Wanchoo, J. - (1.) This is an appeal by special leave in an industrial matter. There was a dispute between the appellant and its workmen which was referred to the Industrial Tribunal, Delhi. Five items were specified in the reference of which only two not survive in the appeal. They are as follows:- 1. Whether the wages in all time-rated as well as piece-rated occupations need upward revision to bring them to the level of the Bombay Standardization Scheme of wages, and whether the resultant increase may be given any retrospective effect, and if so from what date 2. Whether the following workmen in the sizing department should be given the full wage for the Front-sizers for the days they worked as regular Front sizers in the past ; (i) Sri Durga Prasad, (ii) Sri Chuni Lal, (iii) Sri Brij Lal.
(2.) We may briefly give the history of the disputes between the appellant and its workmen in order that the present dispute may be put in the right perspective. It appears that there were two awards in Bombay relating to fixation of standardized wages. The first award was made in 1947 which will hereinafter be referred to as Bombay Award No. 1. It dealt will all categories of workmen in the textile mills except engineering and mechanical workmen. The second award was given later in July 1951 and related to engineering and mechanical branches, hereinafter called Bombay Award No. 2. The first dispute between the appellant and its workmen was referred to Sri S. S. Dulat, I. C. S., Industrial Tribunal, Delhi and he made an award on May 26, 1951. Reference in Sri Dulat's award was made to the Bombay Award No. 1, as that was the only award available till then and Sri Daulat was of opinion that there was no justification for delaying standardization. He was also of opinion that the conditions prevailing in the appellant-company were not exactly the same as those in the Bombay Mills and therefore it was necessary that a local enquiry should be made to arrive at a satisfactory result. It was however agreed before him that the scheme of standardization should be worked out on the basis of the minimum basic wage of Rs. 30/- per mensem. He therefore directed the appellant-company to adopt a scheme of standardization of wages and revise the wages of all categories of workmen in accordance with that scheme, taking the Bombay scheme as a working model. This was to be worked out in consultation with the representatives of the workmen and in case any dispute regarding fixating of categories or wages could not be resolved by mutual discussion such a dispute might be brought before the tribunal in the form of a reference.
(3.) In consequence there was an agreement between the appellant and its workmen on September 29, 1951, by which a standardization scheme on the model of the Bombay Award No. 1 was introduced with necessary modifications. The case of the appellant was that the modifications resulted in the reduction of about 5 per cent as compared to the Bombay Award No. 1 while the case of the workmen was that it resulted in a much larger reduction in the neighbourholld of about 20 per cent. However, that may be, the wages were fixed in accordance with the agreed scheme of standardization in the appellant-company thereafter.;