TMI Blog1985 (4) TMI 333X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The claim made by them related to the bonus paid on the eve of Pooja every year which according to them was customary in nature, irrespective of profit or loss. 2. The Labour Court after considering the evidence placed before it held that the bonus claimed could not be characterised as customary since it did not answer to the requirements of law to be customary bonus and that in the absence of an existing right to customary bonus or bonus founded on an implied agreement as a condition of service, the application made under section 33-C(2) was not maintainable and accordingly dismissed the same 3. The petitioners' claim was attempted to be Supported by the fact that they were given one month' ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat passed between the BANK and its employees and came to the conclusion that a right to customary bonus in favour of the employees of the Bank did not exist. The application was dismissed holding that on the basis of the material on record, there was no existing right to customary bonus and that the Labour Court could not either create or declare a right which was not in existence to stretch its jurisdiction under Section 33-C(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act. It is the correctness of this finding that we are called upon to decide in this appeal. 5. The Counsel on both sides took us through the various letters that passed between the employees of the Bank and the Bank and brought to our notice the past history relating to the payment o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... two months' pay at the time of Pooja, irrespective of profits and asked for an enhancement of rate of bonus. Discussions were initiated and ultimately the Bank agreed to pay an additional bonus for the year 1972 of an additional four days pay and for the year 1973 two months and 12 days and for 1974 two months and 271/2 days. 6. We have ourselves gone through the letters which are on record that passed between the parties. The correspondence shows . that the bonus was paid from year to year pursuant to negotiations that took place between the Union of the employees and the Bank and that the rates of bonus were not uniform, but were fluctuating. The Bank had a definite case that bonus was paid out of the profits made or in anticipati ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y two or three letters to fortify our conclusion that the payment was pursuant to the demands of the employees. In the letter dated 20th September, 1958, addressed to the General Secretary, United Bank of India's employees Association, the opening sentence reads as follows: With reference to the several demands as stated in your letter dated-we have agreed as follows: (1) Annual bonus for the year 1958 In the letter dated September 3, 1968, written to the President of the Association and marked as confidential, it is stated that the Bank tried to impress upon the President through a number of discussions to persuade him to revise the present system of paying bonus in September to a system after the year's results ar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as paid for the years 1950 to 1958. From 1959 onwards, the rate has not been uniform. There is no evidence to show that this payment was unrelated to the profits. The letters sent by the management clearly indicated that bonus payment was related to the profits and the Bank always wanted its employees to wait for the financial position for computation of the bonus payable. The evidence in this case does not also justify inference of an implied agreement on the part of the Bank to pay bonus of a customary nature at the time of Pooja, without any relation to profits as a condition of service. The Labour Court has noted the fact that it was nobody's case that bonus was ever paid in any year of loss or that there was any year of loss and th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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