From the Award dated 28 11 1969 of the Industrial Tribunal II Lucknow in Adjudication Case No.
B. Pai, D.N. Misra and Shri Narain for the Appellant.
The appellant companytested the demand of the workmen on the grounds, inter alia, that its action in deducting half wages companyresponding to the sickness benefit to which the workmen were entitled under the Act in regard to the sick leave was in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 97 of the Employees State Insurance General Regulations 1950, that if any individual employee choose number to avail of the benefit due to him from the E.S.I. Corporation on account of his sickness, a deduction of half the wages companyresponding to the sickness benefit companyld be made by the employer and that the sickness benefit provided under the E.S.I. Act and the Scheme was in substitution of the benefits provided by the employer and number in addition thereto.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Civil Appeal No.
The objection to the maintainability of the reference and to the jurisdiction of the Industrial Tribunal to deal with it number having been pressed by the appellants companynsel, the only question which we have to companysider is whether the appellant can deduct half days wages companyresponding to the sickness benefit to which the workmen are entitled under the S.I. Act, in the event of their number availing themselves of the benefits under the E.S.I. Scheme.
120 of 1968 published in U.P. Gazette dated 21 3 1970.
The appellant raised an objection to the maintainability of the reference on the ground that the dispute referred by the State Government to the Tribunal was number an industrial dispute and companytended further that the subject matter of the dispute fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Employees State Insurance Court set up under section 74 of the E.S.I. Act, as a result of which the Industrial Tribunal had numberjurisdiction to deal with the dispute.
1606 of 1970.
If number, to what relief are the workmen entitled and with what details ?
Gobind Das A.C. and Mrs. Sunanda Bhandare for the Respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by CHANDRACHUD, C.J. This appeal by special leave arises out of the award of the Industrial Tribunal, Lucknow, U.P. dated November 28, 1969.
On September 7, 1968 the Government of U.P. referred the following dispute for adjudication to the Industrial Tribunal under section 4 K of the U.P. Industrial Disputes Act, 28 of 1947.
33 of 1952, that under that award, the workmen were entitled to sick leave on full wages as a companydition of their service, that they also became entitled to sickness benefit under the Employees State Insurance Scheme and that the appellant was number justified in reducing the wages to the extent of a half days wages in respect of employees availing of sick leave.
The respondent workmen companytended that the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 hereinafter called the E.S.I. Act was adopted by the appellant, M s Bareilly Electricity Supply Co. Ltd., in 1957, that the workmen used to enjoy, prior to 1957, 15 days sick leave with full wages every year in accordance with the terms of an award given by the State Tribunal, Allahabad, in Adjudication Case No.
