AHMEDABAD MILLOWNERS ASSOCIATION Vs. TEXTILE LABOUR ASSOCIATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a group of seven appeals which arise from an industrial dispute between the appellants, the Ahmedabad Mill Owners' Association, Ahmedabad, and 67 employers on the one hand, and the respondent, the Textile Labour Association, Ahmedabad, on the other. This dispute was referred by the Government of Gujarat to the Industrial Court, Gujarat, under Section 73 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946 (No. XI of 1947) (hereinafter called the Act'). In making the order of reference, the Government stated that it was satisfied that the industrial dispute in question was not likely to be settled by other

(2.) The Industrial Court has answered the first question in favour of the appellants, whereas the two remaining questions have been answered in favour of the respondent. In the result, the appellants have been directed to pay dearness allowance to their employees for the month of March, 1964 and for subsequent months on the consumer price index numbers for working class for Ahmedabad published by the State Government since February, 1964, (by using the index numbers in the series for Ahmedabad complied by the Labour Bureau, Simla, and the linking factor of 3.17 adopted for linking that series to the State series with the old base) at the rate of 2.84 pies per day for rise of each point in the cost of living index number over the pre-war figure 73. The Industrial Court has further directed that as per the award in Miscellaneous Application (IC-G) No. 1 of 1960, 75 per cent of the average dearness allowance of the first six months of 1959, i.e., Rs. 63-15-9 per month of 26 working days, shall be consolidated with the basic wage and the difference between the dearness allowance as worked out as indicated and the said sum of Rs. 63-15-9 shall be continued to be paid as dearness allowance. The other terms and conditions in regard to payment of wages, including the dearness allowance, shall continue as under the existing award. The Industrial Court has made it clear that these directions should be given effect to from 1st of January, 1965 and the difference between what is paid and what has become payable under the present award shall be paid on or before April 30, 1965. It appears that before the Industrial Court an agreement had been reached between the Fine Knitting Co. Ltd. of Ahmedabad and the Textile Labour Association, and the award has, therefore, provided that the directions issued by it shall apply only to the spinning department of the Knitting Co. and not to the hosiery department. It is against this award that the appellants have come to this Court by special leave. On January 5, 1965, while granting special leave to the appellants, this Court directed that the statements of the case should be dispensed with and the appeals be listed for hearing in the week commencing March 8, 1965. That is how these appeals have now come for final disposal before us.

(3.) Before dealing with the points raised by the appellants in these appeals, it is necessary to set out somewhat elaborately the previous history of the present dispute. The story about the payment of dearness allowance to textile industrial employees at Ahmedabad takes us back to the time when the Second World War broke out in September, 1939. As is well known, as a result of the said War, the cost of living shot up; and in consequence, the industrial employees at Ahmedabad who had organised themselves as the Textile Labour Association. Ahmedabad, raised a demand for payment of dearness allowance. This demand became the subject-matter of arbitration by the Industrial Court at Bombay (Case No. 1 of 1940). The Industrial Court had to consider, inter alia, two major questions; the first was as to what was the extent of the rise in the cost of living consequent upon the Second World War; and the second was as to the extent and manner in which the said rise in the cost of living should be neutralised by the payment of dearness allowance. The Industrial Court examined the matter at great length and came to the conclusion that for the purpose of determining the quantum of dearness allowance to be paid to the employees, it would be reasonable to rely on the working class budget inquiry which had been conducted by the Government of Bombay between August, 1926 and July, 1927. Another similar inquiry had been conducted by the same Government in 1933-35, but the Industrial Court preferred to base its conclusions on the first inquiry. On the basis of the cost of living index taken as 100 for the base year 1926-27, the index for August, 1939 which stood at 73 was accepted as datum index, so that the rise in cost of living over the datum index of 73 had to be neutralised by payment of dearness allowance to the employees.