# SUPPLY CO. LTD v. ITS WORKMEN - **Citation:** [1960] 3 S.C.R. 68 - **Court:** Supreme Court of India - **Decided:** 1960 - **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 23 of 1958 - **Bench:** P. B. Gajendragadkar, K. Subba Rao, K. c. DAS GUPTA - **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/supply-co-ltd-v-its-workmen-1890 - **Pages:** 18 ## Headnote Industrial Dispute-Bonus~Full Bench formula-If applicable to workmen in electricity undcrtaking--Elcctric Supply Act. r948 (54 of r948). s. 57. Sixth Schedule, para, r7(2)(b)(xi). Can the Full Bench •formula for calculation of bonus apply to a claim of bonus made by \.vorkmen engaged in electricity concerns and undertakings? That ¥.'as the question raised for decision in this appeal. A Special Bench of the Labour Appellate Tribunal held in the affirmative and the correctness of its decision was challenged in this appeal. It was contended on behalf of the appellant company that the Electricity Supply Act, 1948 (54 of 1948) was a self-contained code intended to regulate the business and affairs of electricity concerns and that Act and not the formula applied to a claim of bonus by the workmen in an electricity concern. (r) (1933] I J.T.R, 197, 20I, .. . ' ... -- I 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 69 Held, that the Special Bench had taken a correct view of the matter and its decision must be upheld. It is evident from the provisions of the Electricity Supply Act, 1948, and its schedules that the respective fields of operation of the Act and of the principles of industrial adjudication are • wholly different, and so there can be no conflict between them and their relevance and validity in their own spheres are beyond question. _., While the Full Bench formula seeks to ensure social justice to workmen by apportioning a share of the profits to them and thus minimise the gap between the actual and the living wages, the Act does not provide for wages at all. But it is improper to suggest on that basis that the workmen in electricty undertakings can be denied social justice. Just as the relevant industrial principles have to be applied for framing a wage structure for such workmen so also must the problem of bonus be solved in a like manner. The working-sheet prepared under the method of accounting required by the Act can be no basis for calculation of the amount of bonus since it is not possible to ascertain the gross profit therefrom and the Full Bench Formula has to be applied on the basis of the profit and loss account which a company has to keep under the Companies Act. Baroda Borough Municipality v. Its Workmen. [1957] S.C.R. 33, referred to. Moreover, the intention of the Legislature in enacting cl. (vi) of paragraph 17(2)(b) of Sixth Schedule to the Act clearly 'was to 1' include a claim of bonus is within the expenses covered by it and it was to set at rest any possible doubt on that score that cl. (xiii) was added by a subsequent amendment. . CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 23 of 1958. Appeal by special leave from the decision dated September 29, 1956, of the Labour Appellate Tribunal, Bombay, in Appeal (Mad.) No. 96 of 1956, arising m;it of the Award dated April 9, 1956, of the Industrial Tribunal, Madras, in I.D. No. 52of1954. A. V. Viswanatha Sastri, and Naunit Lal, for the appellants. T. S. Venkataraman and M. K. Ramamurthi, for the respondents. 1960. February, 22. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by T. T. E. Supply Co. Ltd. v. Its Workmen GAJENDRAGADKAR, J.-The appellant, the Tinne- GaJendragadkar j. velli-Tuticorin Electric Supply Co., Ltd., Tuticorin, is an electric supply undertaking, and it carries on its business as a licensee under the State Government of 70 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1960) Madras subject to the provisions oft.he Indian Electrir- city Act, 1910 (Act 9 of 1910) and the Electric Supply T. T. E. supply Act, 1948 (Act 54 of 1948). This latter Act will Co. Ltd. hereinafter be called the Act;. The business of the v. Its workmen appellant consists of buying electric supply from the State Hydro-electric Projects and of supplying the Gajendragadkor J. same to consumers within the areas specified in its licence; this area is in and around Tinnevelli and ... Tuticorin Municipalities. The appellant's workmen (hereinafter called the respondents) made several demands in respect of their terms of ## Text _Characters 0–39,874 of 40,891. This is a partial read: ask again with offset=39874 for what follows._ 68 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1960] one of the objects of the appellant bank is to carry on the general business of banking and therefore subject Bihar State h C · S · t' A t 't h t C P t . B k to t e o-operat1ve ome ies c , I as o carry on o-o era ive an • • b k Lrd. its business in the manner that ordmary an s do. v. It may be added that the various heads under s. 6 of Commissioner of the Income Tax Act and the provisions of that Act Income Tax applicable to these various heads are mutually excluKapur]. z960 February 22 sive. Section 12 is a residuary section and does not come into operation until the preceding heads are excluded. Commissioner