C.N. Ramachandran Nair, J.

This original petition is filed challenging the order of the Central administrative Tribunal (CAT), Ernakulam Bench, upholding the orders issued by the respondents to discontinue overtime wages was being paid on House Rent Allowance (HRA), City Compensatory Allowance (CCA), Transport Allowance (TA), Small Family Norm Allowance (SFA) etc. We have heard Senior Counsel Sri. N.N. Sugunapalan, appearing for the petitioner and have also gone through the orders of the CAT, impugned in the original petition.

2. Petitioners are civilian employees or union representatives of such employees, employed in the Naval Establishment at Kochi. They have been getting extra wages for over-time work under Section 59(1) of the Factories Act, 1948, which is at twice the ordinary rates of wages. For payment of overtime wages in terms of Section 59(2) of the Act, respondents have been reckoning the above four items of compensatory allowances as forming part of ordinary rate of wages. However, based on the instructions issued by the Ministry of Defence, the first respondent’s office issued order dated 23.7.2009 stating that the employees are not entitled to overtime wages on the four items of compensatory allowances namely, House Rent Allowance, Travelling Allowance, Small Family Norm Allowance and City Compensatory Allowance. Later, follow up orders were issued vide Ext.P5 directing recovery of excess overtime wages paid from July, onwards. It is against these orders, the petitioners approached the Tribunal, which, following an order in the same subject issued by the Madras Bench of the Tribunal, dismissed the applications, against which this original petition is filed.

3. The only question to be considered is whether the four items of allowances referred to above form part of “ordinary rate of wages” as referred to in Section 59 of the Factories Act. Section 59(1) and (2) of the Factories Act reads as follows:

“59. Extra wages for overtimes.- (1) where a worker works in a factory for more than nine hours in any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week, he shall, in respect of overtime work, be entitled to wages at the rate of twice his ordinary rate of wages.

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), “ordinary rate of wages” means the basis wages plus such allowances, including the cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through the concessional sale to workers of foodgrains and other articles, as the worker is for the time being entitled to, but does not include a bonus and wages for overtime work.”

4. Senior Counsel Sri. N.N. Sugunapalan, appearing for the petitioners contended that without any contest, the employees were paid overtime wages including the above four items of compensatory allowances as part of ordinary wages, which is also referred to in the order of the CAT wherein they referred to the scheme of payment of overtime wages by the Railways including the type of allowances referred to above. After hearing the counsel for the petitioners and on going through the Tribunal’s order, we are of the view that Section 59(2) does not authorize payment of extra wages for overtime work including the four items referred above. What is clear from sub-section (1) of Section 59 is that in respect of overtime work, a worker is entitled to wages at the rate of twice his ordinary rate of wages. Sub-section (2) does not define the allowance that shout be included along with the basic wages to constitute ordinary wages. In our view, the ordinary rate of wages referred to in the sub-section do not convey any special meaning to it except the literary meaning, which is the pay and allowance paid for the worker. Obviously, allowances like DA form part of wages. Besides ordinary rate of wages, employees are given compensatory allowances and also allowances which are in the form of incentive. These allowances are not uniformly payable to each and every employee engaged for work and on the other hand, these