Special insurance law excludes industrial adjudication of employee bonus where bonus is treated as prohibited remuneration.

A special statutory scheme under the Insurance Act treats bonus paid to employees of a general insurance company as part of remuneration and prohibits such payment except within a limited exception controlled by the Central Government. The exception for uniform bonus payments operates only subject to the prescribed ceiling and governmental control. On that footing, the subject of employee bonus in general insurance is governed by the special insurance law, and industrial adjudication under the Industrial Disputes Act is excluded where it would conflict with that statutory prohibition.

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Issues: Whether a dispute relating to bonus claimed by employees of a general insurance company could be referred for adjudication to an Industrial Tribunal under section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 in view of section 31A(1)(c) of the Insurance Act and proviso (vii) thereto.

Analysis: Section 31A(1)(c) imposed an express prohibition on an insurer employing any person on terms that included remuneration by way of commission or bonus in respect of its general insurance business. Bonus claimed under industrial adjudication was treated as an additional remuneration and therefore fell within that prohibition. Proviso (vii) carved out only a limited exception permitting payment of bonus on a uniform basis, subject to the ceiling and control of the Central Government. On that scheme, the matter of bonus to employees of insurance companies was intended to remain within the Central Government's discretion and not to be determined by an Industrial Tribunal under the Industrial Disputes Act.

Conclusion: The reference to the Industrial Tribunal was invalid and the bonus dispute was not referable for adjudication under section 10(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a special statute expressly prohibits payment of bonus as remuneration and permits it only within limits fixed by the Central Government, industrial adjudication under the general labour law is excluded.

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