REMINGTON RAND OF INDIA LIMITED Vs. WORKMEN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Judgment of the court was delivered by

(2.) ON demands for revision of wage-scales, deamess allo-wance, medical benefit, bonus for the year 1963-64, gratuity, etc. having beenmade by the workmen of the appellant-company in its Madras and the otherbranches in that region and disputes thereabout having arisen between thecompany and its said workmen, the government of Madras referred themby its notification, dated 6/04/1965, for adjudication to the IndustrialTribunal, Madras. The tribunal granted some and i rejected the rest of thedemands. Aggrieved by the award the company filed this appeal underspecial leave granted by this court.

(3.) ON the question of medical facilities, the workmen's demand iscontained in Paras 27 to 31 of their statement of claim filed before theTribunal according to which the workmen wanted the company to reimburseall medical expenses incurred by them on production of bills therefor. InParas 27 and 8 of the statement, it was stated that the company had ascheme for medical benefit for its workmen at Calcutta made under theconsent award of 1962 and that there was no reason "why this amenityshould be refused to the workmen in this region". Para 30 of the statementstated that there was a discussion between the parties regarding this demandwhen the company agreed to appoint a medical officer for consultation bythe workmen and also to meet the cost of medicines up to Rs. 100.00 for aworkman per year. This offer, however, was rejected on three grounds : (1)that the condition as to the ceiling was discriminatory, (2) that the ceilingwas too low and (3) that there was no warrant for not extending the benefitto workmen of the branch offices outside Madras.