BRITISH PAINTS INDIA LIMITED Vs. ITS WORKMEN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two appeals by special leave arise from the same award of the Seventh Industrial Tribunal, West Bengal, and will be dealt with together. Two matters in dispute between the management and the workmen were referred to the tribunal relating to (i) the age of retirement of the workmen at the head office and the factory of the company and (ii) the introduction of a gratuity scheme for workmen employed at the head office and the factory. The tribunal fixed the age of retirement for clerical and subordinate staff at 58 years and for workmen in the factory at 55 years. The tribunal also introduced a gratuity scheme after considering the objections raised to the draft-scheme proposed by the company of the two appeals one is by the company relating to the gratuity scheme and the other by the workmen relating to the age of retirement as well as to the gratuity-scheme.

(2.) We shall first consider the question of age of retirement. It may be mentioned that there was no retirement age in force in this company and so the position when the reference was made was that the workmen could continue to work so long as they were physically or mentally fit. The workmen contended that the age of retirement both for the head office and factory workmen should be fixed at 60 years. The company, however, proposed that the age of retirement should be 55 years for all workmen. The tribunal as already indicated has fixed the age of retirement at 58 years for clerical and subordinate staff and 55 years for factory workmen and has apparently relied on the decision of this Court in Workmen of Jessop and Co. Ltd. vs. Jessop and Co. Ltd., 1964-1 Lab LJ 451 (SC).

(3.) Now this is a case where there was no age of retirement before there was no age of retirement before the reference was made and the workmen whether at the head office or at the factory were all entitled to work so long as they were physically or mentally fit. So far as the existing workmen are concerned, we think that the tribunal should have fixed the age of retirement at 60 years both for the factory-workmen as well as head office workmen. It is enough in this connection to refer to the decision of this Court in Guest, Keen, Williams (Private) Ltd. vs. P. J. Sterling (1960) 1 SCR 348:1959-2 Lah LJ 405, where in a similar situation this Court fixed the age of retirement at 60 years in the case of existing workmen.