Case: Alembic Glass Industries Ltd. Baroda &amp; Others Vs. The Workmen &amp; Others

when he is certified by a competent medical officer to be ill for that or a longer period. Sickness is a serious misfortune to a workman for it not only prevents him from earning his normal wages, but is a drain on his meagre financial resources by way of additional expenditure on food , nursing and visits to the medical centre etc. It has not been disputed before us that the "region-cure-industry" basis is suitable in cases like the present for examining any controversy regarding the workmans demand for additional benefits, but it has been argued by the learned counsel for the appellants that the award of the benefit of sick leave to the workers of the two Companies could not be justified on that basis. We find that the Tribunal has examined this aspect of the controversy also, and we have no reason to disagree with the view which it has taken. As has been stated, the Act came into force in the region concerned on December 14, 1969, and it has not been disputed before us that till then it was the practice in the glass industries to grant sick leave with wages for periods varying from 6 to 10 days. In fact in the case of the Alembic Glass Industries Ltd., Baroda, the Tribunal made an award for 7 days sick leave on full pay and dearness allowance in 1958, subject to the condition that the benefit would cease to apply when the benefits of the Act became available to the workmen. The benefit of sick leave was therefore lost when the Act was made applicable to the region from December 14, 1969. That was obviously under a mistaken impression of the sickness benefit which the Act allowed for, as has been shown, it does not deal with all aspects of the demand for sickness benefit and does not, at any rate, provide for the grant of leave on full emoluments during the period of the workmans physical incapacity to earn his normal wages because of his sickness. It therefore appears that the Tribunal could not be said to have erred in restoring the benefit which the workmen were receiving under the award of 1958, for it was taken away under the mistaken impression that it had been adequately replaced by the new provisions on the coming into force of the Act.The appellants have filed a statement (Ex. 7) containing information regarding the companies which have provided the benefit of sick leave to its workmen in the region. It shows that even though the Act was applicable to the workers of the Precision Bearings India Ltd., Baroda, Hindustan Brown Bovari Ltd., Baroda, the Associated Cement Companies Ltd., and M.S. University Press, Baroda, the benefit of sick leave has been allowed to the workmen of those companies . It is therefore .futile to contend that the benefit should not be admissible on the ground that it had not been allowed by other companies in the region. We also find that such a benefit has been allowed in the ca se of glass industries by Shree Vallabha Glass Works Ltd., Vallabh Vidyanagar, Ogale Glass Works Ltd., Oglewadi and Vijay Glass Works, Bombay. Even the Alembic Glass Industries Ltd. has allowed 6 days sick leave in a year to its employees in Bangalore and it is permissible to accumulate it upto 12 days in addition to the current years leave, under a settlement dated July 17, 1969, which is being continued even after the coming into force of the Act. Learned counsel for the appellants have invited our attention to the case between the Textile Labour Association and the Ahmedabad Millowners Association where the demand for sick leave was refused but, as the Tribunal has pointed out, the demand there was for a months leave every year in addition to 15 days casual leave and pay in lieu of privilege leave. The Full Bench of the Industrial Court in that case considered the paying capacity of the mills also, and held that the additional leave demanded by the workmen would be very much beyond the paying capacity of the industry. As against this, the Tribunal has examined the financial capacity of the two companies in question, and has given adequate reasons for holding that they are in good financial position and can bear the additional burden of sick leave. Learned counsel for the appellants have in fact not advanced any argument to the contrary.Mr. S.T. Desai has raised the argument, in the case of Jyoti Ltd., Baroda, that the Tribunal laboured under a misconception that the sickness benefit would be lost for the first two days of sickness under the first proviso to s. 49 of the Act, that the Tribunal should not, in any view of the matter, have given the benefit of 7 days sick leave, and that the workmen did not deserve anything more than sickness benefit for the first two days also. According to him, what has been awarded by the Tribunal is additional privilege leave for 7 days in the garb of sick leave. The argument is however futile because, as has been stated, the Tribunal has correctly examined the controversy and given adequate reasons for allowing the benefit of 7 days sick leave in the manner set out in the award. Such a leave could not be categorised as privilege leave as, by its very nature, it would be admissible only in the case of actual sickness certified by a registered medical practitioner.9. It would thus appear that the appellants have not been able to show that the awards in question are illegal or unjust; or would adversely affect the economy or the industrial peace, or lead to imbalance in the conditions of service in other industrial establishments. It appears, however, that it was not necessary, in the circumstances of the case, to award the benefit of the sick leave with retrospective effect from January 1, 1975, in the case of Jyoti Ltd. Baroda.10.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]It would thus appear that the appellants have not been able to show that the awards in question are illegal or unjust; or would adversely affect the economy or the industrial peace, or lead to imbalance in the conditions of service in other industrial establishments. It appears, however, that it was not necessary, in the circumstances of the case, to award the benefit of the sick leave with retrospective effect from January 1, 1975, in the case of Jyoti Ltd. Baroda.