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1959 Supreme(SC) 191
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
B.P.Sinha, C.J.I., K.N.Wanchoo, P.B.Gajendragadkar, JJ.
Raipur Manufacturing Company, Limited, Ahmedabad
Versus
Nagrashna (M.N.)
Case No. : 38 of 1958
Date of Decision : 10/29/59
The Supreme Court will not interfere with a lower authority's decision under Article 136 of the Constitution unless there is a failure of justice, and mutual agreements varying previous awards preclude the application of estoppel regarding the new terms.
Headnote:(A) Industrial Relations Act - Sections 42(2), 79, 116, 118A - Payment of Wages Act - Interpretation of agreement - Wage scales for intermediate grade of employees - Jurisdiction of authority. (Paras 2, 3)
(B) Constitution - Article 136 - Scope of interference - Court will not interfere with a lower court's order unless satisfied that the justice of the case requires it or there is a failure of justice. (Para 5)
(C) Estoppel - An agreement reached by mutual consent that varies a previous award removes the bar of estoppel regarding the new terms. (Para 4)
Facts of the case:
Employees designated as grey-folders claimed they were entitled to a specific wage scale provided for employees in an intermediate position between clerks and operatives under a collective agreement. A previous labour court had dismissed a similar claim on the misapprehension that the employees were claiming to be clerks. Subsequently, an authority under the payment of wages legislation ruled that the employees were indeed covered by the intermediate grade and ordered payment of delayed wages. The employer challenged this via a writ petition in the High Court, which was dismissed.
Findings of Court:
The authority correctly determined that the employees, based on their duties, fell into the intermediate category provided for in the agreement. The previous labour court's decision was based on a misunderstanding of the claim.
Issues: Whether the authority had jurisdiction to interpret the agreement and whether the employees were estopped from making the claim due to prior adverse decisions.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that where an agreement varies a previous award by mutual consent, there is no estoppel. Furthermore, under the special leave jurisdiction, the court will not interfere with a decision if it is satisfied that there has been no failure of justice, even if there are questions regarding the jurisdiction of the lower authority. (Paras 4, 5)
Result: Appeal dismissed.
(1) THIS is an appeal by special leave against the judgment of the Bombay High court by which the writ petition filed by the appellant was summarily dismissed. The brief facts necessary for the purpose of this appeal are these: The appellant Is a cotton mill In Ahmedabad. Respondents 2 (a) to 2 (n) are the fourteen employees of the appellant designated as grey-folders. Under the Bombay Industrial Disputes Act, 1938 (since repealed by the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, No. XI of 1947, which came Into force on 15/04/1947), the Registrar had made a notification recognizing various occupations in cotton textile mills. Folders were put In group "F" of this notification while clerks were pat in group "H." In December 1946, the Textile Labour Association of Ahmedabad gave a notice of change to the Millowners Association for standardization of wages of the various occupations In the cotton textile Industry. Thereupon a reference was made by the State government in June 1947 to the industrial court, which, by the first part of its award, fixed wages for grey-folders doing catlooking work at Ra. 42-4-0 per mensem. Later the same court gave the second part of Its award relating to clerks in October 1948. In April 1949, the Textile Labour A.asociation gave a notice terminating the award under S. 116 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act and the award came to an end in June 1949. Thereafter under S. 42 (2) of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, there was a notice of change by the Textile Labour Association for revision of payscales. In pursuance of this notice there was an agreement between the Ahmedabad Millowers Associaton and the Textils Labour Association on 22 Jane 1949. This agreement waa to apply to all the cotton mills in Ahmedaba.r1. Clause (4) of this agreement provided payacales for clerks who were divided into three categories. Then came 01. (6) with which we are concerned in this appeal. It runs as under : "A separate scale for those of the employees who occupy the position lower than that of a full-fledged clerk but higher than that of an operative will be provided as under: 40-3-70-BB-4-90-5-105. This scale will be applicable in case of ticket boys, ticket checkers, coupon sellers, tally boys. production checkers, thread counters, cloth measurers, department store-man, cut-lookers, and those who have not been included above but who ca,n properly fall under the above category."
(2) GREY-FOLDERS, however, not being specifically mentioned in Cl. (5) continued to be paid Ra. 42-4-0 per month a.a fixed by the first part of the award of the industrial court referred to above. Consequently in January 1950, the fourteen respondents who are grey-folders, applied under S. 79 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act to the labour court that they were not being paid the grade fixed by Cl. (5) of the agreement and thia amounted to an unlawful change by the employer and that it should be ordered to withdraw such an illegal change. This application was dismissed by the labour court In April 1952. It waa of opinion that the evidence showed beyond all doubt that the applicants before It were operatives and could not be considered as clerks who were doing routine work of writing copying or making calculations. There was an obvious error in this view of the labour court for the grey-foldera bad not claimed before it that they were clerks, for in that case they would have claimed wages under Cl. (4) of the agreement ; their case was that they held a.n intermediate position between clerks and operatives and wf re thus covered by Cl. (5) which provided for such anintermediate grade. However, no further steps were taken by the grey-folders against this order of the labour court, by way of appeal or otherwise. In the mean time, the greyfolders applied under S. 118A of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act for modification of award of the industrial court relating to folders. This application was withdraw
