# SHRI AMBICA MILLS CO., LTD v. SHRI S. B. BHATT AND ANOTHER - **Citation:** [1961] 3 S.C.R. 220 - **Court:** Supreme Court of India - **Decided:** 1961 - **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 243of1959 - **Bench:** P. B. Gajendragadkar, K. N. Wanchoo, K. c. DAS GUPTA - **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/shri-ambica-mills-co-ltd-v-shri-s-b-bhatt-and-another-1967 - **Pages:** 17 ## Headnote Wages, Payment of-furisdictio" of Authority-Scope and extent-High Court's power, to issue writ-Payment of Wages Act, z936 (4 of r936), ss. z5, r6-Constitution of India, Arts. 226 and 227. An. award, called the Standardisation Award, fixing the wages for different categories of workers in the textile mills at , Ahmedabad was made by the Industrial Tribunal. The wages of clerks were, however, settled by a subsequent agreement between the Ahmedabad Mill Owners' Association and the Textile I 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 221 Labour Association. Clauses 2 and 5 of the said agreement were r960 as follows.- "2. That this agreement shall apply to all the Clerks Shd Ambica Mills employed in the local mills, i.e., persons doing clerical work, Co., Lid. that is those who do routine work of writing, copying or making v. calculations and shall also include compounders and assistant Sbi s: B. B4ott compounders who are qualified and who are employed in the .S- ,1,..,4,, local mills. 5. A separate scale for those of the employees who occupy the position lower than that of a full-fledged Clerk but higher than that of an operative will be provided as under:- Rs. 40.3-70-EB-4-90-5-ro5 This scale will be applicable in case of ticket-checker, coupons-seller, tally-boy, scale-boy, production-checker, thirdcounter, cloth measurer or yard-counter, fine-reporter, cloth/ yarn-examiner, department storeman, cut-looker and those others who have not been included above but who can properly fall under the above category." The respondents moved the Authority under s. 16 of the Payment of Wages Act. 1936 (4 of 1936), for an order against the appellant for payment of their delayed wages. They claimed lo be semi-clerks, lower than full-fledged clerks but higher than operatives, and as such governed by cl. 5 of the agreement. Tho Authority held against them and the app'ellate Authority affirmed its decision holding that cl. 2 of the agreement determined the applicability of cl. 5 and since the respondents did not come within cl. 2 thev could not maintain their claim under cl. 5. The High Couri, on an application under Art. 226 and Art. 227 of the Constitution, took a contrary view and set aside the orders of the Authorities and directed a rehearing. In this Court the appellant mills urged that (r) the High Court had exceeded its jurisdiction under Arts. 226 and 227 in setting aside the order ot the appellate Authority and (2) the Authority had itself exceeded its jurisdiction under s. 15 of the Act in entertaining the applications of the respondents made under s. 16 of the Act. · Held, that both ·the contentions must be negatived. The High Court has power under A rt. 226 of the Constitution to issue a ·writ of ce.-tiorari not only in cases of illegal exercise of jurisdiction but also to correct errors of law apparent on the face of the record, although not errors of fact even though so apparent. No unfailing test can, however, be laid down when an error of law is an error apparent on the lace of the record and the rule that it must be self-evident, requiting no elaborate examination of the record, is a satisfactory practical test in a large majority of cases. Rex v. NorlhumberlaKd Compensation Appeal Tribunal, (1952] l K.B. 338 and 'NageKdra Nath Bora v. Commissioner of HiUs Division aKd Appeals, Assam, [1958] S.C.R. 1340, referred to. 222 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1961] 196• Viswanath Tukaram v. The General Manager, Central Railway, . -. . V. T., Bombay, (I9S7) S9 Born. L.R. 892, considered. Shri Amb~~ Mills A look at the two clauses is enough to show that the appelCo., 1 • late Authority in construing them in the way it did committed •· an obvious and manifest error of law. It was clear that the two Shri s. B. Bhatt l l" d d" · c auses app 1e to two 1stmct categories of persons and persons .;. dnoth" falling under cl. S could not be governed by cl. 2 and were not expected to satisfy the test prescribed by it. Under s. IS of the Payment of Wages Act; 1936, the ## Text 220 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1961] '960 been clearly proved. The charge was that he had n L 7H . • plotted and hatched a conspiracy for assaulting the ~ .. ~;1, ;;,~,,,. General Superintendent, Weaving Master, Chief Engi- •· neer,. Factory Manager and the Controller of Produc111 WorA•n tion. The details of the charge were specified, and at . - the enquiry it was held that these charges had been G•J••'••1•'••• J. proved. There is no doubt that these charges, if proved, deserve the punishment of dismissal under the relevant standing orders. The Tribunal, however, purported to examine the propriety of the finding recorded against HM' Prasad and came to the conclusion that the said finding was not justified on the merits. As' we have already pointed out the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to sit in appeal over the findings of the enquiry as it has purported to do. The result is that the conclusion of the Tribunal in regard to all the workmen is unjustified and without jurisdiction. 