J K COTTON SPINNING AND WEAVING MILLS CO LIMITED Vs. LABOUR APPELLATE TRIBUNAL OF INDIA IIIRD BRANCH LUCKNOW

JUDGEMENT

(1.) An industrial dispute which arose between the appellant J. K. Cotton Spinning and Weaving Mills Co. Ltd., and the respondents its employees, was referred by the Government of Uttar Pradesh for adjudication to the Adjudicator, Kanpur, on November 30, 1953. This dispute covered two items of claim made by the respondents. The first item was in regard to the dismissal of a gardener (Mali) Badri by name. The respondents urged that the said dismissal was unlawful and Badri was entitled to reinstatement with all the wages during the period of his enforced unemployment. The second item of dispute was in regard to the claim made by the 10 Malis employed by the appellant to receive dear food allowance, weekly holidays and leave with wages.

(2.) Before the Adjudicator, the appellant contended that the Malis were not workmen within the meaning of the U. P. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (No. 28 of 1947), and so, the reference was invalid. It was also urged by the appellant that the claim made by the respondents for dear food allowance could not be sustained, because G. O. No. 3754(LL)/XVIII-894(L)-1948 issued by the U. P. Government on December 6, 1948 was inapplicable to the Malis inasmuch as the said Government order applied only to industrial employees and the Malis are not industrial employees within the meaning of the said order. The other claims made by the respondents for weekly holidays and leave with wages were also resisted on the ground that the Malis were not workmen under the Act, and so, they were entitled to no relief in the present proceedings.

(3.) The Adjudicator held that the Malis were workmen under the Act, and so, he rejected the appellant's contention that the reference was bad. On the merits, he found that the dismissal of Badri was without justification, and so, he was entitled to reinstatement. He also ordered that the appellant should pay Badri half his wages at Rs 45/- p.m. as compensation from the date of his dismissal to the date of his reinstatement. That is how the first item of dispute was decided by the Adjudicator. On the second item of dispute, the Adjudicator found that the Malis were not industrial employees, and so, they were not entitled to claim dear food allowance under the relevant Government order. The other claims made by the Malis with regard to weekly holidays and leave with wages were likewise rejected by the Adjudicator. In other words, the second item of dispute was decided against the respondents. This award was pronounced on May 31, 1954.