1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.2101 of 2009 The Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company Ltd. ..... Petitioner V/s. The State of Maharashtra and Ors. ..... Respondents WITH CIVIL APPLICATION NO.1535 OF 2010 The State of Maharashtra ..... Applicant V/s. Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. And Ors. ..... Respondents Mr.A.V.Bukhari a/w Mr.Amol B. Desai, for the petitioner. Smt.S.S.Bhende, AGP, for respondent No.1. Mr.S.M.Chinchwadkar, for respondent No.2. Mr.Kiran Kumar Phakde i/by Mr.S.S.Pakale, for respondent No.6. CORAM :P.B.MAJMUDAR & R.M.SAVANT, JJ. DATE : 29th June, 2010 P.C. 1. The petitioner was at the relevant time, engaged in the manufacture of Di-Methyl Terephalate (DMT), which was a raw material for manufacturing polyester films and fibres, etc. The petitioner came to be registered under Mathadi Act and the scheme, on the ground that the petitioner was manufacturing chemical products. For the work to be carried out at its factories, the petitioner has been allotted Mathadi workers by Toli Nos.6026, 6027, 6028, 6029, 6030 and 6039. The above 2 petition is restricted to the dispute as regards wages payable to Toli Nos. 6029 and 6030. 2. The petitioner by way of the above petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, takes exception to the order dated 25-12-2008, by which order the respondent No.2 Board, has revised the wages payable to the said Tolies from Rs.35 to 55.69. The said revision has been challenged inter alia on various grounds urged in the petition, the principal ground being that the procedure envisaged under Clause 33 of the Scheme has not been complied with and also on the ground that in view of the change in the product being manufactured now by the petitioner, the scheme is not applicable. In so far as the issue of applicability of the scheme is concerned, the said issue cannot be dealt with in view of the fact that certain factual aspects would therefore, have to be gone into and would have to be decided by the Advisory Committee, which is constituted by the State Government under the provisions of the Mathadi Act. The said Advisory Committee would submit its report to the State Government on the basis of which report, the State Government would take decision under Section 5 of the said Act. On behalf of the said State Government, Civil application has been filed, in which it has been stated that the Advisory Committee has been reconstituted by Notification dated 15-06-2010, so that the Advisory Committee could deliberate on the 3 said issue and submit its report to the State Government. In the light of the order that we are passing as regards the challenge of the petitioner to the revision of wages, we direct the State Government to take a decision as regards the applicability of the said Scheme to the petitioner within a period of two months from date and the parties be informed of the said decision. 3. In so far as the dispute regarding the revision of wages is concerned, we have heard the learned counsel for the parties at some length and after the said hearing, the learned counsel for the respective parties, are agreeable to the following course of action being followed in that respect. (i) The order dated 25-12-2008 is set aside and the matter is remanded back to the Board for de novo consideration of the issue as regards the revision of wages to Toli Nos.6029 and 6030. (ii) The petitioner herein would be entitled to produce such material as it deems fit, in support of its case. Likewise, the concerned respondents would also be at liberty to do so. (iii) Pending consideration of the issue by the Board and since the matter of fixing the interim wages that would be payable to the Toli Nos.6029 and 6030, has been left to us by the learned counsel for the parties, considering the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the 4 view that in the interregnum, the said Toli Nos.6029 and 6030 should be paid at Rs.45 per metric tone, pending such consideration. (iv) The Board to give an opportunity to all the parties and decide the said issue of the revision of wages within the outer limit of two months from 06-07-2010. (v) All the learned counsel agree that their respective clients would cooperate in the decision on the said issue and would not seek unnecessary adjournmenst. (vi) The parties to appear before the Board on 06-07-2010 at 12 noon. It is made clear that the issue will be heard by the one man Board and the said power would not be delegated in any manner to any other officer of the board. The time stipulation of two months would start from 06-07-2010 when the parties appear before the board for the first time. It is clarified that the interim arrangement of the said Toli Nos.6029 and 6030 to be paid at Rs.45 per metric tone, would be subject to the final order that may be passed by the board and the said amount would be adjusted against the amount that would be finally fixed by the board. The board would take a decision on its own, an uninfluenced by the fact that Rs.45 is ordered to be paid as an interim arrangement by this Court. 4. In the light of the above, the writ petition to stand disposed of. 5 5. In view of the disposal of the writ petition, the civil application does not survive and the same is accordingly disposed of. ( R.M.SAVANT, J. ) ( P.B.MAJMUDAR, J. )