SANGAM PRESS LIMITED Vs. WORKMEN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal by special leave is directed against the award of the Industrial Tribunal, Maharashtra. Several items including the claim of 30 percent wage rise were referred to the Tribunal for adjudication. The tribunal granted all the reliefs except with regard to two demands which were not pressed. The Tribunal granted 25 per cent increase in wages. Hence this appeal.

(2.) Even according to the Tribunal the total additional financial burden of the company (Appellant herein) in accordance with the award will come to Rs. 1,16,687.18. The Company owns a press employing 150 workers. The State Government prescribed minimum wages with a special allowance under the Minimum Wages Act for press employees. It is not disputed before us that the company's wage scale is not lower than the prescribed minimum wages. The company pleaded before the Tribunal its inability to bear any more financial burden. The company produced the accounts and showed that it was incurring losses in several years (1968-69, 1970-71 and 1971-72).

(3.) We are dealing with a case of a company whose employees are in receipt of some kind of a fair wage, not bare minimum wage at subsistence level:It is well settled that while the question of capacity to pay is irrelevant in the case of minimum wage, the matter of a fair wage stands on a different footing. In case of a fair wage, besides the principle of industry cum region the company's capacity to bear the financial burden must receive due consideration. The past performances of the company and the future prospects with a totality of the picture must be present in the mind of, the adjudicator in deciding a dispute of this nature.