Wanchoo, J. - (1.) The main question raised in this appeal by special leave is about the jurisdiction of the Authority appointed under the Payment of Wages Act, No. IV of 1936. The brief facts necessary for the purpose are these. The appellant is The Bombay Gas Company Limited (hereinafter called the Company). The respondent belongs to the class of meter readers and their assistants working under the company. It appears that there was a dispute between the appellant and its workmen which was referred to the industrial tribunal, Bombay in 1952. There were a number of demands in the schedule to the reference, but we are concerned only with one, namely, demand No. 4, which was in these terms: "Meter-readers and their assistants should get overtime wages for all extra work beyond eight hours per day on all week days and for afternoon Saturdays and Sunday work." The tribunal gave its award in November 1953. On this demand, it was conceded by the workmen before the tribunal that meter readers and their assistants (hereafter called these workmen) were not governed by the Factories Act, No. LXIII of 1948, even though they were workmen of the company. That is why the dispute was raised in order that these workmen might get extra remuneration for work extending over eight hours on a day, and the contention of the workmen was that there was no justification for making a distinction between workers covered by the Factories Act and those not covered by its provisions. The tribunal went into the matter and after considering the facts and circumstances of the case rejected the demand for treating these workmen in the same way as workers covered by the Factories Act, except that it order that the Company should pay not only extra basic wages for work done by these workmen on Sundays falling within their meter-reading period at the end of the month but also dearness allowance for work done on such Sundays. This award is still in force and has not been terminated under S. 19(6) of the Industrial Dispute Act, No. XIV of 1947.
(2.) It appears that after this award, applications were made by these workmen individually before the Authority under the Payment of Wages Act under S. 15(2) of that Act. The present appeal is from the decision of one such application which has been treated as a test case.
(3.) The case of the respondent was that his wages for work done on Sundays or weekly off days had not been paid by the Company at double the ordinary rate of wages inclusive of dearness allowance. Consequently the respondent prayed for the issue of a direction for payment of his wages illegally deducted and for compensation. The application was based on the respondent's claim that he was entitled to double the ordinary wages under S. 59 of the Factories Act, which governed him.;