of Income-tax v. Basant Rai Tak hat Singh (1 ). In our opinion, the High Court was in error in treating interest derived from deposits as not arising from the business of the Bank and therefore not falling within the income exempted under the Notification. The appeal must therefore be allowed and the judgment and order of the High Court set aside. The appellant will have its costs in this Court and in the Court below. Appeal allowed. THE TINNEVELLY-TUTICORIN ELECTltIC SUPPLY CO. LTD., v. ITS WORKMEN (P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, K. SUBBA RAO AND K. c. DAS GUPTA, JJ.) Industrial Dispute-Bonus~Full Bench formula-If applicable to workmen in electricity undcrtaking--Elcctric Supply Act. r948 (54 of r948). s. 57. Sixth Schedule, para, r7(2)(b)(xi). Can the Full Bench •formula for calculation of bonus apply to a claim of bonus made by \.vorkmen engaged in electricity concerns and undertakings? That ¥.'as the question raised for decision in this appeal. A Special Bench of the Labour Appellate Tribunal held in the affirmative and the correctness of its decision was challenged in this appeal. It was contended on behalf of the appellant company that the Electricity Supply Act, 1948 (54 of 1948) was a self-contained code intended to regulate the business and affairs of electricity concerns and that Act and not the formula applied to a claim of bonus by the workmen in an electricity concern. (r) (1933] I J.T.R, 197, 20I, .. . ' ... -- I 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 69 Held, that the Special Bench had taken a correct view of the matter and its decision must be upheld. It is evident from the provisions of the Electricity Supply Act, 1948, and its schedules that the respective fields of operation of the Act and of the principles of industrial adjudication are • wholly different, and so there can be no conflict between them and their relevance and validity in their own spheres are beyond question. _., While the Full Bench formula seeks to ensure social justice to workmen by apportioning a share of the profits to them and thus minimise the gap between the actual and the living wages, the Act does not provide for wages at all. But it is improper to suggest on that basis that the workmen in electricty undertakings can be denied social justice. Just as the relevant industrial principles have to be applied for framing a wage structure for such workmen so also must the problem of bonus be solved in a like manner. The working-sheet prepared under the method of accounting required by the Act can be no basis for calculation of the amount of bonus since it is not possible to ascertain the gross profit therefrom and the Full Bench Formula has to be applied on the basis of the profit and loss account which a company has to keep under the Companies Act. Baroda Borough Municipality v. Its Workmen. [1957] S.C.R. 33, referred to. Moreover, the intention of the Legislature in enacting cl. (vi) of paragraph 17(2)(b) of Sixth Schedule to the Act clearly 'was to 1' include a claim of bonus is within the expenses covered by it and it was to set at rest any possible doubt on that score that cl. (xiii) was added by a subsequent amendment. . CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 23 of 1958. Appeal by special leave from the decision dated September 29, 1956, of the Labour Appellate Tribunal, Bombay, in Appeal (Mad.) No. 96 of 1956, arising m;it of the Award dated April 9, 1956, of the Industrial Tribunal, Madras, in I.D. No. 52of1954. A. V. Viswanatha Sastri, and Naunit Lal, for the appellants. T. S. Venkataraman and M. K. Ramamurthi, for the respondents. 1960. February, 22. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by T. T. E. Supply Co. Ltd. v. Its Workmen GAJENDRAGADKAR, J.-The appellant, the Tinne- GaJendragadkar j. velli-Tuticorin Electric Supply Co., Ltd., Tuticorin, is an electric supply undertaking, and it carries on its business as a licensee under the State Government of 70 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1960) Madras subject to the provisions oft.he Indian Electrir- city Act, 1910 (Act 9 of 1910) and the Electric Supply T. T. E. supply Act, 1948 (Act 54 of 1948). This latter Act will Co. Ltd. hereinafter be called the Act;. The business of the v. Its workmen appellant consists of buying electric supply from the State Hydro-electric Projects and of supplying the Gajendragadkor J. same to consumers within the areas specified in its licence; this area is in and around Tinnevelli and ... Tuticorin Municipalities. The appellant's workmen (hereinafter called the respondents) made several demands in respect of their terms of employment. These demands gave rise to an industrial dispute which was referred by the Madras Government to the Industrial Tribunal at Madurai for adjudication under s. lO(l)(c) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (XIV of " 1947). Amongst the items thus referred for adjudication was included the respondents' claim for additional bonus for the year 1952-53. Without prejudice to its contention that the appellant was not liable to pay bonus it had in fact voluntarily paid two months' basic wages by way of bonus to the respondents. The