The judgment of the Court was as follows:

In this application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India the petitioners are praying for appropriate writs directed against a resolution of the Dock Labour Board dated the 25th of July, 1974 whereby certain rates of levy were determined and the approval given thereto by the Central Government.

2. The case of the petitioner as made out in the petition is as follows :-

(a) The petitioners Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 7 are private limited companies. incorporated under or within the meaning of the Company's Act 1956. The petitioners Nos. 2, 4, 6 and 8 are shareholders and directors of the petitioners Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 7. The petitioners Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 7 have at all material times been and still are carrying on business as stevedores and steamer agents, inter alia, at the Port of Calcutta.

(b) Calcutta Dock Labour Board (hereinafter referred to as the said Board) is a body corporate constituted under the Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act). Under the said Act, schemes were framed from time to time for regulating the employment of Dock Workers. The Scheme with which we are concerned in