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TMI Blog1979 (10) TMI 222X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oyed as workcharged employees. On completion of the work assigned to them they were retrenched, and retrenchment compensation was paid to them. The employee respondents claimed that they were also entitled to gratuity, bonus and certain other allowances and benefits. The gratuity was claimed under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. The claim being disputed, the respondents applied under section 33- C(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 to the Labour Court, Jullundur. The Labour Court made an order dated April 30, 1975 that the employee respondents were entitled to the gratuity claimed by them but not to bonus and the other allowances and benefits. A writ petition filed by the appellant has been dismissed in limine by the High Court of P ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bution of electricity or any other form of power is being carried on." It is urged for the appellant that the Payment of Wages Act is not an enactment contemplated by section 1(3)(b) of the Payment of Gratuity Act. The Payment of Wages Act, it is pointed out, is a central enactment and section 1(3)(b), it is said, refers to a law enacted by the State Legislature. We are unable to accept the contention. Section 1(3) (b) speaks of "any law for the time being in force in relation to shops and establishments in a State." There can be no dispute that the Payment of Wages Act is in force in the State of Punjab. Then, it is submitted, the Payment of Wages Act is not a law in relation to "shops and establishments". As to th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... limited meaning to section 1(3) (b) urged before us on behalf of the appellant. Section 1(3) (b) applies to every establishment within the meaning of any law for the time being in force in relation to establishments in a State. Such an establishment would include an industrial establishment within the meaning of section 2(ii) (g) of the Payment of Wages Act. Accordingly, we are of opinion that the Payment of Gratuity Act applies to an establishment in which any work relating to construction, development or maintenance of buildings, roads, bridges or canals, or relating to operations connected with navigation, irrigation or the supply of water, or relating to the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity or any other form of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... kar. Nonetheless, it amounts to termination of service. We are of opinion that the retrenchment of the employee respondents falls within the scope of section 4(1) of the Payment of Gratuity Act, and the employee respondents are therefore entitled to gratuity under that provision. The third contention raised by the appellant is that the employee respondents were not entitled to apply under section 33-C(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for payment of the gratuity, and should have, if at all, applied under the provisions of the Payment of Gratuity Act. It is urged that the Payment of Gratuity Act is a self-contained code incorporating all the essential provisions relating to payment of gratuity which can be claimed under that Act, and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ontrolling authority is empowered. under section 7(4)(b), to enter upon an adjudication of the dispute, and after due inquiry, and after giving the parties to the dispute a reasonable opportunity of being heard, he is required to determine the amount of gratuity payable. In this regard, the controlling authority has all the powers as are vested in a court while trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 in respect of obtaining evidentiary material and the recording of evidence. The amount deposited by the employer with the controlling authority as the admitted amount of gratuity will be paid over by the controlling authority to the employee or his nominee or heir. Section 7(7) provides an appeal against the order of the controlli ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntrolling authority, who is entrusted with the task of administering the Act. The fulfilment of the rights and obligations of the parties are made his responsibility, and he has been invested with an amplitude of power for the full discharge of that responsibility. Any error committed by him can be corrected in appeal by the appropriate Government or an appellate authority particularly constituted under the Act. Upon all these considerations, the conclusion is inescapable that Parliament intended that proceedings for payment of gratuity due under the Payment of Gratuity Act must be taken under that Act and not under any other. That being so, it must be held that the applications filed by the employee respondents under section 33-C(2) of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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