1960 The appeal is accordingly allowed, the order passed by the Tribunal is set aside, and approval is accorded to the action taken by the appellant under s. 6E. There will be no order as to costs. Appeal allowed. SHRI AMBICA MILLS CO., LTD. v. SHRI S. B. BHATT AND ANOTHER (P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, K. N. WANCHOO and K. c. DAS GUPTA, JJ.) Wages, Payment of-furisdictio" of Authority-Scope and extent-High Court's power, to issue writ-Payment of Wages Act, z936 (4 of r936), ss. z5, r6-Constitution of India, Arts. 226 and 227. An. award, called the Standardisation Award, fixing the wages for different categories of workers in the textile mills at , Ahmedabad was made by the Industrial Tribunal. The wages of clerks were, however, settled by a subsequent agreement between the Ahmedabad Mill Owners' Association and the Textile I 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 221 Labour Association. Clauses 2 and 5 of the said agreement were r960 as follows.- "2. That this agreement shall apply to all the Clerks Shd Ambica Mills employed in the local mills, i.e., persons doing clerical work, Co., Lid. that is those who do routine work of writing, copying or making v. calculations and shall also include compounders and assistant Sbi s: B. B4ott compounders who are qualified and who are employed in the .S- ,1,..,4,, local mills. 5. A separate scale for those of the employees who occupy the position lower than that of a full-fledged Clerk but higher than that of an operative will be provided as under:- Rs. 40.3-70-EB-4-90-5-ro5 This scale will be applicable in case of ticket-checker, coupons-seller, tally-boy, scale-boy, production-checker, thirdcounter, cloth measurer or yard-counter, fine-reporter, cloth/ yarn-examiner, department storeman, cut-looker and those others who have not been included above but who can properly fall under the above category." The respondents moved the Authority under s. 16 of the Payment of Wages Act. 1936 (4 of 1936), for an order against the appellant for payment of their delayed wages. They claimed lo be semi-clerks, lower than full-fledged clerks but higher than operatives, and as such governed by cl. 5 of the agreement. Tho Authority held against them and the app'ellate Authority affirmed its decision holding that cl. 2 of the agreement determined the applicability of cl. 5 and since the respondents did not come within cl. 2 thev could not maintain their claim under cl. 5. The High Couri, on an application under Art. 226 and Art. 227 of the Constitution, took a contrary view and set aside the orders of the Authorities and directed a rehearing. In this Court the appellant mills urged that (r) the High Court had exceeded its jurisdiction under Arts. 226 and 227 in setting aside the order ot the appellate Authority and (2) the Authority had itself exceeded its jurisdiction under s. 15 of the Act in entertaining the applications of the respondents made under s. 16 of the Act. · Held, that both ·the contentions must be negatived. The High Court has power under A rt. 226 of the Constitution to issue a ·writ of ce.-tiorari not only in cases of illegal exercise of jurisdiction but also to correct errors of law apparent on the face of the record, although not errors of fact even though so apparent. No unfailing test can, however, be laid down when an error of law is an error apparent on the lace of the record and the rule that it must be self-evident, requiting no elaborate examination of the record, is a satisfactory practical test in a large majority of cases. Rex v. NorlhumberlaKd Compensation Appeal Tribunal, (1952] l K.B. 338 and 'NageKdra Nath Bora v. Commissioner of HiUs Division aKd Appeals, Assam, [1958] S.C.R. 1340, referred to. 222 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1961] 196• Viswanath Tukaram v. The General Manager, Central Railway, . -. . V. T., Bombay, (I9S7) S9 Born. L.R. 892, considered. Shri Amb~~ Mills A look at the two clauses is enough to show that the appelCo., 1 • late Authority in construing them in the way it did committed •· an obvious and manifest error of law. It was clear that the two Shri s. B. Bhatt l l" d d" · c auses app 1e to two 1stmct