4.The payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, is a beneficial legislation to protect the interest of employees engaged in factories, mines, oil-fields, plantations, ports, railway companies, shops or other establishments and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It is a special enactment and a social welfare legislation to prevent unfair labour practice. Always the Courts while interpreting social welfare legislation, a beneficent construction is given on the relevant provisions which furthers the purpose for which such legislation was enacted. It is settled law that the special law overrides the general law when a specific provision is available under the special law and this principle finds its origin in the latin maxim “Generalia Specialibus Non Derogant”, which means general law yields to special law, should they operate in the same field on the same subject. In the instant case, Section 7(7) of the Act specifically stipulates that an appeal will have to be filed as against an order passed under Section 7(4) of the Act within 60 days from the date of receipt of the order. Under the first proviso to Section 7(7) of the Act, the appropriate Government or the Appellate Authority, as the case may be, may if it is satisfied that the Appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from preferring the appeal within the said period of sixty days, extend the said period by a further period of 60 days. Therefore, https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/hcservices/ the maximum period available to challenge an order passed by the Assistant Commissioner of Labour (Gratuity), under Section 7(4) of the Act is 120 days from the date of receipt of the order.