respondents, however, claimed additibnal bonus and this claim was one of the items of dispute referred to ,. the tribunal for its adjudication. Before the industrial tribunal the appellant contended that since it was working as a licensee under the Act no claim for bonus was admissible outside the provisions of the Act. Jn support of this plea the appellant relied on the scheme of the Act which restricted the profit-making of the electricity concerns to a prescribed limit with a possibility of a surplus only in cases of overcharging provided for in the rules. The appellant's case was that, having regard to the scheme, object and the background of the Act under which the appellant was carrying on its business, the respondent's claim for additional bonus was wholly misconceived. No claim for bonus can be entertained, it was urged on behalf of the appellant, without reference to the provisions of the Act which governs the business 0£ the appellant. · The tribunal, however, rejected the appellant's contentions and held that the appellant was liable to pay two months' basic wages as additional bonus to - 3 S.C.R. SUPRE~IE COURT REPORTS 71 i· the respondents. This award was passed on· March 4, 1955. . T. T. E. Supply Against this award the appellant preferred an co. Ltd. appeal, No. 56 of 1955, to the Labour Appellate v. Tribunal, and contended that no additional bonus Its Workmen should have been awarded in the absence of proof of . d--d' 1 bl ,, . Ga;en raaa ,.ay ]. an excess of "c ear profi.ts over reasona e return ; 1t " was the appellant's case thaj; it was only from excess of clear profits over reasonable return as defined by the Act that bonus can be legitimately awarded to on the merits, and it was urged that the directi<:m to pay an additional bonus of two months' basic wages was improper and unjustified. The appellate tribunal negatived most of the contentions raised by the appellant, but it was satisfied that the calculation made by the tribunal in regard to the quantum of ¥ a vai!a ble surplus was erroneous, and so, after rectifying the said error, it· held that the additional bonus which the appellant should pay to the respondents was one month's basic wage. It is against this decision of the appellate tribunal that the present appeal by special leave has been filed by the appellant before this Court. The main question which the appeal raises for our decision is whether the fuller bench of ~ the Labour Appellate Tribunal was justified in holding that the Full Bench formula can and should be applied in adjudicating upon the respondents' claim for bonus against the appellant. Incidentally, we may point out that the fuller bench of the Labour Appellate Tribunal in the case of U. P. Electricity Supply Go. Ltd. & Ors. v. Their Workmen(') has decided two questions of law. The '" first was in regard to the applicability of the Full Bench formula to the employees' claim for bonus against their employers carrying on the business of the supply of electricity, and the second was in regard to the extent of the statutory depreciation allowed by the Full Bench formula. The question was whether it should not include initial depreciation and additional depreciation which are given for the purpose '- of allowing relief in the matter of taxation under s. 10(2) (vi-b) of the Income-tax Act. The fuller bench had decided that in allowing a prior charge in the (1) (1955) L.A.C. 659. - - -+ ' 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 73 working of the formula it is only the normal incomez96o tax depreciation (including multiple shift dapreciation) that should be allowed. The correctness of this latter T. T. E. supply Co. Ltd. decision was challenged before this Court in Sree v. Meenakshi Mills Ltd. v. Their Workmen (1) but the Its Workm1n challenge failed and the decision of the fuller bench - was confirmed. In the present appeal it is the Gajendragadkar f. correctness of the fuller bench decision on the first question which is challenged before us. Let us being by stating briefly the appellant's contention. It is urged on behalf of the appellant that it is only where the "clear profits" are in excess of the " reasonable return " under the Act that a case for the payment of bonus can really arise in regard to the electricity concerns and undertakings. The Act is a self-contained code intended to regulate the business and affairs of electricity concerns including the claim of their employees for bonus, and as such an industrial dispute between such concerns and their employees in regard to bonus must be determined solely by reference to the provisions of the Act and and not by the application of the Full Bench formula. As to the quantum of bonus which should be awarded it would depend upon the circumstances in each case; but it is urged that it may as an ad hoc measure be decided that I/4th of the excess between clear profits and the reasonable return may be taken as a fair quantum of bonus which electricity concerns should be ordered to pay to their employees. Before dealing with the validity of this argument it is necessary to examine the scheme of the Act. Let us first consider some of the provisions in the Indian Electricity Act 