Appeal No 254 of 1962
572 Appeal by special leave from the Award dated May 1 1961 of the Industrial Tribunal 111 UP at Allahabad in Reference No 69 of 1959
GS Pathak J B Dadachanji O C Mathur and Ravinder Narain for the appellants
B P Maheshwari for the respondents
1962 August 3 The Judgment of the court was delivered by MUDHOLKAR J
The only point for consideration in this appeal by special leave from an award of the Industrial Tribunal at Allahabad is whether the crushing season of 1958 59 must be deemed to have ended on March 12 1959 when the actual crushing of sugar cane stopped or on March 16 1959 when all ancillary operations in the factory came to an end and the entire machinery was at a standstill
According to the appellants the crushing season came to an end on the latter date while according to the respondents who are the employees of the factory it came to an end on the former date
The importance of determining the date on which the season terminated arises out of the admitted position that only those seasonal workers who are borne on the muster roll of the factory on the day next to the date on which the crushing season ended would be entitled to three days  clos ure holidays
It is the case of the respondents that the appellants employ about 1600 seasonal workers and about 650 permanent workers
It is common ground that the crushing process terminated on March 12 1959 and on that day about 1000 of the 1600 seasonal workers left for their homes by the evening after receiving all their dues
The remaining seasonal workers continued to work in the factory till March 16 1959 and therefore under 573 a term of an award of the Industrial Tribunal in reference No 33 of 53 and dated April 15 1953 they are entitled to three days  closure holidays
The case of the appellants however is that the crushing season must be regarded as having ended on March 16 1959 which was the last day on which the factory was worked and that only those seasonal workers who were borne on the muster roll of the factory on March 17 1959 would be entitled to three days  closure holidays
The 600 seasonal workers who worked till the evening of March 16 1959 would therefore according to them not be entitled to closure holidays
During arguments Mr Pathak also suggested that the fact that between March 12 and March 161959 600 seasonal workers continued to work in the factory has not been established in this case
Taking up the last point it is sufficient to point out that the evidence of W W 1 B section Chauhan who is a member of the executive of the U P Trade Union Congress Kanpur shows that the seasonal workers other than those who left on the evening of March 12 1959 were borne on the muster roll of the appellants on March 13 1959
His evidence on the point has not been challenged in the cross examination
Nor have the appellants examined any witness for the purpose of showing how many seasonal workers were borne on the muster roll on March 13 1959
The only witness examined by them Shri K K Sinha who is working as Manufacturing Chemist has no knowledge about the matter because as admitted by him in his cross examination he was not working in the mills in the 1958 59 crushing season
Since the total number of seasonal workers was 1600 and nearly a thousand had left on March 12 1959 the number of those who continued to work till March 16 1959 must be six hundred
We must therefore
proceed on the basis that the names of about 600 574 seasonal workers continued to be borne on the muster roll of the appellants on March 13 1959
What has to be considered then is what was the date on which the crushing season of 1958 59 ended
It seems to us clear that the crushing season must be deemed  to have ended on the date on which the crushing operations in the factory came to an end and not on the date on which the manu facturing processes in the factory came to an end
We must give to the expression crushing season its ordinary meaning unless it is shown that in
the industry it has acquired some other meaning There was no evidence before the Tribunal to the effect that crushing season meant the period during which the factory was actually working and not merely the period during which the crushing operations were being carried on
Clause 3 of the Award of 1953 runs as followsAll permanent workers and such seasonal employees as are on the factory s roll on the day following the close of the crushing season will be entitled to the clos ure holidays
 There is nothing in the Award to indicate that according to the Tribunal crushing season meant anything else than the period during which Crushing operations were carried on
Since as already pointed out the operations came to an end on March 121959 the crushing season must be held to have ended on that day
Those seasonal workers who were borne on the muster roll on March 13 1959 would be entitled to three days closure holidays
Agreeing with the Tribunal we therefore uphold the Award and dismiss the appeal with costs
Appeal dismissed


Summary:
The appellants employed about 1600 seasonal workers and about 650 permanent workers
The cane crushing process terminated on March 12 1959 and on that day about 1000 of the 1600 seasonal workers left for their homes by the evening after receiving their dues
The remaining seasonal workers continued to work in the factory till March 16 1959
Under the term of a previous award they were entitled to three days  closure holidays
According to the Appellant the crushing season must be regarded as having ended on  March 16 1959 which was the last day on which the factory was worked and that only those seasonal workers who were borne on the muster roll of the factory on March 17 1959 would be entitled to three days  closure holidays
The point for consideration was whether the Crushing season of 1958 59 must be deemed to have ended on March 12 1959 when the actual crushing of sugar cane stopped or on March 16 1959
when all ancillary operations in the factory came to an end and the entire machinery was at a stand still
Held that the expression Crushing Season must be given its ordinary meaning unless it is shown that in the industry in question it has acquired some other meaning
There was no evidence before the tribunal to the effect that crushing season meant the period during which the factory was actually working and not merely the period during which the crushing operations were being carried on
Since the operations came to an end on March 12 1959 the crushing must be held to have ended on that day and therefore the seasonal workers borne on the muster roll on March 13 1959 were entitled to three days  closure holidays