Judgment

WANCHOO, J. : The short question raised in this writ petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution is whether production bonus is included within the term "basic wages" as define in S. 2 (b) of the Employees Provident funds Act, No l9 of 1952 (hereinafter referred to as the Act.). Write petition 64 of 1962 (The Jay Engineering Works Limited v. The Union of India) was heard along with this petition. In that writ petition a further question arose as to the nature of the production bonus scheme in force in that company and parties have been given time to file additional affidavits in that connection. What we say therefore in the present case as to production bonus generally may not be taken necessarily to apply to the particular scheme in the case of writ petition No 64 of 1962.

2. The brief facts necessary for present purpose are these. Petitioner No. 1 (hereinafter referred to as the Company) is a public limited company engaged in the manufacture of engineering goods, structural fabrication and rolling stock, and the Act applies to the Company. The Company has a production bonus scheme in force which provides for payment of production bonus over and above the wages fixed by the