The principle of 'equal work for equal pay' was upheld, with the court modifying the effective date of wage benefits to 01.01.2012.

JUDGMENT :

PRANAV TRIVEDI, J.

[1] The present petition challenges the legality, validity and propriety of award dated 21.01.2022 passed in Reference (I.T.) Case No.50 of 2013 vide Exhibit-60 passed by the learned Industrial Tribunal, Rajkot (hereinafter referred to as “the learned Tribunal”) under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”). The learned Tribunal has partly allowed the Reference directing the petitioner to grant demand No.1 to 5, 7 and 9.

[2] The factual matrix which has led to filing of the Reference resulted into impugned orders are that the Saurashtra Medical Center Trust was initially registered as a society, under the Societies Registration Act, 1960 on 27.07.1972 and, thereafter, registered as a Public Charitable Trust under the provisions of Bombay Public Trust Act, 1972. The Trust had initially established C.U. Shah T.B. Hospital in the year 1974. Subsequently, other hospitals for various specialty were established under the aeigis of C. U. Shah College. The present petition is filed by C.U. Shah Medical College and Hospital which has a variety of special free medical facilities under its wings. The concerned workmen of the present petitioner were appointed after the petitioner’s medical college came into existence, through a contract system and are continuing to work regularly form the year 2000 onwards.

[2.1] The respondents workmen are the Unions (hereinafter referred to as “the respondent”) and they have raised their charter of demands before the Conciliation Officer under Section 10(1) of the Act. The conciliation had failed and therefore, the Terms of Reference was referred for the adjudication to the learned Tribunal. The Reference came to be numbered as Reference (I.T.) No.50 of 2013. There were total 9 demands raised by the Union. During the pendency of the dispute, the Labour Commissioner, Gujarat vide its order dated 29.06.2020 referred further revised demands, wherein demand Nos. 1 to 4 were kept as it is and demand Nos.5 to 8 were revised in the pending adjudication.

[2.2] Pursuant to filing of the Reference, the statement of claim came by the respondent at Exhibit-3 against the statement claim to be filed by the petitioner which was at Exhibit-13. It was contended by the petitioner that it is a self-financed private medical college run by the trust registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1972.The trust activities are on the principles of “no loss – no profit” for the students of the medical college and patients in the hospitals being run by it. Both the parties have subsequently led the evidence. Pursuant to the completion of pleadings as well as the arguments, the learned Tribunal by way of impugned award directed the petitioner to pay financial benefits to the members of the respondent Union from 01.01.2010 onwards. It was the case of the petitioner that if the financial burden as per the award had to be calculated, it turned out to be more than Rs.45 lacs per month. The petitioner was having an excess of expenditure over the income from the financial year 2001-02 to 2020-21. The losses are met through the collection of donations over the years. It was, thus, contended by the petitioner that the award passed by the learned Tribunal would be fatal for the future existence of the petitioner.

[3] We have heard Mr. K.M. Patel, learned senior advocate with Mr. Yogen N. Pandya, learned advocate for the petitioner and Mr. D.G. Shukla, learned advocate with Mr. Harsheel D. Shukla, learned advocate assisted by Ms. Meshwa Bhatt, learned advocate for the respondent No.1 as well as Mr. Ch