9 of 1910 which may be relevant. Section 3(2)(d)(i) provides that the State Government may, on an application made in the prescribed form, and on payment of the prescribed fee (if any), grant, after consulting the State Electricity Board, a licence to any person, and that the said licence may prescribe such terms as to the limits within which, and conditions under which, the supply of energy is to be compulsory or permissive, and generally as to such matters as the State Govern- <1> (1958] S. C.R. 878. IO 74 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1960] z96o ment may think fit. Section 3(f) provides that the T. T. E. Supply provisions.contained in the Schedule shall be deemed co. Ltd. to be incorporated with, and to form part of, every v. licence granted under this Part, except as in the Its Workmen manner therein described. Section 4(l)(b) empowers the State Government inter alia to revoke the licence Gajend.agadkar J. where the licensee breaks any of the terms or the conditions of his licence the breach of which is expressly declared by such licence to render it liable to revocation. Section 7(1) provides to the authorities specified in it option to purchase the undertaking. Section II requires the licensee to prepare and render to the State Government or to such authority as the State Government may appoint in that behalf, on or before the prescribed date in each year an annual statement of account of his undertaking made up to such date, in such form and containing such particulars, as may be prescribed in that behalf. Section 22 imposes on the licensee obligation to supply energy subject to the conditions prescribed ; and s. 23 provides that a licensee shall not, in making any agreement for the supply of energy, show undue preference to any person. The licensee_ cannot also charge for such supply any rates higher than those permitted. The appropriate Government is authorised to fix the maximum charges, and by appropriate rules both the maximam and minimum charges have been prescribed. These are the relevant provisions of Act 9 of 1910. Let us now refer to some of the relevant provisions of the Act. Section 57 provides the licensee's charges to consumers. According to it the provisions of the Sixth Schedule and the Seventh Schedule shall be deemed to be incorporated in the licence of every licensee, not being a local authority, in the manner specified by it. This section further provides inter alia that as from the specified date the licensee shall comply with the provisions of the said Schedules and not provisions of Act 9 of 1910, and the licence granted to him thereunder and of any other law, agreement or instrument applicable to the licensee shall, in relation to the licence, be void and of no effect in so far as they are inconsistent with the - r - 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 75 provisions of s. 57 A and the said Sched1lles. Section x960 57 deals with the licensee's charges to the consumers and lays down provisions which shall have effect in T. T. E. Supply relation to the licence where the provisions of the Co. Ltd. v. Sixth Schedule and the table appended to the Seventh Its Workmen Schedule are under sub-s. (1) deemed to be incorporated in the said licence. These provisions relate to the Gajendragadkar J. appointment of the Board and the rating committee. Section 57 A prescribes the principles and the procedure which hQ.s to be followed by the rating committee in making its report to the State Government regarding the charges for electricity which the licensee may make to any class or classes of consumers.. This provision gives us an idea as to the object which the Legislature had in mind in ultimately fixing the minimum and maximum rates chargeable to the consumers. Sections 78 and 79 provide for power to make rules and regulations. Nine Schedules are attached to the Act. Schedule Six deals with the financial principles and their application; Schedule Seven deals with the depreciation of assets ; Schedule Eight provides for the determination of cost of production of electricity at generating stations ; and Schedule Nine prescribes the method for allocation of costs of production at generating stations. It is necessary at this stage to refer briefly to some of the provisions contained in the Sixth Schedule, because Mr. Viswanatha Sastri, for the appellant, has relied on the scheme of the said Schedule in support of his principal argument. These provisions prescribe the financial principles which have to be followed by the electricity concerns and undertakings covered by the Act. It is urged by the appellant that these principles along with the rest of the Schedules and the provisions of the Act constitute a self-contained code which govern the business and the financial affairs of electricity concerns, and as such even the claim of the appellant's employees for bonus must be dealt with in the light of these provisions. Paragraph 1 of Sixth Schedule provides :-' "I. Notwithstanding anything contained in the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 (9 of 1910) (except sub-s. (2) of s. 22A), and the provisions in the 76 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1960] x960 