categories of persons and persons .;. dnoth" falling under cl. S could not be governed by cl. 2 and were not expected to satisfy the test prescribed by it. Under s. IS of the Payment of Wages Act; 1936, the Authority in exercising its jurisdiction, made exclusive by s. 22 of the Act, has necessarily to consider various questions incidental to the claims falling thereunder and, although it would be inexpe· dient to lay down any hard and fast rule for determining the scope of such questions, care should be taken not to unduly extend or curtail its jurisdiction. Whether a particular employee was an operative or one above the rank of an operative and below that of clerk aud, therefore within cl. S of the agreement, was a question intimately and integrally connected with wages as defined hy the Act and as such fell within the jurisdiction of the Authority under s. rs of the ·Act. There could, therefore, be no substance in the contention that an employee falling within the category of those others mentioned in the last part of cl. 5, to whom no designation was attached, could not apply under s. 15 of the Act. A. V. D'Costa v. B. C. Patel, [1955] I S.C.R. r3s3. referred to. ·' Anthony,Sabastin Almeda v.R. M. T. Taylor, (r9S6) 58 Born. L.R. 899, distinguished. CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 243of1959. · Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated April 24, 1958, of the Bombay High Court in Special Civil Application No. 874 of 1958. M. O. Setalvad, Attorney-General for India, G. P. Vyas and I. N. Shroff, for the appellant Vitkalbhai Patel, 8. 8. Bbulcla, 0. T. Daru and E. Udayarathnam, for the respondent No. I. 1960. December 12. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Gaje3 dragadAar J. GAJENDRAGAD.KAR, J.-The principal question which this appeal by special leave raises for our decision relates to the nature and extent of the jurisdiction conferred on the authority by s. 15 of the 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 223 Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (Act 4 of 1936) (hereafter 19~o called the Act). This question arises in this way. The Sh . A-;:- M.11 appellant Shri Amhica Mills Co. Ltd., is a textile mill "c:.. ~t~. ' ' working at Ahmedabad. Three of its employees named v. Punamchand, Shamaldas and Vishnuprasad made an Shri s. B. Bhtt application to the authority under s. 16 of the Act .s- Anothtr and prayed for an order against the appellant to pay . - them their delayed wages. In order to appreciate the Ga1endragadkar J. contentions raised by the appellant disputing the validity of the respondents' claim it is necessary to set out the background of the dispute in some detail. It appears that an award called the Standardisation Award which covered the mill industry in Ahmedabad was pronounced by the Industrial Tribunal on April 21, 1948, in Industrial Reference No. 18 of 1947. This award fixed the wages for different categories of workers working in the textile mills at Ahmedabad, but left over the question of clerks for future decision. Amongst the operatives whose wages were determined by the award the case of hand-folders was specifically argued before the Industrial Tribunal. The Labour Association urged that the rate of Rs. 36-9-0 awarded to them was too low and it was pointed out on their behalf that they did the same work as cut-lookers did in Bombay where a head cut-looker was given Rs. 52 -and a cut-looker Rs. 42-4-0. On the other hand the mill owners contended that the rate should have been fixed at Rs. 34-2-0 instead of Rs. 36-9-0. The Tribunal found it difficult to decide the point because enough evidence had not been produced before it to show the kind of work that hand-folders were doing at Ahmeda.bad; that is why the Tribunal was unable to raise the wage of hand-folders to that of cut-lookers in Bombay. However, it ma.de & significant direction in that behalf in these wonb: "At the same time", it was observed, "we desire to make it clear that if there are persons who a.re doing cut-looking as well as folding, they should be pa.id the rate earned by the cut-lookers in Bombay". This question has been considered by the Tribunal in paragraph 16 of its award. The question of clerks, the decision of which had been adjourned by the Tribunal was later considered 224 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1961) 1960 by it and an award pronounced in that behalf. Hows'., -b. M'I ever, the said award was later terminated by the clerks nrl nm "a •I 5 ' d h J d b co .. Ltd. m 1949, an t at e to an agreement etween the ~. Ahmedabad Mill Owners' Association and the Textile Shri s. B. Bhatt Labour Association in the matter of wages payable to b A•otMr clerks. This agreement was reached on June 22, 1949. - . Clauses 2 and 5 of this agreement are material for the Gaj..,dragaakar). f h' J L h ,. d h purpose o t 1s appea. et us t ereiore rea · t e two clauses: "2. That this agreement shall apply to all the Clerks employed in the local mills, i.e., persons doing clerical work, that is those who do routine work of writing, copying or making calculations and shall also include compounders and assistant compounders who are qualified and who are employed in the local mills. 