Judgment

TULZAPURKAR, J.:- This appeal by special leave is directed against the award of the Industrial Tribunal Maharastra, Bombay, dated September 22nd, 1977, in Reference (IT) No. 248 of 1975 in the industrial dispute between the respondent and the workmen employed by it and published in Maharashtra Government Gazette on November 3, 1977. Though the demands made by the workers Union and adjudication thereon by the Tribunal related to items like wage scale, dearness allowance, extra show allowance, gratuity, service conditions of non-permanent staff and retrospectivity, while granting special leave this Court confined the appeal to three points, namely, (i) retrospectively of the award, (ii) linkage of dearness allowance to some rational principle and (iii) construction of S. 4 (5) of the Payment of Gratuity Act. 1972, and leave was expressly refused in regard to the other grounds mentioned in the special leave petition. We. therefore. proceed to deal with the aforesaid three points on which arguments were advanced before us by counsel on either side.

2. It may be stated that prior to the impugned award the wages and gratuity of the workers were governed by the earlier award in Ref