BHAKRA BEAS MANAGEMENT BOARD, CHANDIGARH Vs. THE WORKMEN OF THE BHAKRA BEAS MANAGEMENT BOARD AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BHAKRA Beas Management Board through present petition filed by it under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, seeks setting aside of order passed by the Labour Court of February 12, 1985 published in the Government Gazette (Annexure P -6) as also quashing of order of reference dated October 22, 1981 made by Union of India. So far as the second relief is concerned, suffice it to say that the same rests on the solitary ground that the Irrigation Department is an Industry as defined under Section 2 (j) of the Industrial Disputes Act. This aspect of the case is squarely covered against the Petitioner -management by the judgment of the Supreme Court in Des Raj etc. v. State of Punjab, : A.I.R. 1988 S.C. 1182. Coming now to the impugned order, Annexure P -6, the Labour Court granted the same pay scale to the Respondent -workmen, who were working on the posts of Machine Tool Operator which was admissible to a person who was appointed on the post of Turner, Black -smith etc. The only ground that was taken into consideration by the Labour Court for so equating the pay scales was that since the pay scale of two posts was the same at one time, the increase in the pay of one must necessarily attract similar hike in the other. I have already held in Civil Writ Petition No. 2061 of 1992 (Sushil Kumar Soni v. State of Punjab and Ors.) judgment in which, however, has yet to be pronounced. That it is not necessary that two posts which at one time had same payscale, increase in the one must necessarily attract a similar hike in the other. It is for the employer to see as to what pay scale is to be given. It is possible that at one time two posts were such where the nature of duties or the responsibilities attached thereto where the same but it is always open to the employer to keep on adding or subtracting the duties and the nature of work from time to time. The Labour Court, thus erred while giving commensurate increase in the pay scale of the Respondents on the solitary ground that at one stage these two posts had the same pay scale.

(2.) FOR the reasons recorded above, this petition is partly allowed. Order. Annexure P -6, is quashed. There shall however, be no order as to costs.