BRITANIA ENGINEERING CO LTD Vs. W BASU MAZUMDAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner No. 2 is Messrs. Mcleod and Co. , Ltd. , which is the Managing Agents for the petitioner No. 1, the Britannia Engineering Co. Ltd. The respondent No. 3, Jnanendra Nath Chatterjee, was employed as stenographer at the head office of Messrs. Mcleod and Co. , Ltd. In January 1940, he was transferred to Britannia Engineering Works at Titaghur and subsequently in 1943 he was given a fresh appointment letter by the Britannia Engineering Co.

(2.) AFTER the enactment of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, the Government of West Bengal set up some Omnibus Tribunals, popularly known as the Engineering Tribunal (1947) and the Mercantile Tribunal etc. (1948 ). The former dealt with the disputes in the Engineering Industry while the latter dealt with disputes in Commercial and Mercantile Establishments which were members of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce. The respondent No. 3 seems to have accepted his emoluments in terms of the award of the Engineering Tribunal. While working at the head office, the respondent No. 3 became a member of the Provident Fund and he was allowed to continue to be a member of that Fund even after his transfer. Thereafter, disputes and differences arose between the petitioner companies and respondent No. 3 as represented by respondent No. 4 and the matter was referred to the Second Industrial Tribunal for adjudication.

(3.) THE Issues that were referred were as follows:- (1) Is Shri Jnanendra Nath Chatterjee a member of the Head Office Staff? (2) Is he entitled to the increased emoluments awarded by the Mercantile Tribunal? (3) Is he entitled to be a member of the Provident Fund (for Indian and uncovenanted Staff) of the Head Office of M/s. Mcleod and Co. , at 3, Nataji Subhas Road, Calcutta-1?