- (1.)THE question which has been argued at considerable length before us is one which concerns the true scope of Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Payment of Subsistence Allowance Act, 1981 (Act 43 of 1981 ). That provision reads as under :
"4. Recovery of money due from an employer: Where any money is due to an employee from an employer under this Act, the employee himself or any other person authorised by him in this behalf, or in case of the death of the employee, his legal representative may, without prejudice to any other mode of recovery make an application to the Government in such manner as may be prescribed for the recovery of money due to him, and if the Government, after giving the employer an opportunity of being heard, in such manner as may be prescribed are satisfied that any money is so due, they shall issue a certificate for that amount to the Collector who shall proceed to recover the same in the same manner as an arrear of land revenue: Provided that every such application shall be made within one year from the date on which the money became due to the employee from the employer: Provided further that any such application may be entertained after the expiry of the said period of one year, if the Government are satisfied that the applicant had sufficient cause for not making the application within the said period. "

(2.)SECTION 3 of the Act creates a right to an employee who is placed under suspension to receive payment from the employer as subsistence allowance during the period of such suspension, of an amount equal to fifty percent of the wages which the employee was drawing immediately before suspension, for the first ninety days reckoned from the date of suspension. If the suspension continues beyond the period of 90 days, but does not exceed 180 days, the allowance is to be revised upward to 75% of the wages that the employee was drawing immediately before the suspension. If the suspension were to continue even beyond the period of 180 days, the employee would be entitled to wages in full.
(3.)THE rights so created is hedged by the other sub-sections of Section 3 of the Act. Sub-section (2) thereof provides that the employees shall not be entitled to receive any subsistence allowance, if he accepts any other employer during the period of his suspension other than the establishment where he had been working immediately before the suspension. The amount of subsistence allowance payable to an employee may be reduced to 50% of his wages, if the enquiry, or criminal proceedings against him is protracted beyond the period of 90 days for reasons directly attributable to the employee.