ORDER

1. In this case, the respondent-workman had raised an industrial dispute claiming the wages of designer-sprayman although he was initially engaged by the appellant-mills as a sprayman. The reference made by the State Government read as follows :

"Whether the action of the employer in denying the wages of designer-sprayman to Shri Gayas Ahmed Khan, s/o Shri Abdul Razak Khan working in shift general, Engraving Department is legal and justified? If not, what benefit/relief is the workman entitled and with what other details?"

2. The Labour Court recorded a finding that although the workman was engaged as a sprayman, he was actually doing the work of duplicating the designs and also as a tracer in addition to his work as sprayman. The Court further found that the salary of a designer in the other departments of the appellant-mills was Rs 740 per month whereas that of the tracer was Rs 850 and Rs 620 per month depending upon the departments to which they were attached. Since the workman was not a designer but only a duplicator of designs and was also a tracer and a sprayman, the Labour Court fixed the basic wage of the workman at Rs 500 per month by its award of 9-4-1981. This award