JUDGMENT

AHMADI, J. :—Special leave granted in the aforesaid special leave petitions.

2. Five references bearing Nos. (i) 123 of 1977, (ii) 215 of 1979 (iii) 91 of 1984, (iv) 92 of 1984 and (v) 43 of 1985, the first three under Section 10(2) and the remaining two under Section 10(1)(d) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, hereinafter called the I.D. Act, arose out of certain demands made by the workmen-employees of Hindustan Lever Limited as well as the managements Notice of Change for the imposition of a ceiling on dearness allowance. These disputes concerned the demands made by the monthly rated clerical and technical staff working at the Sewree factory of the Company as well as the monthly rated C & T categories of workmen employed at the Companys head-office and branch office in Bombay, the former represented by Hindustan Lever Employees Union, hereinafter called the Union and the latter represented by Hindustan Lever Mazdoor Sabha, hereinafter call the Sabha. The Company had desired placement of a ceiling on dearness allowance based on the premise that in the absence of such a ceiling the neutralisation factor exceeded 100 . It may here be mentioned that both the clerical and