The main legal point established is that individuals employed mainly in managerial or administrative capacities are not considered 'workmen' under the I.D. Act.

( 1 ) THE appellants have been working as secretaries of the Primary Agricultural Credit co-operative Societies (in short "the Primary societies") of Bidar District. In 1994 they filed an application before the Labour Court gulbarga under Section 33-C (2) of the industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (in short "the i. D. Act") seeking a direction against the respondent-1. "the Common Cadre committee, Bidar District" (in short "the committee") for payment of bonus at the rate of 33% from the date of their appointment in terms of Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 (in short "the Bonus Act" ). The said application was numbered as Application No. 3/94. It was ultimately allowed by an award dated March 15, 1993 (Annexure-F) in the following terms:"the application of 167 applicants is allowed. They are entitled for minimum bonus at the rate of 33% from the date of their appointment on the basis of annual wages from the respondent-Bank. "

( 2 ) THE validity of the above award was assailed by the District Central Co-operative bank Limited, Bidar District, as also the committee by filing three writ petitions before this Court which had been disposed of by the learned single Judge by the impugned order inter alia remanding the matter to the Labour court to record a finding as to whether the appellants are workmen within the meaning of the I. D. Act. The appellants being aggrieved by the said order have preferred this appeal.

( 3 ) SRI Subba Rao, learned counsel appearing for the appellants, submitted that on the facts and circumstances of the present case there was no occasion on the part of the learned single Judge to remand the case to the Labour court for arriving at a finding as to whether the appellants are workmen within the meaning of the I. D. Act or not since such an objection was never taken by the Committee before the labour Court.

( 4 ) IN order to decide the issue raised on behalf of the appellant certain more fundamental aspects touching upon the mutual relationship of the contesting parties requires to be examined. We first proceed to do so. RE : JURISTIC STATUS AND INTER SE relationship OF THE SOCIETIES

( 5 ) THE Primary Societies for which the appellants had been appointed as Secretaries are registered co-operative societies under the provisions of the Karnataka Co-operative societies Act, 1959 (in short "the Societies act" ). These are Primary Rural Credit societies within the meaning of clause (n) of section 2 of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act, 1981 (in short "the NABARD" Act ). Their functions are to provide financial accommodation to their respective members for agriculture, agricultural operations, for the marketing of crops or for rural developments.

( 6 ) BIDAR District Central Co-operative bank Ltd. (in short "the Central Bank") is also a registered co-operative society under the provisions of the Societies Act. It is a "central co-operative Bank" within the meaning of clause (d) of Section 2 of the NABARD Act. Its primary object is to finance other co-operative societies in the district of Bidar like the Primary Societies.

( 7 ) SECTION 9 of the Societies Act declares that registration of a co-operative society shall render it a body corporate by the name under which it is registered having perpetual succession and a common seal, and with power to hold property, enter into contracts, institute and defend suits and other legal proceedings and do all things necessary for the purposes for which it was constituted. Therefore both the primary Societies as well as the Central Bank are independent juristic persons owing their existence and functions to the statutory provisions referred to above.

( 8 ) IT may be noticed here that the short term and medium term agricultural credit to the agriculturists in the Bidar district is being provided by the Primary Societies of the district which in turn are affiliated to the Central Bank which functions as the federal society in respect of such Primary Societies. The

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