( 1 ) THE judgment and order passed by the Presiding Officer of the Labour Court at Rajkot on 27/12/1984 in Reference (LCR) no. 511 of 1982 is under challenge in this petition under Art. 227 of the constitution of India. Thereby, the Reference came to be rejected only on the ground that the petitioner herein did not answer the definition of the workman contained in Sec. 2 (s) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (the act for brief ).

( 2 ) THE only reason given by the Labour Court for rejecting the Reference on the ground that the petitioner herein was not a workman was that his salary was in excess of Rs. 1,000. 00 on the date of the Reference. It appears that the Labour Court has lost sight of the Industrial Disputes (Gujarat amendment) Act, 1981 (the Amending Act for brief ). By this Amending act, the limit of Rs. 1,000. 00 specified in Sec. 2 (s) (iv) of the Act was raised from Rs. 1000. 00 to Rs. 1600/ -. This Amending Act has come into force with effect from 1/08/1981. It is not in dispute that the date of the Reference in the instant case is llth May, 1982. The date of dismissal is 10/08/1981 by which time the Amending Act was brought into force. In that view of t