Judgment delivered by G. K. Mitter, J. (bench including Chief Justice S. M. Sikri, J. M. Shelat, I. D. Dua and, at the original five-judge hearing, S. C. Roy, J. who concurred), dismissing certified Civil Appeals Nos. 2136 and 2295 of 1966 arising from the common judgment of February 2, 1965 of the Bombay High Court, Nagpur Bench, concerning lay-off compensation claims of workmen of R. B. Bansilal Abirchand Mills, Hinganghat, after the fire of March 27, 1959 and the transfer of the mills to a company incorporated December 8, 1959. Held: (i) a Labour Court's jurisdiction under s. 33C(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act cannot be ousted by the employer's mere plea that there was closure and not lay-off; the Labour Court must itself decide whether there was really a closure or a lay-off, and if it finds a lay-off it acts within its jurisdiction in awarding compensation in terms of Chapter V-A; (ii) s. 33C(2) takes within its purview computation of benefits in terms of money even where the underlying right is disputed by the employer, enquiry into the right being incidental; (iii) lay-off compensation arises under the statute itself (s. 25C) and is capable of computation in money under s. 33C(2); an individual workman may proceed independently of co-workers, and the number of identical claims does not change the nature of the dispute so as to remove it from a Labour Court (s. 7; Second Schedule item 6) to an Industrial Tribunal (s. 10(1)(d); Third Schedule item 10: retrenchment of workmen and closure of establishment); (iv) mill Standing Orders 19 and 21 yield to Chapter V-A by virtue of s. 25-J. Central Bank of India Ltd. v. P. S. Rajagopalan followed; Mining Engineer v. Rameshwar, U.P. Electric Supply Co. v. R. K. Shukla, Ramkrishna Ramnath v. Presiding Officer, Nagpur and Sawatram Mills v. Baliram referred to and distinguished. The res judicata effect of the High Court's 1962 decision was left undetermined; points not canvassed before the High Court were not entertained. Appeals dismissed with costs, one set of hearing fee.
