Judgment

MATHEW, J. :- This appeal, by special leave, is from an award passed by the Industrial Tribunal, Maharashtra, Bombay, on March 3, 1967.

2. The Government of Maharashtra referred to the Tribunal on December 31, 1965, under section 10 (i) (d) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the industrial dispute between M/s. Jaydip Industries, Thana, and the workmen employed under them, arising out of the following demands made by the workmen:

(A) Following monthly scales of pay should be introduced for all categories of workmen:

Rs.

Unskilled 150- 5.00-200.00

Semi-skilled 175- 7.50-250.00

Skilled 225-10.00-325.00

Highly skilled 350-25.00-600.00

(B) The above scales of pay are consolidated and are on the basis of Bombay Working Class Cost of Living Index Number 480. In case if index number move above 480 for every point rise in Index Number, workmen should be paid ten paise per day as dearness allowance.

(C) The above rates of pay should be made effective from 1st February 1965.

(D) For the conversion of present daily rates into monthly rates, the present rate should be multiplied by thirty. The amount should then be fitted in the above grades. If the amount falls short of minimum of Grades demanded the same should be brought up to the minimum.

(E) After making adjustment in the above manner, adjustment increments at the rate of one for every one year of service or part thereof in excess of six months should be added to the pay.

3. The employer is a partnership concern consisting of five partners and is carrying on the business of manufacturing "paper-board", at its factory situated in Majiwade within the limits of the Panchayat of that village. The partnership was started in the year 1959, on a capital of Rupees 1,50,000/-. The capital has since then been increased and it was Rs. 2 lakhs in 1965. The number of workmen employed in the concern, at the time of the reference, was about 150. The workmen were being paid fixed consolidated wages.

4. The employer contended before the Tribunal, by its written statement dated February 8, 1966, that it has no financial capacity to pay any additional wages, as it has been suffering heavy losses year after year.

5. During the pendency of the dispute before the Tribunal, the Government of Maharashtra fixed the minimum rates of wages for the employees employed in scheduled employments including the paper and paper-board manufacturing industry under Section 3 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, hereinafter called the Act, by a notification published in the Maharashtra Government Gazette dated August 4, 1966. In implementation of the notification, the wages of the workmen concerned were raised with effect from October, 1966. The workmen were being paid wages at the following rates, before the date of the award, in pursuance of the notification.

Unskilled Rs. 90 per month

Semi-skilled Rs. 100 per month

Skilled-B Rs. 115 per month

Skilled-A Rs. 130 per month

6. The Tribunal considered in detail the financial capacity of the employer on the basis of the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts of the employer for the years 1960 to 1965 and found that it total loss for those years amount to Rs. 78,000/-, and on that basis its annual average loss worked out to Rs. 13,000/- and so the concern was not financially stable. The Tribunal then came to the conclusion on the basis of the minimum rates of wages fixed by it in the awards in the case of M/s. Kondivitta Paper and Board Mills (Private) Limited, Bombay, published in Maharashtra Government Gazette, dated Novermber 14, 1963, (page 3750), in the case of Bombay Metal Factory, published in the Maharashtra Government Gazette dated May 27, 1965 (page 1963), and in the case of Ratan Industries, Bombay, published in Maharashtra Government Gazette dated June 23, 1966 (page 1974) that the rates of wages for the workmen employed in the concern in question should be fixed at the following rates :

Daily rated Monthly-rated

Unskilled Rs. 4.50 Un-skilled Rs. 117.00

Semi-skille