Judgment

S. C. AGRAWAL, J.:- In this writ petition filed under Article 32 of Constitution the petitioner viz. Food Corporation of India Workers Union (hereinafter referred to as the petitioner union representing the departmentalised labour employed by the Food Corporation of India (hereinafter referred to as the respondent corporation is claiming parity in the matter of scales of pay, allowances and terms and conditions of service for departmentalised labour employed with the respondent corporation throughout the country.

2. The respondent corporation has been established by the Food Corporation of India Act, 1964 enacted by Parliament. It carries on business of procurement, storage and distribution of foodgrains throughout the country. It functions through four zonal offices in the North, East, West and South Zones. Each zone is divided into regions and districts for the convenience of administration. Each district has got several depots under it. Earlier the handling work at the godowns at the various depots of the respondent corporation was done through private contractors. There was discontentment among the labour force working under the private contractors and they demanded abolition of contract labour system. This led to departmentalisation of the labour force consisting of handling mazdoors, sardars, munshis/mondals and ancillary mazdoor at some of the depots of the respondent corporation. This process of departmentalisation of labour force was started in 1970 and it was introduced gradually in stages. It has been extended to workers at the major ports and the depots in port towns as well as some of the depots in the various regions. The respondent corporation is having departmentalised labour in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, Delhi, U.P., Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. In the present writ petition we are concerned with departmentalised labour employed at the depots in Bihar, Assam, Orissa, U.P. and Delhi regions.

3. The departmentalised workers engaged at the docks and the port godowns. and the depots in port towns are being paid wages on the same basis as the port and dock workers. The same principle has been adopted by the respondent corporation for all the departmentalised workers in the other depots in the State of West Bengal. When departmentalisation of labour force was introduced in other regions, a dispute arose with regard to the pay scales to be applied to such workmen and the said disputes with regard to the wage structure of departmentalised workers in all depots in Bihar, more particularly the depots at Gaya, Mokemah and Jamshedpur, was referred to the arbitration of Shri K. K. Mitra, a retired Judge of the Calcutta High Court, under Sec. 10-A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The learned arbitrator gave his award (Annexure-II) dated Oct. 10, 1974 (hereinafter referred to as the Mitra Award whereby it was directed that the wage structure of the departmentalised workers at the depots in Bihar should be brought in line and at par with the rates prevalent in Calcutta. The respondent corporation challenged the Mitra Award by filing a writ petition in the Calcutta High Court. The said writ petition was dismissed by a learned single Judge by Order dated April 22, 1977 and the appeal filed by the respondent corporation against the said Order of the learned single Judge was dismissed by the Divisional Bench of the High Court by Judgment dt. March 14, 1980. During pendency of the proceedings before the arbitrator the respondent corporation in their letter (Annexure-IV) dated July 28, 1973, had agreed that the Award of the arbitrator would apply in toto to the departmentalised workers in Assam, Bihar and Orissa, who have been departmentalised with effect from June 15, 1973. At the time of departmentalisation in 1973 the departmentalised workers in Delhi and U.P. were having the same pattern of pay scales as was applicable to workers at Calcutta Port and port city godowns. The case of the petitioner union is th