JUDGMENT

J.S. VERM A, J. Leave granted.

2. The common question for decision in these matters is the maintainability of the claim of respondents in proceedings under Section 33-C(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The respondents are all daily-rated/casual workers of the appellant-Municipal Corporation of Delhi, who claim that they were doing the same kind of work as the regular employees and, therefore, they were required to be paid by the appellant the same pay as the regular employees on the principle of "equal pay for equal work". On this basis, they claim computation of the arrears of their wages at the rate at which the wages are paid to the regular employees, in accordance with Section 33-C(2) of the Act. Their applications made to the Labour Court under Section 33-C(2) of the Act led to the award in their favour, accepting this claim. Writ petitions were filed in the Delhi High Court by the appellant-Municipal Corporation challenging those awards. The writ petitions having been dismissed, these appeals arise by special leave.

3. The appellants challenge to the maintainability of the respondents claim in proceedings under Section 33-C(2) of the Act is on the ground that the claim of workmen to be paid at the same rate as the regular workmen being disputed, proceedings under Section 33-C(2) of the Act were not maintainable for grant of this relief. The Labour Court and, thereafter, the High Court have rejected this contention. The same argument is reiterated before us in these appeals.

4. It is clear that there has been no earlier adjudication by any forum of the claim of these workmen of their entitlement to be paid wages at the same rate at which the regular workmen of the establishment are being paid and there is no award or settlement to that effect In short, this claim of the workmen has neither been adjudicated nor recognised by the employer in any award or settlement. The real question therefore is : Whether in these circumstances, without a prior adjudication or recognition of the disputed claim of the workmen to be paid at the same rate as the regular employees, proceedings for computation of the arrears of wages claimed by them on that basis are maintainable under Section 33-C(2) of the Act?

5. In our opinion, the question for decision is no longer res integra being long settled by earlier decisions of this Court. Some of the decisions have been referred by the High Court in the impugned judgment, but the application of the settled principle made by the High Court is erroneous. We would refer to some of the decisions on this point and the submissions of learned counsel for the parties with reference to which these matters have to be decided.

6. Shri G.B. Pai, learned counsel for the appellant, submitted that the proceedings under Section 33-C(2) of the Act are in the nature of execution proceedings which enviage a prior adjudication or recognition by the employer of the claim of the workmen to be paid wages at the rate at which they claim the computation; and when the basis of their claim is disputed, the remedy under Section 33-C(2) is not available to the workmen. Shri Pai contended that in the present case, there was no earlier adjudication or recognition of the workmens claim to be paid at the same rate as the regular workmen and, therefore, the basis of computation being disputed, the proceedings under Section 33-C(2) of the Act were not maintainable. According to Shri Pai, this is the sit tight position emerging from the decisions of this Court.

7. On the other hand, Shri P.P. Rao, learned counsel for the respondent-workmen submitted that there was really no dispute of this kind since these daily-rated/casual workmen were doing the same kind of work as the regular workmen and, therefore, they were entitled to be paid wages at the same rate as the regular workmen on the principle of "equal pay for equal work". It was submitted that in certain writ petitions filed by some