THE RASHTRIYA MILL MAZDOOR SANGH, PAREL, BOMBAY AND ANOTHER versus THE APOLLO MILLS LIMITED AND OTHERS

Citation: [1960] 3 S.C.R. 231 · Decided: 10-03-1960 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: S.K. DAS · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

- _ _,.'"\ 
3 S.C.R. 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
231 
--
THE RASHTRIYA MILL MAZDOOR SANGH, 
r960 
PAREL, BOMBAY AND ANOTHER 
March 10. 
v. 
THE APOLLO MILLS LIMITED AND OTHERS 
(S. K. DAS, A. K. SARKAR andM. HrnAYATULLAH, JJ.) 
• 
Industrial Dispute-Compensation for closure of Mills-Partial 
closure due to shortage of power-Government Order curtailing supply 
"' 
of power-Standing Orders-Scope of-Bombay Electricity (Special 
Powers) Act, r946 (Bom. XX of r946), ss. 6A(I), II(I)-Bombay 
' 
Industrial Relations Act, I946 (Bom. XI of r947), ss. 40 (I), 73. 
In 1951 on account of the failure of the monsoon, -generation 
of electricity from the Hydro-Electric System was affected and it 
was found necessary to reduce the consumption of electricity. 
"' 
The Government of Bombay passed an order under s. 6A(1) of 
the Bombay Electricity (Special Powers) Act, 1946, regulating 
-! 
the use of electrical energy and the respondent-Mills were com-
pelled to reduce the working time. For the period during which 
the short working continued the workers claimed their wages and 
dearness allowances or compensation in lieu thereof. The Indus-
trial Court to which the matter was referred for arbitration under 
s. 73 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946, made an 
award directing all the respondent Mills to pay compensation to 
the employees. The Mills pleaded that no compensation was 
"1"' 
payable because (r) the closure of the Mills was in pursuance of 
the directions made by the Government under the Bombay 
'r 
Electricity (Special Powers) Act, 1946, and, therefore, s. n(1) of 
that Act barred the reference, (2) the Industrial Court had no 
jurisdiction to entertain the claim for compensation as the matter 
was covered by Standing Orders 16 and 17 which were determi-
native of the relations between the workmen and their employers 
under s. 40(1) of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946, and 
(3) in any case, no compensation was payable in view of the deci-
-
sion in Muir Mills Co. Ltd. v. Suti Mills Mazdoor Union, Kanpur, 
[1955] l S.C.R. 991: 
..... 
Held, (1) thats. II (1) of the Bombay Electricity (Special 
Powers) Act, 1946, barred only proceedings arising from the inter-
ference with the supply of electric energy and protected those 
who acted in pursuance of orders passed under that Act; the 
section did not prevent the raising of an industrial dispute. 
(2) that Standing Orders 16 and 17 contemplated· only cases 
of compensation in lieu of notice and wages for the period of 
closure, and did not cover cases of compensation for closure; 
-
that the provisions of s. 73 of the Bombay Industrial Relations 
'r 
Act, 1946, were wide enough to cover the reference in the present 
case and that the claim for compensation was not barred by 
Standing Orders 16 and 17, read withs. 40(1) of the Act. 
Digambar Ramachandra v. Khandesh Mills, (1949) 52 Bom. 
L.R. 46, disapproved. 
232 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1960) 
z960 
(3) that the decision in Muir Mills Co. Ltd. v. Sufi Mills 
Mazdoor Union, Kanpur, was concerned only with the award of 
Rashtriya Mill 
bonus and 'vas not applicable to the present case. 
Mazdoo• Sangh 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal 
Ap 11 ;,r.11 Ltd No. 419 of 1956. 
0 
0 
' s 
· 
Appeal by special leave from the decision dated 
January 17, 1955, of the Labour Appellate Tribunal, 
of India, Bombay, in Appeal (Born.) No. 61 of 1954. 
N. 0. Chatterjee, D. H. Buch and J. N Shroff, for 
the appellants. 
R. J. Kolah, B. Narayanaswami, S. N. Andley, 
J.B. Dadachanji, Rameshwar Nath and P. L. Vohra, 
for the respondents. 
1960. March 10. The Judgment of the Court was. 
delivered by 
HidayatullahJ. 
HrnAYATULLAH, J.-This is an appeal with the 
special leave of this Court against a decision dated 
January 17, 1955, of the Labour Appellate Tribunal 
(hereinafter called the Appellate Tribunal) by which it 
reversed a decision of the Industrial Court, Bombay, 
dated January 20, 1954, in a matter referred to the 
Industrial Court under s. 73 of the Bombay Industrial 
·Relations Act, 1946, by the Government of Bombay. 
The appellant is the Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh, 
representing the employees of the cotton textile mills 
in the city of Greater Bombay. The respondents are 
the Apollo Mills, Ltd., and other companies owning 
cotton textile mills specified in the annexure to the 
Special Leave Petition and the Mill Owners' Associa-
tion, Bombay, representing the cotton textile mill 
industry. The dispute relates to 

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