AIR 1959 SUPREME COURT 1147 ::1960 (1) SCR 24 ::1959 2 LabLJ 4 ::1959-60 16 FJR 366

Supreme Court Of India

(From Calcutta - Labour Appellate Tribunal)* 6th May, 1959.

Hon'ble Judge(s): B. P. Sinha, P. B. Gajendragadkar, K. N. Wanchoo , JJJ

(A) Industrial dispute - Bonus - Puja bonus - Basis of, may be by implied agreement or by custom - Circumstances from@page-SC1148which implied agreement to pay puja bonus may be inferred - Held on facts that there was an implied term of employment for payment of puja bonus at one month's wages or every year. It may now be taken as well settled that puja bonus in Bengal stands on a different footing from the profit bonus based on the Full Bench formula evolved in 1950-2 Lab LJ 1247, Mill Owners Association, Bombay v. Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh, Bombay. The claim for puja bonus in Bengal is based on either of two grounds. It may either be a matter of implied agreement between employers and employees creating a term of employment for payment of puja bonus, or even though no implied agreement can be inferred it may be payable as a customary bonus.(Para 6) The following circumstances were laid down in 1952 Lab AC 370 as material for inferring an implied agreement: (1) The payment must be unbroken; (2) It must be for a sufficiently long period; and (3) The circumstances in which payment was made should be such as to exclude that it was paid out of bounty. It is not possible to lay down in terms what should be the length of period to justify the inference of implied agreeme....