RAJAGOPALAN, J.

Respondents 2 to 12 were employees of the Madras Port Trust, represented by the petitioner. Of these respondents, respondent 9 Lakshmanan, was a maistry, and the rest were shore labour mazdoors. It was a combination of time basis and piecework basis that was adopted by the employer for the payment of their monthly wages. The details of the emoluments payable to them were as follows : A mazdoor was paid every month Rs. 22 at attendance wage (retainer); a maistry was paid Rs. 27 a month. In addition, each of the employees, mazdoors as well as maistries, was paid a special dearness allowance of Rs. 15 a month, a house-rent allowance of Rs. 7 and a compensatory allowance of Rs. 3. In addition to these four items, there was a fifth, daily earnings for work done calculated on a piece rate or daily rate. Those rates were five annas a ton for handling ship cargoes; three annas a ton for loading and unloading of wagons; four annas a ton in respect of such loading or unloading from sheds, and Rs. 1-2-0 a day for stacking, etc. While the first four items enumerated above were fixed payments, the last was a variable factor, depending on the quantum of work done by each of the employees in a given month.

On 12 November 1951, the Central Government issued a notification under Ss. 3(1)(a), 4(1)(i) and 5(2) of the Minimum Wages Act XI of 1948, hereinafter referred to as the Act, prescribing the minimum rates of wages for the several classes of employees of the Madras Port Trust. What was fixed as minimum wages for the shore labour mazdoor was a basic monthly pay of Rs. 22 and a cost of living allowance of Rs. 40. The maistry was entitled to get a basic pay of Rs. 27 and a cost of living allowance of Rs. 40 a month.

On 8 July 1954 an application was presented under S.20(2) of the Act on behalf of the respondents 2 to 12, to the industrial tribunal Madras, as the authority appointed under S.20(1) of the Act. The claims preferred in that application were summarized in Para. 1 of the order dated 6 July, 1955, the validity of which the petitioner challenged by an application under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India for the issue of a writ certiorari. The claims were :(1) That respondents 2 to 12 were each entitled to the difference between Rs. 40 fixed as a minimum cost of living allowance and Rs. 15 which was actually paid to them as dearness allowance, independent of the other emoluments which these employees were paid.

(2) Payment for work done by the employees on Sundays under rule 23 of the rules framed by the Government of India under the Act.

(3) Payment at double that ordinary rates of wages for the watch and ward work done by the mazdoors.

(4) Payment of wages for the half-hour period of waiting involved in the mazdoors having to work in shifts.

By his order dated 6 July 1955 the authority appointed under S.20(1) of the Act disallowed the second and fourth of the claims mentioned above. With reference to claim 1 the authority overruled the objection of the employer, that the totality of the emoluments paid to an employee should alone be taken into consideration, and not merely one of the components thereof, the dearness allowance or the cost of living allowance, and the authority upheld the claim of the employees. The direction which the authority issued under S.20(3) of the Act was :

"So I allow only such claims as it is within the period of six months earlier to the date of application, viz., 8 July 1954. A schedule will be prepared towards the end of the judgment showing the amount due to each petitioner from 8 January, 1954 to 30th June, 1955 and the management is directed to pay at the enhanced rate of Rs. 40 for each of the petitioners thereafter." *

With reference to the third claim, where the real grievance was that in calculating the basic rate which has to be doubled for overtime work the other allowance paid to an employee should also be taken into account, the authority held :

"So I hold that for purpose