Judgment

MUDHOLKAR, J. : This is an appeal by the State of Uttar Pradesh against the decision of the Full Bench of the Allahabad High Court in a writ petition. In the writ petition the respondents challenged certain orders made by the Government of Uttar Pradesh under S. 3, cl. (b) of the United Provinces Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (XXVII of 1947) requiring the respondents to pay bonus at certain rates for the years 1947-48 and 1948-49 to their workers and also payment of retaining allowances to the skilled seasonal workmen and clerical staff. The circumstances under which the orders were made are briefly these:

The Indian National Sugar Mills Workers Federation, Lucknow, served notices on various sugar factories in Uttar Pradesh on December 15, 1949, in which they made six demands. We need, however, mention only one of them as that alone is in controversy in this appeal. That demand related to the bonus for the year 1948-49 and to the restoration of the reduction which had been made in the previous year s bonus. By that notice the Federation threatened a strike in the industry with effect from January 16, 1960, if the demands were not met by the sugar factories. Since this situa