Case: Workmen Of Joint Steamercompanies Vs. Joint Steamer Companies

These two appeals raise a somewhat difficult problem as regards the grant of bonus to workmen of an industry operating not only in India but also outside this country. The appellants are the workmen of two Steamer Companies, the Indian General Navigation and Railway Co., Ltd., and the Rivers Steam Navigation Co., Ltd., which have for many years been operating jointly and are conveniently referred to as Joint Steamer Companies". Disputes having arisen between these companies and their workmen on the question of bonus for the years 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1952, they were referred by the Government of West Bengal to the Industrial Tribunal, by two separate orders of reference, one in respect of the dispute for bonus for the years 1949 and 1950  the other in respect of the years 1951 and 1952. The Tribunal disposed of these two references by one common judgment and rejected the workmens claim for bonus for all the four years. This order of rejection was confirmed by the Labour Appellate Tribunal, though on different grounds. It is against this decision of the Labour Appellate Tribunal that these appeals have been filed on special leave granted by this Court.

Court's reasoning:
Before we part with these appeals, we have to refer to a complaint vehemently pressed before us by Mr. Chatterjee that there has not been a fair hearing of these cases inasmuch as the workmen or their representatives were not given access to certain account books which they wanted to consult. We think it necessary to examine how far this complaint is justified as, in our opinion, even if these account books were made available to the workmen, it would be impossible on the materials on the record to arrive at proper figures for the different items involved in the Full Bench Formula. We think it proper however to emphasise the importance of both employers and workmen making available to industrial adjudication all relevant papers, including account books which are likely to assist a proper decision of the questions at issue. The provisions of s. 21 of the Industrial Disputes. Act afford ample protection against disclosure of information which a party may wish to be treated as confidential. Where workmen or their representatives ask for inspection of such papers and account books, it should ordinarily be possible for the employers to comply with the request, Subject however to the protection of s. 21 of the Industrial Disputes Act. When any such prayer is made, the Tribunal has to use its judicial discretion in the matter and in the absence of any- special circumstances would ordinarily be justified in asking the employers to give to the workmen reasonable access to all relevanthas been stated above, we have come to the conclusion that the Appellate Tribunal has rightly rejected the workmens claim for bonus.