Kotval, C.J.

1. These two special civil applications raise common questions of law of some importance and may be conveniently disposed of together. We are concerned in both these applications with orders passed by the Payment of Wages authority regarding the remuneration payable under the recently enacted Payment of Bonus Act (21 of 1965) which came into force on the 25th of September 1965. The principal points raised are regarding jurisdiction viz. whether the remuneration payable under the Act can be claimed before the authority under the Payment of Wages Act, and whether the petitioner Companies are exempt under the Bonus Act. For the purpose of the points raised the facts are also somewhat similar. The orders impugned however have been passed by two different authorities under the Payment of Wages Act.

2. The main argument was advanced in Special Civil Application No. 2239 of 1968 and we would first set forth briefly the facts of that Special Civil Application. The petitioner before us is the manager of the India United Mills Ltd., No. 1 Mill, of Bombay, which we shall hereafter refer to for the sake of brevity as the Indu Mills as it is popularly known. On 29th Novembe