5. A separea 1 'D ' d d h . f Co., Ltd. ennmg, "an not to exten to t e correction o v. errors of law; and several judges have said as much. So•i s. B." Bhatt But the Lord Chief Justice has, in the present case, &. Another restored certiorari to its tightful position and shown . d-dk 1 that it can be used to correct errors of law which apGa;e11 raga ar . pear on the face of the record even though they do not go to jurisdiction''. There is no doubt that it is only errors of law which are apparent on the face of the record that can be corrected, and errors of fact, though they may be apparent on the face of the record, cannot be corrected [Vide: Nagendra Nath Bora v. The Commissioner of Hills Division and Appeals, Assam(')]. It is unnecessary for us to consider in the present appeal whether or not a certiorari can issue to correct an error of fact on the ground that the impugned finding of fact is not supported by any legal evidence. Thus it would be seen that the true legal position in regard to the extent of the Court's jurisdiction to issue a writ; of certiorari can be stated without much difficulty. Difficulty, however, arises when it is attempted to lay clown tests for determining when an error of law can be said to be an error apparent on th~ face of the record. Sometimes it is said that it is only errors which are self-evident, that is to say, which are evident without any elaborate examination of the merits that can be corrected, and not those which can be discovered only after an elaborate argument. In a sense it would be correct to say that an error of law which can be corrected by a writ of certiorari must he self-evident; that is what is meant by saying it is an error apparent on the face of the record, and from that point of view, the test that the error should he self-evident and should not need an elaborate examination of the record may be satisfactory as a working test in a large majority of cases; but, as observed by Venkatarama Ayyar, J., in Hari Vishnu Kamath v. Syed Ahmad Ishaque, (') "there must be cases in whieh even this test might break down because judicial opinions also differ, and an error that may be considered by one (1) (195BJ s.c.R. 1240. (2) (1955] I S.C.R. 1104. 1123. 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 229 judge as self-evident might not be so considered by '960 another". Judicial experience, however, shows that Shri Ambica Mills though it cannot be easy to lay down an unfailing test co., Ltd. of general application it is usually not difficult to v. decide whether the impugned error of law is apparent Shri s. B. Bhatt on the face of the record or not. & Another What then is the error apparent on the face of ~he Gajend;;;;:,dkar J. record which the High Court has corrected by issumg a writ of certiorari in the present case? According to the High Court the construction placed by the a ppellate authority on els. 2 and 5 of the agreement is patently and manifestly erroneous. The appellate authority held on a construction of the said two clauses that cl. 2 was the determinative clause, and that unless an employee satisfied the fequirements of the said clause he could not claim the benefit of cl. 5. In deciding whether the High Court should have issued the writ or not it is necessary to examine the said two clauses. On looking at the two clauses it seems to us that the conclusion is inescapable that the error committed by the appellate authority is manifest and obvious. Clause 2 applies to clerks employed in the local mills, and as such it describes the nature of the work which is required to be done by persons falling under that clause. Clause 5, on the other hand, obviously provides for a separate scale for those employees who are not clerks nor operatives; these em. ployees occupied a position higher than that of an operative and below that. of a full.fledged clerk. Therefore there is no don ht that persons falling under cl. 5 cannot fall under cl. 2, and should not tlierefore be expected to satisfy the test prescribed by the said clause. A bare perusal of• the list of employees specified by designation as falling under cl. 5 will show that the application of the test which is relevant under cl. 2 would in their ca~e be wholly inappropriate and irrelevant. Therefore, in our opinion, the error committed by the appellate authority was. of such a manifest character that the High Court was justified in correcting the said error by the issue of a writ of certiorari. The question involved in the decision of the dispute .is not so much of construction of the document as of giving effect to the plain. terms of the 230 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1961] r960 document. If cl. 5 expressly provides for employees . not falling under cl. 2, and if that intention is clarified Shri Ambico Mills b h l' f d · · h' h f 11 d 1 d co., Ltd. y t e 1st o es1gnat10ns. w 1c a un er c . 