Anil K. Sen, J. - (1.) These are the two appeals under clause 15 of the Letters Patent directed against the judgment and order dated April 4, 1978 (Reported in 1978 Lab IC 1416 (Cal), passed by A.K. Mookerji, J., allowing the two writ petitions - one by the Calcutta River Transport Association and others and the other by Bengal River Transport Association and thereby setting aside an award dated July 28, 1976, passed by Shri A. K. Moidu, Presiding Officer of the National Tribunal constituted by the Central Government under Section 7-B of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, in a reference made by the said Government under Section 10 (1-A) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act). As the two writ petitions were heard analogously and had been disposed of by orders based on a common judgment now under challenge in the present two appeals before us, we have heard them together and we would dispose them as such. For deciding the points at issue and for appreciating the real dispute between the parties it would be necessary to refer to certain facts and circumstances in details which are set out hereunder.
(2.) In terms of the recommendations made in paragraph 26 Chapter XXVII of the Second 5 Year Plan Government of India set up a Wage Board for the Port and Dock Workers at Major Ports on November 13, 1964 and made a reference to the said Board on the following terms namely:- (a) To determine the categories of Employee's (manual, clerical, supervisory etc.) who should be brought within the scope of proposed wage fixation (excluding, however, the Class I and Class II officers.) (b) To work out a wage structure based on the principle of fair wages as set forth in the report of the Committee of Fair Wages. In making the reference the Central Government laid down a guideline as to how the fair wages are to be assessed and further directed the Board to submit its recommendations in respect of interim relief pending submission of the final report.
(3.) On April 9, 1965, the Wage Board submitted its interim relief recommendations and therein prescribed that such recommendations, would apply to the undermentioned categories of Employee's connected with the port and dock workers at major ports, namely,- A. Employee's of Major Port Authorities. (1) All categories of Employee's employed by the authorities of major ports at Bombay, Calcutta, Cochin, Kandla, Madras and Visakhapatnam covered by the report of the Committee for Classification and Categorisation for Class III and Class IV Employee's of major ports and equivalent categories in the port of Mormugao. (2) Any other categories of manual, clerical, supervisory, etc. Employee's who hold posts created subsequently or earlier by any of Major Port Authorities and who are not regarded as Class I and Class II Officers. (3) Shore Employee's of all categories employed by Major Port Authorities including A, B, C, and all other Employee's directly engaged by the Port Authorities on daily or other basis. B. Dock workers as defined under Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1948. (1) Employee's covered under the schedules of the Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Scheme relating to the major ports of Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Cochin and Visakhapatnam. (2) Employee's covered by Unregistered Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Schemes at the ports of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. (3) Similar categories of Employee's as covered under Item 1 at the ports of Kandla and Mormugao. (4) Similar categories of Employee's as covered under item 2 at the port of Cochin, Visakhapatnam, Kandla and Mormugao. (5) Similar categories of Employee's as in items 1 and 2 at all major ports whether they are covered by the Schemes or not. C. The Employee's engaged by the dock labour Board's and their administrative bodies. D. Employee's engaged by listed employers. E. Employee's of employers, other than port authorities, dock labour Board's administrative bodies, listed employer's and registered employers. (1) Ore Employee's at dumps or depots. (2) Employee's engaged for handling; cargoes in warehouses and transit sheds. (3) Crew of boats, lighters and barges wholly engaged in the docks and streams whose work is connected with loading and unloading of vessels and other processes of dock and port work. (4) Employee's engaged in loading and' unloading all cargoes (including tea. chests) in the dock areas from river crafts, vessels, boats, trucks, etc. (5) Persons mainly employed in a Dock as defined in para 2 (3) of the Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Scheme, 1961 made by the Central Government in exercise of powers conferred by Section 4 (1) of Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1948.;