C.M.LODHA, J. - (1.) THIS is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India by Deen Bandhu Chaudhri, Manager of the Navjyoti Daily challenging the order of the Authority under the Payment of Wages Act, Jaipur dated 22 -11 -68 marked Ex. 13 by which the claim of the non -petitioner No. 2 Shyam Anjan for payment of minimum bonus for the years 1965 and 1966 amounting to Rs. 96/ - was allowed, and further a sum of Rs. 20/ - was granted as compensation for delayed payment. It is the admitted case of the parties that Shyam Anjan was employed by the petitioner a Proof -Reader and his services were terminated with effect from 12 -3 -1967. Shyam Anjan filed an application under Section 15(3) of the Payment of Wages Acton 26 -9 -1967 alleging that the minimum bonus payable to him under the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 at 4% of the wages earned by him during the years 1965 and 1966 had been wrongly withheld by the employer. It was prayed that the employer may be directed to pay minimum bonus for these two years amounting to Rs. 96/ -along with 10 times compensation amounting to Rs. 960/ -. A copy of this application has been placed on the record and marked Ex. 1. The application was opposed by the employer, who pleaded inter alia that the. Authority under the Payment of Wages Act had no jurisdiction to entertain the employee's claim for bonus. He also denied the worker's claim to at the payment of bonus, and further pleaded that the employer was exempt from the operation of the provisions of the Payment of Bonus Act. The authority, however, repelled all the contentions raised on behalf of the employer arid issued a direction for payment of bonus and compensation as stated above.
(2.) TWO contentions have been raised on behalf of the petitioner. It has been argued in the first place that bonus is not covered by the definition of the term 'wages' as contained in the Payment of Wages Act, and therefore, the application before the Authority filed by the non -petitioner No. 2 was not maintainable in as much as the Payment of Wages Act is concerned only with wages. Secondly, it was urged that the adjudication of the claim of the non -petitioner No.2 to the payment of bonus under the Bonus Act would involve or give rise to difficult and complicated questions of law and fact which the Payment of Wages Authority was not competent to decide, and, therefore, it ought to have directed the non -petitioner No. 2 to seek his remedy within the four corners of the Payment of Bonus Act. In order to appreciate the contentions raised by the learned Counsel for the petitioner it would be necessary to refer to some of the relevant provisions of the Payment of Wages Act as well as the Payment of Bonus Act 'Wages' has been defined in Section 2(vi) the Payment of Wages Act, as follows: (vi) 'Wages' means all remuneration (whether by way of salary, allowances or otherwise) expressed in terms of money or capable of being so expressed which would, if the terms of employment, express or implied, were fulfilled, be payable to a person employed in respect of his employment or of work done in such employment, and includes: (a) any remuneration payable under any award or settlement between the parties or order of a Court; (b) any remuneration to which the person employed is entitled in respect of over -time work or holidays on any leave period. (c) any additional remuneration payable under the terms of employment (whether called a bonus or by any other name) (d) any sum which by reason of the termination of employment of the person employed is payable under any law, contract or instrument which provides for the payment of such sum whether with or without deductions, but does not provide for the time within which the payment is to be made; (e) any sum to which the person employed is entitled under any scheme framed under any law for the time being in force; but does not include. (1) any bonus (whether under a scheme of profit sharing or otherwise) which does not from part of the remuneration payable under the terms of employment or which is not payable under any award or settlement between the parties or order of a Court; (2) the value of any house -accommodation, or of the supply of light, water, medical attendance or other amenity or of any service excluded from the computation of wages by a general or special order of the State Government; (3) any contribution paid by the employer to any pension or provident fund, and the interest which may have accrued thereon; (4) any travelling allowance or the value of any travelling concession; (5) any sum paid to the employed person to defray special expenses entailed on him by the nature of his employment; or (6) any gratuity payable on the termination of employment in cases other than those specified in Sub -clause (d). Section 15(1) of this Act further provides that 'the State Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint a presiding officer...to be the authority to hear and decide for any specified area all claims arising out of deductions from the wages, or delay in payment of the wages, of persons employed or paid in that area, including all matters incidental to such claims.' The procedure prescribed for the trial of claims to wages is contained in Sub -section (3) of Section 15 and a bare perusal of that sub -section would show that the procedure is a very summary one and enacted to ensure speedy disposal of the employee's claim, and the prompt payment to him of his wages.
(3.) SECTION 10 of the Bonus Act makes provision for payment of minimum bonus and provides that subject to the provisions of Sections 8 and 13 every employer shall be bound to pay to every employee in an accounting year a minimum bonus which stall be four percent of the salary or wage earned by the employee during the accounting year or forty rupees whichever is higher, whether there are profits in the accounting year or not.;