5 an v. yet the appellate authority reads that clause as subShri s. B. Bhau ject to cl. 2, that must be regarded as an error patent & Another on the face of the record. It is not a case where two . - alternative conclusions are possible; it is a case of G•J••dragadkar J. plain misreading of the two provisions ignoring altogether the very object with which the two separate provisions were made. In our opinion, therefore, the contention raised by the learned Attorney-General that by issuing the writ the High Court has exceeded its jurisdiction is not well-founded. That takes us to the second, and in fact the principal, contention which has been seriously argued before us by the learned Attorney-General. He urged that the applications made by the respondents' Union on behalf of the three employees were incompetent under s. 15 of the Act and the authority exceeded its jurisdiction in entertaining them. It. is true that this point was not specifically urged before the authority, but it appears to have been argued before the appellate authority and the High Court, and it is this contention which raises the problem of construing s. 15 of the Act. The case for the appellant is that the jurisdiction conferred on the authority under s. 15 is a limited jurisdiction, and it would be unreasonable to extend it on any inferential ground or by implication. The scheme of the Act is clear. The Act was intended to regulate the payment of wages to certain classes of persons employed in industry, and its object is to provide for a speedy and effective remedy to the employees in respect of their claims arising out of illegal deductions or unjustified delay made in paying wages to them. With that object s. 2(vi) of the Act has defined wages. Section 4 fixes the :.vage period. Section 5 prescribes the time of payment of wages; and s. 7 allows certain specified deductions to be made. Section 15 confers jurisdiction on the authority appointed under the said section to hear and decide for any specified area claims arising out of deductions 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 231 from wages, or delay in payment of wages, of persons z960 employed or paid in that area. It is thus clear that h . A--:- . . h. h b . d b h S •• mb"a M•lls the only claims w JC can e entertame y t e c Lid authority are claims arising out of de~uc.tio?s .or delay •··•. · made in payment of wages. The Junsd1ct10n thus Shri s. B. Bhall conferred on the authority to deal with these two & Another categories of claims is exclusive; for s. 22 of the Act . ~ . h' h }' 'th' th • • d • t' Ga;endragadkar J provides that matters w 10 1e w1 m . e 1ur~s _1c 10n · of the authority are excluded from the JUnsdict10n of ordinary civil courts. Thus in one sense the jurisdiction conferred on the authority is limited by s. 15, and in another sense it is exclusive as prescribed by s. 22. · In dealing with claims arising out of deductions or delay made in payment of wages the authority inevitably would have to consider questions incidental to the said matters. In determining the scope of these incidental questions care must be taken to see that under the guise of deciding incidental matters the limited jurisdiction is not unreasonably or unduly extended. Care must also be taken to see that the scope of these incidental questions is not unduly limited so as to affect or impair the limited jurisdiction conferred on the authority. While considering the question as to what could be reasonably regarded as incidental questions let us revert to the definition of wages prescribed bys. 2(vi). Section 2(vi) as it then stood provided, inter alia, that 'wages' means all remuneration capable of being expressed in terms of money which would, if the terms of the contract of employment, express or implied, were fulfilled, be payable to a person employed in respect of his employment or of work done in such employment, and it includes any bonus or other additional remuneration of the nature aforesaid which would be so payable and any sum payable to such person by reason of the termination of his employment. It also provided that the word "wages" did not include five kinds of payments specified in clauses (a) to (e). Now, if a claim is marie by an employee on the ground of alleged illegal deduction or alleged delay in payment ·of wages several relevant facts would fall to be considered. Is the applicant an employee of the opponent?; 232 