In determining the entitlement of plantation workers to bonus under the Bombay Formula, prior charges such as return on capital, reserves for rehabilitation and remuneration for the managing partner must be deducted before calculating the surplus available for distribution as bonus.

Judgment

SUBBA RAO, J. : This appeal by special leave is preferred against the award of the Labour Court, Coimbatore, dated December 30, 1957, in Industrial Dispute No. 40 of1957.

2. The appellant is a concern of a joint Hindu family, which owns the Kodaneri Estate in Kotagiri, a hill station in the Madras State. The Estate consists of 53 acres of coffee and 40 acres of tea plantations. The workmen of the Estate raised an industrial dispute in regard to bonus for the years 1952 to 1956. The Government of Madras, by its notification dated June 21, 1957, referred the following question for adjudication to the Labour Court, Coimbatore:

"Whether the workers are eligible for any bonus for the years 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1956 and if so, to fix the quantum." The Labour Court held that the workers were entitled to bonus for 10 days in 1953, one month in 1954 and 15 days in 1956. In this appeal the Management of the Estate questions the correctness of that finding.

3. Learned counsel for the appellant contends that the Labour Court erroneously disallowed all the prior charges to which the appellant was entitled under the Bombay Formula. It is pointed out in particular that the Labour Court wrongly disallowed- (i) any return on the capital invested; (ii) any reserves for rehabilitation; and (iii) legitimate remuneration for the managing partner who devoted his full time and energy to the business of the joint family, apart from investing his capital.

4. Learned counsel for the respondents argues that the appellant did not place any material before the Labour Court for ascertaining with any definiteness any one of the aforesaid facts and therefore the Labour Court had no option but to reject the appellant s claim under the said heads.

5. We must observe at the outset that neither party bestowed sufficient care either to place the relevant material or to bring out the salient points before the Labour Court. Even so, we are satisfied that on the available material no case has been made out for awarding bonus for the years 1953, 1954 and 1956.

6. Before the Labour Court both the workers and the management of the Estate filed their statements. On behalf of the workers, two statements were filed, one on July 11, 1957, and the other on September 16, 1957. In the first statement filed, they averred that the wages paid were very low and so they were entitled to bonus. They further stated that, after a perusal of the balance sheets and profits and loss account for the years under reference, they would submit their claim regarding the quantum of bonus. In the statement filed on September 16, 1957, they repeated their vague assertions in paragraph 4 thus:

"Further the respondent management has made no case for totally refusing to pay any bonus. The balance sheets of the estate have not been produced. It is only on the production of audited balance sheets can we proceed on the basis of determining the quantum of bonus on a unitinise bonus."

The management of the Estate filed its statement on July 30, 1957, wherein it stated that the claim for bonus for the years in question was belated and therefore it should be rejected. As regards balance sheets, the management stated that the Estate was a joint family concern and hence no balance sheets as such were published, but if the Court so directed, audited balance sheets and profit & loss account for the years in question would be prepared and produced as confidential documents. Thereafter on November 18, 1957, the management submitted to the Court the financial statements listed below:

"(1) Estate working and Profit and Lost Account for the year ended the 30th June, 1952.

(2) Estate working and Profit and Loss Account for the year ended the 30th June, 1953.

(3) Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account for the year ended 30th June, 1954, together with schedules.

(4) Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account for the year ended 30th June, 1955, together with the schedule.

(5) Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Acco