Judgment

WANCHOO, J. : This appeal. by special leave arises out of a question of bonus referred by the Goverment of West Bengal to the Third Industrial Tribunal. The appellant is a company carrying on business in Calcutta and the dispute relates to closing bonus for the year 1958. It appears that the appellant bad been paying a bonus which was called dosing bonus, to its workmen at the rate of one months pay from 1948 to 1957. In 1958, however, as the profits of the appellant fell considerably, the quantum of closing bonus was reduced to half a month s pay. In consequence a dispute was raised by the respondents-workmen represented by two unions and their claim was that they should have been paid one month s bonus as usual Consequently reference was made to the tribunal and the question for decision was whether the management was justified in reducing the quantum of closing bonus to half a month pay in 1958.

2. The case of the workmen was that the appellant had been paying two kinds of bonuses to its workmen each year, namely, (i) Puja bonus which was paid usually before the puja festival, and (ii) closing bonus which was paid after the close of the financial year ending on March 31s