1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION APPEAL NO.766 OF 2003 IN WRIT PETITION NO.1205 OF 2002 1.Bennett Colemn & Company Ltd. and another. ...Appellants vs. 1.Narayan Atmaram Sawant and others. ...Respondents --- Mr.Sudhir Talsania i/b. Kanga & Co., for Appellants. Mr.S.M.Dange with L.T.Satelkar, for Respondents. --- CORAM: D.K.DESHMUKH & A.A.SAYED, JJ. DATED: 17th January, 2009. P.C.:- 1. The controversy in this appeal is whether the respondents are obliged to sign the declaration, 2 a copy of which is at page 94, before they become entitled to receive benefits of the settlement. The Industrial Court and the learned Single Judge have held that it is not necessary for the original respondent nos. 1 to 10 to sign the declaration. According to the appellants, however, they cannot give benefit under the settlement unless they sign the declaration. The learned Counsel appearing for respondents states that respondent nos. 4 and 9 have died during the pendency of the appeal. The statement is accepted. The learned Counsel appearing for appellants states that in view of death of respondent nos. 4 and 9, their names be deleted from the appeal. It is accordingly so ordered. The learned Counsel appearing for respondents further states that though it was the case of the respondents that they are not obliged to sign the declaration, in view of the fact that all the respondents are now very old and they are also not in the employment of the appellants, they are willing to give declaration now because they have already received the benefits under the interim order of the Court. The learned Counsel appearing for appellants made it clear that 3 the appellants are not now interested in recovering what has already been paid. The statement is accepted. In view this statement, the respondents are directed to execute the declaration within a period of four weeks from today. The respondent nos. 1, 2, 3, 5 to 8 and 10 shall sign the declaration, a copy of which is at page 94 of the paper book, and deliver it in the office of the appellants. On delivery of this declaration, the appellants shall not be entitled to recover anything that has been paid to these respondents even due to the interim orders passed by the Court. In this view of the matter, therefore, the orders which are impugned in the appeal are set aside without examining it on merits. The appeal is disposed of. (D.K.DESHMUKH, J.) (A.A.SAYED,J.) ---