Das Gupta, J. - (1.) These two appeals raise a somewhat difficult problem as regards the grant of bonus to workmen of an industry operating not only in India but also outside this country. The appellants are the workmen of two Steamer Companies, the Indian General Navigation and Railway Co., Ltd., and the Rivers Steam Navigation Co., Ltd., which have for many years been operating jointly and are conveniently referred to as "Joint Steamer Companies." Disputes having arisen between these companies and their workmen on the question of bonus for the years 1949, 1950,1951 and 1952, they were referred by the Government of West Bengal to the Industrial Tribunal, by two separate orders of reference, one in respect of the dispute for bonus for the years 1949 and 1950 and the other in respect of the years 1951 and 1852.
(2.) The Tribunal disposed of these two references by one common judgment and rejected the workmen's claim for bonus for all the four years. This order of rejection was confirmed by the Labour Appellate Tribunal, though on different grounds. It is against this decision of the Labour Appellate Tribunal that these appeals have been filed on special leave granted by this Court.
(3.) The respondent companies were established more than a century ago and for more than a half a century before India was portitioned, they were carrying on transport business in the eastern part of the country in co-operation with each other. Their business of transporting goods and passengers is carried on in 600 or 700 vessels plying on the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers and their tributaries. This business continued even after the partition of India as a result of which a portion of State of Pakistan intervened between Assam and the remainder of India. The main traffic of the company in the years with which we are concerned, viz., 1949 to 1952 has been as before, namely, (a) traffic within India:(b) traffic within Pakistan, and (c) traffic between India and Pakistan. The head quarters of Companies remained as before at Calcutta. The major portion of the large fleet of vessels in which the companies carried on their business remained in common use for traffic originating in Pakistan and for traffic originating in East Bengal and Assam, so that no appreciable part of the fleet could be classed as being in the use specifically in one country or the other.;