Judgment

HIDAYATULLAH, J. : These are two appeals by special leave in which Kays Construction Co. (P) Ltd. is the appellant. Civil Appeal No. 1108 of 1963 is against a judgment of the Allahabad High Court dated March 15, 1962 and Civil Appeal No. 1109 of 1963 is against an order of the same High Court dated May, 9, 1962 declining to certify the case under Art. 133 of the Constitution as in the opinion of the High Court the proceeding from which the appeal arose before the High Court was not a civil proceeding within Art. 133. As special leave has been granted against the judgment of the High Court and we are of opinion that the appeal against that judgment must be dismissed, we do not think it necessary to decide the other appeal.

2. The facts of the case may now be stated briefly. The appellant Company is the successor of a private concern which went under the name of Kays Construction Company and was owned by one Mr. H. M. Khosla who is now Managing Director of the appellant Company. It appears that Mr. Khosla found it unprofitable to continue the business as his own and he stopped it for a while before Kays Construction Co. (Private) Ltd. came into existence. The appellant Company took over the business and with it, some of the workmen of the former concern but not all. This led to an Industrial dispute before the Allahabad Industrial Tribunal (Sugar) and an award was made on January 31, 1958. One of the question in dispute before the Tribunal was the reinstatement and back wages of the workmen who were not reemployed by the appellant Company. The Tribunal delivered an award. The parties to this appeal have not cared to produce the award but an extract from it relevant to this part of the controversy is on the record and it runs as follows :

"As a result of my finding above, I hold that management of Messrs Kays Construction Co. (Private) Limited, Allahabad, are required to reinstate the old workmen given in the Annexure of Messrs Kays Construction Co., Allahabad. They will be restored in their old or equivalent jobs and given continuity of service. In view of the somewhat peculiar features of this case and in the larger interest of the Industry, I would, however, order that the workmen be paid only 50 per cent, of their back wages for the period they were forcibly kept out of employment."

After this award a large number of the workmen preferred claims for their back wages purporting to do so under the first sub-section of S. 6-H of the U. P. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. That section, shorn of provisions which do not concern us, reads as follows :

"6-H (1) Where any money is due to the workmen from an employer under the provisions of Ss. 6-H to 6-R under a settlement or award, or under an award given by an adjudicator or the State Industrial Tribunal appointed or constituted under this Act, before the commencement of the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Disputes (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1956, the workman may, without prejudice to any other mode of recovery, make an application to the State Government for the recovery of the money due to him, and if the State Government is satisfied that any money is so due, it shall issue a certificate for the amount to the collector who shall proceed to recover the same as if it were an arrear of land revenue.

(2) Where any workman is entitled to receive from the employer any benefit which is capable of being computed in terms of money, the amount at which such benefit should be computed may subject to any rule that may be made under this Act be determined by such Labour Court as may be specified in this behalf by the State Government, and the amount so determined may be recovered as provided for in sub-section (1).

(3) * * * * *"

The appellant Company made a large number of objections to this demand before the Labour Commissioner, U. P., to whom the powers of the State Government under the first sub-section of S. 6-H had been delegated. These objections, shortly stated, were that s