licence of a licensee, the licensee shall so adjust his rates for the sale of electricity whether by enhancT. T. E. supply ing or reducing them that his clear profits in any Co. Ltd .. v. year of account shall not, as far as possible, exceed Its Workmen the amount of reasonable return;". - This provision is made subject to four provisos Gajendrogadfar J. -which it is unnecessary to mention. Paragraph 2 reads thus:- "II. (1) If the clear profit of a licensee in any year of account is in excess of the amount of reasonable return, one-third of such excess, not exceeding five per cent. of the amount of reasonable return, shall be at the disposal of the undertaking. Of .the balance of the excess, one-half shall be appropriated to a reserve which shall be called the Tariffs and Dividends Control Reserve and the remaining half shall either be distributed in the form of a proportional rebate on the amounts collected from the sale of electricity and meter rentals or carried forward in the accounts of the licensee for distribution to the consumers in future, in such manner as the State Government may direct. (2) The Tariffs and Dividend Control Reserve shall be available for disposal by the licensee only to the extent by which the clear profit is less than the reasonable return in any year of account. (3) On the purchase of the undertaking under the terms of its licence any balance remaining in the Tariffs and Dividends Control Reserve shall be handed over to the purchaser and maintained as such Tariffs and Dividends Control Reserve." Paragraph 3 provides for the creation from existing reserve or from the revenue of the undertaking a reserve to be called Contingencies Reserve. Paragraph 4 prespribes the manner in which the licensee shall appropriate to Contingencies Reserve from the revenues of each year of account. Paragraph 6 directs that there shall be allowed in each year in respect of depreciation of fixed assets employed in the business of electricity supply such an amount as would if set aside annually throughout the prescribed period and accumulated at compound interest at 4 per - •' -3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 77 cent. per annum, produce by the end of the prescribed rg6o period amount equal to 90 per cent. of the original cost of the asset after taking into account the sums T. T. E. supply already written off or set aside in the books of the Co. Ltd. v. undertaking; annual interest on the accumulated Its Workmen balance will be allowed as expense from revenue as well as the annual incremental deposit. Paragraph 7 Gajendragadkar J. deals with assets which have ceased to be avilable for u~e through obsolescence, inadequacy, superfluity or for any other reason, and it allows the licensee to describe the said assets as no longer in use, and no further depreciation in respect thereof shall be allowed as a charge against the revenue. Paragraph 8 prohibits any further depreciation where an asset has been written down in the books of the undertaking to 10 per cent. or less of its original cost. Under paragraph 9, where a fixed asset is sold for a price exceeding its written down cost, the excess has to be credited to the Contingencies Reserve. Paragraph 10 requires the consent of the State Government to carry sums to a reserve or to declare a dividend in excess of 3 per cent. on share capital or other matters specified there· in. Paragraph 13 imposes limitations in respect of ordinary remunerations of managing agents; whereas paragraph 14 provides that the Board of Directors shall not contain more than 10 directors ; and paragraph 15 prescribes the way in which the licensee can make any capital expenditure which exceeds Rs. 25,000 or 2 per cent. of the capital ·base within three years before the next option of purchase under the licence arises. Paragraph 16 contains an arbitration clause . . Paragraph 17 gives definitions for the purpose of this Schedule. Capital base is defined by paragraph 17(1); clear profit is defined by paragraph 17(2) as meaning the difference between the amount of income and the sum of expenditure plus specific appropriations made up in each case as prescribed in several sub-clauses of clauses (a}, (b) and (c). It is necessary to refer to two sub-clauses under clause (b) :- "(xi) other expenses admissible under the law for the time being in force in the assessment of, Indian Income-tax and arising from and ancillary or incidental to the business of electricity supply; :c960 T. T. E. Supply Co. Ltd. v. Its Workmen Gajendragadkar ]. 