Judgment

VAIDIALINGAM, J.:- This appeal, by special leave, is directed against the award (Part-1) dated November 20, 1970 of the Industrial Tribunal. Maharashtra, Bombay in Reference (I. T. No. 110 of 1967).

2. The reference was made by notification dated April 17, 1967 and three questions were referred for adjudication. We are not concerned in these proceedings with the subject matter of dispute relating to demand Nos. 2 and 3. Part I of the award, against which this appeal is referred, related to demand No. 1. which was as follows:-

"Demand No. 1 - Abolition - contract system:

The Company shall abolish the contract system in whatever form and in any department of the company existing at present and the workmen employed by the contractors shall be treated as the Company s regular employees and all the benefits of service conditions and wages available to the company s employees, will be extended to them."

3. It will be seen that the above demand consisted really of two parts: (a) that the contract system should be abolished, and (b) that the workmen employed by the contractor should be treated as the appellant s regular employees with all the benefits of service conditions that are available to the regular employees of the Company.

4. The original parties to the reference were the Swastik Oil Mills Ltd. Wadala, Bombay and the workmen employed therein as represented by the Dyes and Chemical Workers Union. Prior to its incorporation in 1968 the appellant Company was carrying on business of manufacturing edible oils. Soaps and its by-products such as glycerine and deoiled cake meal in the name of Karamchand Premchand Private Limited. In or about March, 1970 the latter firm was taken over by the appellant Company. The said business was originally carried on by Swastik Oil Mills Limited which by the orders of the High Courts of Bombay and Gujarat was amalgamated with Karamchand Premchand Private Limited on April 18, 1967. Since the taking over of the said Karamchand Premchand Private Limited by the Vegoils Private Limited, namely, the appellant, the latter has been carrying on the said business.

5. In connection with its business the appellant employs about 700 permanent workmen at its factory in Wadala. Bombay, According to the appellant it has been employing for more than 30 years as contractor for loading, unloading weighing and stacking materials and bags and feeding the hoppers. It may be mentioned at this stage that the workmen had raised a dispute under demand No. 1 regarding the abolition of the contract system of employing labour in the two departments of the appellant, namely, (i) in the canteen section, and (ii) in the seeds godown and the solvent extraction plants section. But before the Industrial Tribunal the Union did not press their demand for abolition of contract labour in respect of the canteen section. As a consequence the Industrial Tribunal in the award has rejected the claim of the Union for abolition of the contract system in the canteen section. Therefore, we will make no further reference to the stand taken by the parties regarding this Section in our judgment.

6. We will now refer to the stand taken by the appellant and the Union regarding the abolition of contract labour in respect of seeds godown and the solvent extraction plants. The stand taken by the Union in its statement of claim dated May 30, 1967 was briefly as follows

7. The Company had work in this section which was of a regular and continuous nature. The work in that section was not intermittent or accidental type. The work required to be performed is of loading and unloading seed bags and also to feed the hoppers for the requirements of solvent extraction plants. The product left after the process of solvent extraction also is to be filled in gunny bags. All these Items of work are of a permanent nature and was being regularly carried out by the contractor s workmen by employing on an average more than 200 workmen. The work being of a continuous nat