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1961) r960 and that refers to the subsistence of the relation bet- . -. . ween the employer and the employee. If the said 5h" ~mb~c~ M•lls fact is admitted, then the next question would be: 0··v. 1 • wha1; are the terms of employment? Is there any Shri s. B. Bhatt contract of employment in writing or is the contract & Anolhor oral? If that is not a point of dispute between the . - parties then it would be necessary to enquire what Ga;enaragadkar J ·are the terms of the admitted contract. In some cases a question may arise whether the contract which was subsisting at one time had ceased to subsist and the relationship of employer and employee had come to an end at the relevant period. In regard to an illegal deduction a question may arise whether the lock-out declared by the employer is legal or illegal. In regard to contracts of service some times parties may be at variance and may set up rival contracts, and in such a case it may be necessary to enquire which contract was in existence at the relevant time. Some of these questions have in fact been the subject.matter of judicial decisions. (Vide: A. R. Sarin v. B. C. Patil('), Vishwanath Tukaram v. The General Manager, Central Railway, V. T. Bombay('); and Maharaja Sri Umaid Mills, Ltd. v. Collector of Pali(')); but we do not propose to consider these possible questions in the present appeal, because, in our opinion, it would be inexpedient to lay down any hard and fast or general rule which would afford a determining test to demarcate the field of incidental facts which can be legitimately considered by the authority and those which cannot be so considered. We propose to confine our decision to the facts in the present case. What are the facts in the present case? The relationship of employer and employee is not in dispute. It is admitted that the three workmen are employed by the appellant, and do the work of bleach-folders. These folders are classified into Uttarnars and Chadhavnars. Indeed, the items of work assigned to these categories of folders are admitted. · The appellant contends that the employment of the three work- • men is governed by the Award which is in operation, (1) (t95I) 53 Bom. L.R. 674. (2) [1957) Bom.L.R. 89._ (3) [1¢o]ll t.L.J. 364. [ =i • ( 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 233 whereas the respondent Union _contends that they a.re 1960 governed by cl. 5 of the subsequent agreement. It is h .• ~ M" I d h b h h A rd d h S r> n"'bieo d S . common groun t at ot t e wa an t e agreeco Ltd ment are in operation in respect of the persons govern- ··•. · ed respectively by them, so that it is not disputed Shri s. B. Blatt by the appellant that the persons who are specified ©- llno111n by their designation under cl. 5 would be entitled to G . - the benefit of the said clause and would not be govern- •7•n4••g•4""' J. ed by the Award. If an employee is called a cut. looker by any mill he would naturally fall under cl. 5; in other words, all the specified categories of employees named by designation in that clause would not be governed by the Award though at one stage they were treated as operatives bilt they would be governed by cl. 5 of the agreement; and if a person bearing that designation applied under s. 15 of the Act his application would be competent. The appellant's argument, however, is that when the la.st part of cl. 5 refers to other employees "who have not been included above but who can properly fall under the above category" no designation is atta.ched to that class, and in such a case it would be necessary to enquire whether a particular employee can properly fall under the said category, and that, it is urged, means that such an employee cannot apply under s. 15 but must go to the industrial court under the ordinary industrial law. Thus the controversy between the parties lies within a very narrow compass. An employee designated as a cut-looker can apply. under s. 15 and obtain relief from the authority; an employee not so designated but falling under the said category by virtue of the work assigned to him, it is said, cannot apply under s. 15 because the authority cannot deal with the question as to whether the said employee properly fa.lie under the said category or not. In our opinion, on these· facts, the question as to whether a particular employee is an operative falling under the Awa.rd or one who is above an operative and below the olerk falling under cl. 5 is a question which is so intimately and integrally connected with the problem of wages as defined under s. 2(vi) that it would be unreasonable 30 234 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1961) 1960 to exclude the decision of such a question from the -- · jurisdiction of the authority under s. 15. If a contract Shri Ambica Mills f 1 t · d · t I d } · d' t c Ltd o . emp oymen