78 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1960] (xii) contributions to Provident Fund, staff pension, gratuity and apprentice and other training schemes." Paragraph 17(9) defines a reasonable return as meaning:- " in respect of any year of account, the sum of the following : (a) the amount found by applying the standard rate to the capital base at the end of that year; (b) the income derived from invesments than those made under paragraph IV of this Schedule; (c) an amount equal to one half of one per centum on any loans advanced by the Board under subparagraph (2) of paragraph I of the First Schedule." One of the points which we have to decide in the present appeal is whether an amount of bonus paid by the employer to his employees is included under paragraph 17 (2) (b)(xi) of the Sixth Schdule. It would thus be clear that the provisions of the Act in general and those of the Sixth Schedule in particular, are no doubt intended to control and regulate the rates chargeable to consumers and to provide the method and the machinery by which the electrical system of the country could be properly co-ordinated and integrated. The rates chargeable are fixed, so is a reasonable return provided for. But it is not as if the Act intends to guarantee a minimum return to the undertaking. \Vhat it purports to do is to prohibit a return higher than the one specified. Appropriations permissible under revenue receipts are also defined and enumerated and a clear profit as contemplated by the Act is also prescribed and defined. Large powers have. been given to the Electricity Authority, Boards and Councils for the purpose of canalising the activities of the concerns as well as for adjusting their activities for changing conditions and circumstances. Just as the Act has made provision for the control of rates chargeable to consumers its policy also is to give a fair deal to the undertaking and persons engaged in the business of supplying electricity. It is with this twin object that a working-sheet is required to be prepared under the provisions of the Act. It is, however, clear that the working-sheet thus prescribed is essentially - • - 3 S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS 79 different from the balance-sheet and profit and loss x960 account which companies keep under the provisions of the Companies Act. The determination of clear profits T. T. E. Supply on the basis of the working-sheet '.proceeds on the Co. Ltd. v. consideration of previous losses, contributions towards Its workmen the arrears of depreciation and several appropriations authorised by the ~tate Government, matters which Gajendragadkar J. have no relevance to commercial accounting. The principles of commercial accounting on which the balance-sheets are prepared and profit and loss account made are very different from_ the principles on which the working-sheet as specified in the Act is required to be prepared. The question which arises for our decision is whether the appellant is right in contending that the present dispute arising from the respondents' claim for bonus must be decided by the provisions of the Act alone and that the Full Bench formula is wholly inapplicable for the purpose. In dealing with this contention it is necessary to bear in mind that the fields covered by the Full Bench formula and by the provisions of the Act are entirely different. , The Full Bench formula has been evolved by industrial adjudication for the purpose of doing social justice to workmen and it is now well-established that the workmen's claim for bonus is justified on the ground that they contribute to the employer's profit and are entitled to claim a share in the . said profit with a view to fill the gap between their actual wages and the living wage which they aspire to earn. On the other hand, the Act does not purport to deal with this problem at all. It is significant that though . the Act makes detailed provisions in respect of matters intended to be covered by it, it does not refer to the wages which the employer may h~ve to pay to his employees. Can it be said that in fixing the wagestructure as between an electricity undertaking and its employees considerations of social justice would be irrelevant? In fixing such wage-structure none of the provisions of the Act can afford the slightest assistance to industrial tribunals. That task must be attempted by the tribunals in the light of principles of social justice and other relevant considerations such as the capacity of the employer to pay and the wages 80 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1960] x96o received by employees in comparable trades in the same region. Just as the problem of wage-structure T. T. E. Supply co. Ltd. has to be solved in the case of electricity concerns v. apart from the provisions of the Act and in the light of Its Workmen the relevant industrial principles, so must the problem of bonus be resolved in the like manner. There is Gajendragadkar J. really no conflict beween the Act and the principles of industrial adjudication. In fact they cover different fields and their relevance and validity is beyond question in their respective fields. As we have just indicated the method of accounting required by the Act in preparing the working-sheet is substantially different from the commercial method of accounting which yields the gross profits in the form of profit and loss account. Determination of gross profit is the first step which industrial tribunals take , in applying the Full Bench formula. Such gross profit cannot be ascertained from the working-sheet prepared under the Act. It is not denied that the appellant has to keep accounts under the Companies Act on a commercial basis. That being so, in dealing with the respondents' claim for bonus, it is the balance-sheet and the profit and loss account prepared by the appellant thl