COMMONWEALTH TRUST INDIA LTD Vs. LABOUR COURT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner in this Original Petition is the Commonwealth Trust (India) Ltd. It is a Company registered under the Companies Act. Petitioner owns tile factories in the State of Kerala as well as Karnataka and Weaving Factories in Kozhikode. Respondents 2 to 60 are members of Staff under the petitioner and their monthly salary is more than Rs. 1,600/-. Respondents 36, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 59 are Supervisors working in a supervisory capacity.

(2.) For the year 1989-90 there was a dispute between the petitioner and its employees with regard to the rate at which the bonus had to be paid. Petitioner alleges that the employees struck work and there was also a partial lock out. The demand of bonus and strike and lock out was thereafter taken up for conciliation under the Industrial Disputes Act by the Labour Department. In the conference held by the Labour Commissioner at Trivandrum on 15.12.1990 the dispute was settled. The memorandum of settlement is produced as Ext. P1. Clause (1) in the settlement says that the management agrees to pay bonus at the rate of 10.5% of the wages earned by the workmen during the year 1989-90 as bonus for that year. Under clause (2) in addition to the bonus paid, the management will also pay 5% of the wages earned by the workmen during the year 1989-90 as leave travel allowance. The payments had to be made by the Management before April, 1991.

(3.) It seems that as per the settlement, the management paid bonus to its employees. Respondents 2 to 60 are persons, who were drawing more than Rs. 1600/- per month. Hence, with regard them, the payment was made as stipulated in S.12 of the Payment of Bonus Act (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). The leave travel allowance was also paid in the same way. According to respondents 2 to 60, as per the settlement, each of the employee is entitled to bonus at 10.5% of the wages earned. This is irrespective of the question whether the salary was more than Rs. 1,600/- per mensem. They demanded the petitioner to pay the balance amount, but the management refused. Hence, respondents 2 to 60 filed Ext. P2 petition under S.33(C)(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act before the Labour Court, Kozhikode. The claim was registered as C.P. No. 69/91.