is a nut e( an t 1ere 1s a 1spn e 0 "v. · about the construction of its terms, that obviously Shri s. B. Bhatt falls within s. 15 of the Act. If that is so, what is the & Another difference in principle where a contract is admitted, . - · its terms are not in dispute, and the only point in Ga;•ndragadkar J. dispute is which of the two subsisting contracts applies to the particular employee in question. If the appellant's argument were to prevail it would lead to this anomalous position that if a general contract of employment provides for payment of wages to different categories of employees and describes the said categories by reference to the duties descharged by them, none of the employees can ever avail himself of the speedy remedy provided by s. 15 of the Act. In such a case every time a dispute may arise about the duties assigned to a particular employee before his wages are determined. In our opinion, to place such an artificial limitation on the limits of the jurisdiction conferred on the authority by s.15 is wholly unreasonable. That· is the view taken by the High Court in the present case and we see no reason to differ from it. The question about the nature· and scope of the limited jurisdiction conferred on the authority under s. 15 has been considered by this Court in the case of A. V. D'Costa v. B. C. Patel('). In that case the scheme of the Act has been examined by Sinha, J., s,s he then was, who spoke for the majority view, and it has been held that "if an employee were to say that his wages were Rs. 100 per month which he actually received as and when they fell due but that he would be entitled to higher wages if his claims to be placed 011 the higher wages scheme had been recognised and given effect to,. that would not be a matter within the ambit of the authority's jurisdiction. The authority has the jurisdiction to decide what actually the terms of the contract between the parties were, that is to say, to determine the actual wages; but the authority has no jurisdiction to determine the question of potential wages". The Court took the Yiew that the employee's (1) [1955] I S.C.R 1353. 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 235 complaint in that case fell within the latter illustra- ~~ tion. It would thus be seen that according to this s hri Ambico Mw, decision the authority has jurisdiction to determine co. Lid. what the terms of contract between the parties are, v. and if the terms of the contract are admitted and the Shri s. B. BA011 only dispute is whether or not a ·particular employee & Anoth" falls within one category or another, that would be G,,j,nd,-;;-;,;dk•• J. incidental to the decision of the main question as to what the terms of the contract are, and that precisely is the nature of the dispute between the parties in the present case. The learned Attorney-General has relied very strongly on the decision of the Bombay High Court in Anthony Sabastin Almeda v. R. M. T. Taylor('). In that case the employer and the employee went before the Court on the basis of different contracts and the Court held that it was not within the jurisdiction of the· authority to decide which of the two contracts held the field, which of them was subsisting, and under which of them the employer was liable to pay wages. It would be clear from the facts ih t.hat case that two rival contracts were pleaded by the parties, according to whom only one contract was subsisting and not the other, and so the question for decision was which contract was really subsisting. We do not propose to ex press any opinion on the correctness of the view taken by the Bombay High Court on this question. All we are concerned to point out is that in the present appeal the dispute is substantially different. Both contracts admittedly are subsisting. The only point of dispute is: do the t.hree workmen fall within the category of cut-lookers or do they not? If they do then cl. 5 applies; if they do not the Award will come into operation. That being so, we do not see how the decision in Almeda's case(') can really assist the appellant. In this connection we may point out that it is com. mon ground that in Ahmedabad textile mills do not have a class of employees called cut-lookers as in Bombay. The work of cut.looking along with other kind of work is done by bleach-folders and other (I) (<956) Bom. L.R. 899. ..... 236 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1961] ,960 folders. That was the finding made by the authority on an earlier occasion when Punamchand and Vishnuc Sh•i Ambic• Mills prasad had moved the authority under s. 15 of the <;o.~-Lld. Act. The learned Attorney-General has strenuously Slri s. B. Bhatt contended that it is unfair to give the same pay to the b Anoth" three workmen who &re doing the work of cut.lookers . - only for a part of the time· and were substantially .