SUBBA RAO, C. - (1.) THE following Judgment of the courtwas delivered by
(2.) THESE two Cross Appeals raise the question,among others, whether the wage structure, including dearnessallowance, of a government undertaking in the public sectorshould be of a pattern different from that of an undertakingin the private sector. The Hindustan Antibiotics Limited, hereinafter called 'theCompany', is a government undertaking and is incorporatedunder the Indian Companies Act. Its registered office is atPimpri Poona District, State of Maharashtra, and its mainbusiness is the manufacture and distribution in bulk ofantibiotics like penicillin, streptomycin, etc. The entireequity capital of theCompany is held by the President of India and his nominees,-and the entire Board of Directors of the Company isnominated ,by him. The conduct of the business of theCompany is subject to the directives issued from time totime by the President of India and its accounts are auditedby the auditors appointed by the central government on theadvice of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.Service conditions of the workmen and other matters aresubject to the approval of the President of India. Theannual report of the working of the Company and its affairsalong with the Audit Report has to be placed before theParliament. There are no shareholders other than theCentral government ,or its nominees, with the result thatthe dividends declared by the Company entirely go to thecoffers of the State, but the profits are ploughed back intothe industry or kept as reserve for ,future requirements.In short, though the Company is a limited one and,therefore, has a distinct corporate existence, it is ineffect financed entirely from the funds of the centralGovernment. The Company employs about 2,000.00 workmen. A dispute -arosebetween the workmen of the Company and the management,thereof and the workmen presented a charter of fifteendemands to the Company. The government of Maharashtrareferred the said dispute to the Industrial tribunal,Bombay, for adjudication under s. 10(1)(d) of the IndustrialDisputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947).
(3.) THE Industrial tribunal, after elaborately considering theconflicting contentions of the disputants, gave an awarddated 8/10/1963. In making the said Award theIndustrial tribunal postponed its decision on the questionof linking dearness allowance with the cost of living indexwhich had not then been prepared for Poona. THE Company andits workmen, after obtaining special leave, filed CrossAppeals against the said award and on the last occasion whenthe said appeals came up for hearing, this court by itsorder dated 14/09/1965, adjourned the same awaitingthe pronouncement by the Industrial tribunal of Part II ofits award. After the said adjournment of the appeals bythis court, the Industrial tribunal, on 23/12/1965,made part II of its award. THEse appeals are now before usfor disposal. The Industrial tribunal made the following findings among,others : Rejecting the contention of the Company that infixing the wage scales different considerations andstandards should apply to public sector undertakings asdistinct from private sector undertakings, the tribunalfixed the wage scales on region-cum-industry basis. On ascrutiny of the comparative study ,of the wage structures ofcompanies in the region, it found thatthe Company was a very large and prosperous concern and itswage scales were on the low side, particularly in regard tothe lower categories of workers, taking into considerationthe duties and qualifications prescribed for them. TheTribunal fixed the wage scales, having regard to theCompany's financial position, its productive capacity, acomparative study of its wage structure with that in theneighbouring industries, and similar other relevant factors.It retained the existing dearness allowance scheme exceptfor a small alteration in the slab of dearness allowance forthe pay group Rs. 301-500; it merged a proportion of whatwould normally be paid in the shape of dearness allowance inthe basic pay in the case of lower categories of workmen bygiving increases wherever necessary in the basic pay only.It linked the dearness allowance with the cost of livingindex for Poona. It evolved a gratuity scheme for the work-men. It gave retrospective operation to the -award. Thefindings of the tribunal on other points need not bementioned here they will be dealt with in appropriateplaces. In the result, pursuant to the said directions, theTribunal had worked out the figures in detail and given itsfindings on the various demands made by the workmen.;