Effective date of amalgamation controls when workmen's parity benefits arise under the scheme, not the appointed day.

An amalgamation scheme may distinguish between an appointed day and the effective date, and the latter governs when the transfer becomes fully operative. Here, the scheme provided that the business stood transferred from 1 April 1983 in principle, but it became finally effective only on filing the certified sanction orders with the registrars, and the employment offer clause was tied to that operative date. The record of the general notice on 1 September 1985 supported 1 October 1985 as the effective date. Workmen's parity in pay scale, dearness allowance and other benefits therefore arose only from 1 October 1985, not from the appointed day.

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Issues: Whether the effective date of amalgamation of the transferor company with the transferee company was 1 April 1983 or 1 October 1985, and consequently from which date the workmen were entitled to parity in pay scale, dearness allowance and other benefits.

Analysis: The scheme of amalgamation and the sanction orders drew a clear distinction between the appointed day and the effective date. The appointed day was 1 April 1983, from which the business and undertaking stood transferred in principle, but Clause 15 of the scheme stipulated that the scheme would take effect finally only when the certified copies of the sanction orders were filed with the appropriate Registrars of Companies. Clause 7 also required a general offer of employment to be made immediately before that effective date. The record showed that the general notice was issued on 1 September 1985, indicating that the filing of the sanction orders and the operative transfer of employees occurred on 1 October 1985. The Tribunal had treated the appointed day as the effective date and thereby ignored the scheme language and the operative consequences of the filing requirement.

Conclusion: The effective date of amalgamation was 1 October 1985, not 1 April 1983, and the workmen's entitlement to benefits at par with the transferee company arose only from that date.

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