LexDELHI CLOTH & GENERAL MILLS CO., LTD. versus WORKMEN AND ORS. ETC.
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
d. ' •. A B c D E F G DELHI CLOTH &: GENERAL MII,Ls CO., LTD. v. WORKMEN AND ORS. ETC. September 27, 1968 [J. C. SHAH, V. RAMASWAMI AND A. N. GROVER, JJ.] Industrial Dispute-Gratuity Scheme-When region...,um-industry prin- ciple is applicable-Whether gratuiry should be related to basic wage or consolidated wage-Whether conditions prevailing in the industry in the whole country could be taken into consideration-Whether age of super- annuation should also be fixed-When misconduct of workmen does not affect gratuity-When payable to badli workmen-Date of operation of award-Considerations for fixing-'Average of basic wage', meaning of. In the Delhi region there are four textile units, namely, the D.C.M., the S.B.M., the B.C.M., and the A.T.M. The D.C.M. and the S.B.M. are under one management. Since 1940 they had also a common retirement benefit scheme with a scale of gratuity. The workmen in all the units were receiving basic wages plus dearness allowance. On March 4, 1958, an industrial dispute between the four units and their workmen was re- ferred to the Industrial Tribunal and one of the matters in dispute related to gratuity. The Tribunal in its award framed two schemes relating to the payment of gratuity, one relating to D.C.M. and S.B.M., and the other, to B.C.M. and A.T.M. They were made operative from January 1, 1964. Both employers and employees appealed to this Court. On the questions : ( 1) Whether in view df a settlement between the management of A.T.M. and its workmen it was open to the Tribunal to ignore the settlement and impose the scheme on the management; (2) Whether in view of the unstable financial condition of A.T.M. the burden of pay- ment of gratuity on A.T.M. was excessive; (3) Whether a uniform scheme applicable to the entire industry on the region-cum-industry basis should have been adopted instead of schemes applicable to individual units; (4) Whether in determining the quantum of gratuity, basic wage alone should be taken into account and not the consolidated wage includ- ing dearness allowance; (5) Whether in deciding this question, an overall view of similar and uniform conditions in the industry in different centres in the country, could be taken into consideration; (6) Whether it was not necessary for the Tribunal to fix the age of superannuation when intro- ducing a gratuity scheme; (7) Whether gratuity should have been award- ed even in cases of dismissal for misconduct; (8) Whether provision should have been made for payment of gratuity to badli workmen irres- pective of the number of days for which they worked in a yea'r; (9) Whether the schemes should have been made operative from the date of reference; and ( 10) What is the scope of the expression 'average of the basic wage'. HELD : (I) The settlement between the workmen and management of A.T.M. did not bar the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to make the Scheme of gratuity applicable to A.T.M. [340 Fl H Under the settlement all that was agreed to was, that an award should be made and .if it be found that A.T.M. acquired financial stability then •_,., it would be liable to pay the gratuity to its workme11. It was not agreed that the proceedings before the Tribunal should be dropped and that it 308 SUPREME COURT RllPORTS [1969] 2 S.C..R. was only after A.T.M. became financially stable that a fresh claim should be made by the workmen. [3 20 D-Fl . (2) The trading accounts. ?f A.T.M. showed that since 1~59-60 the Mills had achieved some stab1hty, and that by 1961-62 all preV!ous losses were wiped out. Therefore, though it was a much weaker unit than the others, it was financially stable from the date on which the scheme be- came operative. [321 A-C] (3) A unit-wise approach in framing the gratuity scheme 'for the four units was appropriate in the present case. [323 B--C; 340 D-E] No inflexible rule has been laid down by this Court that gratuity schemes should be framed only on the region-cum-industry principle. In the present case, if a common scheme was framed for the entire industry in Delhi for all four units, in view of the financial condition of A.T.M., the benefits under such a scheme would be not only low, but would be lower than the existing benefits available to workmen in the D.C.M. and S.B.M. Units. [321 C-D, H; 322 E--F, HJ Garment Cleaning Works v. Its Workmen, [1962] 1 S.C.R. 711 : [1961] 1 L.L.J. 513 and Burhanpur Tapti Mills Ltd. v. Burhanpur Ta
Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.