it added that from 1 April 1954, the basic wages had been increased proportionately to compensate for the said loss.