Khosla, J.

1. The followling question has been referred for the consideration of the Full Bench by my Lord the Chief Justice:

"When an employee is placed under suspension in accordance with the rules by which his conditions of service are regulated, is He entitled to wages during the period of suspension at the same rate as if he were not suspended, and is the Authority constituted under the Payment of Wages Act competent to order the employer to pay the full amount of wages during such period?"

2. The circumstances which gave rise to this reference are stated in detail in the order of my Lord the Chief Justice, and it will be sufficient if I recapitulate some of the more salient incidents. The petitioner Mukand Lal who was employed as a Booking Clerk at the Railway Station Panipat was charged with negligence resulting in monetary loss to the Railway Department- The loss took place on 8-5-1951 and four days later the Enquiry Committee appointed to go into the matter submitted its report. On the same day Mukand Lal was suspended. A charge-sheet was given to him. He remained under suspension from 12-5-1951 to 27-5-1951. For this period he was paid a subsistence allowance whic