SBEC SUGAR LTD Vs. LABOUR COURT MEERUT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD the learned counsel for the petitioner. The workman filed an application under Section 33-C (2) of the Industrial disputes Act for payment of wages for the period September 11, 2005 to January 5, 2006 and also claimed a sum of Rs. 10,000 which he had deposited as security at the time of his engagement as a weighment clerk. The Labour court in its order has awarded a sum of Rs. 10,361 towards arrears of wages along with interest @ 6% per annum. The petitioner, being aggrieved, has filed the present writ petition.

(2.) THE learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the application under Section 33-C (2) of the Act was not maintainable since there was no previous adjudication of the benefit which the workman had claimed. In support of his submission, the learned counsel for the petitioner has placed reliance upon a decision of the Supreme Court in D Krishnan and Another v. Special Officer, Vellore co-operative Sugar Mill and Another 2008-II-LLJ-1066 (SC ).

(3.) IN my opinion, the submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner is patently misconceived and bereft of merit. In Chief mining Engineer, East India Coal Company ltd. Bararee Colliery, Dhanbad v. Rameshxvar and Others AIR 1968 SC 218 : 1968-I-LLJ-6 the Supreme Court held that the right to the benefit under Section 33-C (2), which is sought to be computed, must be an existing one which has also been adjudicated upon or provided for and that such claim must be in respect of an existing right arising from the relationship between an industrial workman and his employer.