Seasonal industry lay-off compensation barred, but earned leave with wages can still be granted under the governing statute.

Seasonal cashewnut factories were held outside the lay-off compensation scheme under Chapter V-A of the Industrial Disputes Act, because Sections 25A to 25E exclude seasonal establishments; a Tribunal could not award equivalent compensation for closure caused by raw material shortage on general notions of social justice. The claim for payment during the closed period was therefore not maintainable. However, under Section 79 of the Factories Act, earned leave with wages could still be directed where the governing statute contained no corresponding exclusion, so the grant of one day's leave for every twenty days' work was upheld.

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Issues: (i) Whether workers in a seasonal cashewnut industry were entitled to compensation for periods when the factories remained closed for shortage of raw materials; (ii) Whether workers in such seasonal factories were entitled to one day's leave with wages for every twenty days' work irrespective of whether they had worked for 240 days in the year.

Issue (i): Whether workers in a seasonal cashewnut industry were entitled to compensation for periods when the factories remained closed for shortage of raw materials.

Analysis: The award treated the claim as one for compensation based on social justice, but the closure arose from shortage of raw nuts and the industry was admittedly seasonal. The statutory scheme in Chapter V-A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 governs lay-off compensation, and Sections 25A to 25E exclude seasonal industrial establishments from that scheme. The Tribunal could not bypass the statutory exclusion by describing the claim as unemployment compensation or by invoking general notions of social justice.

Conclusion: The claim for compensation during the closed period was not maintainable and the award on this issue was quashed.

Issue (ii): Whether workers in such seasonal factories were entitled to one day's leave with wages for every twenty days' work irrespective of whether they had worked for 240 days in the year.

Analysis: Section 79 of the Factories Act, 1948 grants leave with wages to workers who have worked for 240 days or more in the relevant year, but it does not contain any exclusion that prevents a Tribunal from granting earned leave in a seasonal industry where the factory cannot ordinarily run for 240 days. Unlike the statutory bar applicable to lay-off compensation, there was no provision in the Factories Act preventing the award of leave with wages on the basis fixed by the Tribunal.

Conclusion: The direction granting leave with wages at the rate of one day for every twenty days of work was upheld.

Final Conclusion: The award was interfered with only to the extent that compensation for the closed period was disallowed, while the leave-with-wages direction was sustained, resulting in partial relief to the petitioners.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute expressly excludes seasonal establishments from lay-off compensation, industrial adjudication cannot award an equivalent monetary benefit on general notions of social justice, but earned leave benefits may still be granted if the governing statute contains no corresponding exclusion.

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