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Pay statutory minimum bonus: High Court

K.T. Sangameswaran

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the Pondicherry Housing Board (PHB) to pay the statutory minimum bonus guaranteed under the Payment of Bonus Act to its employees from the accounting year 1997-98.

Allowing a writ petition by the PHB Employees Union and the PHB Staff Union, Justice K. Chandru said while paying the minimum bonus, the board was entitled to adjust the exgratia/gift.

If the board workmen wanted something more than the statutory minimum bonus, the only remedy open to them was to raise an industrial dispute. He directed the board to implement the court order within three months.

The petitioners sought a direction to the board to pay statutory minimum bonus of 8.33 per cent every year besides ex-gratia on a par with employees of public sector undertakings of Puducherry government. They submitted that they sent a representation in October 1998 demanding minimum statutory bonus.

The board replied that the employees were not eligible for bonus for 1997-98 and they would be paid only the gift as announced by the territorial government.

Mr. Justice Chandru said the plea of exemption under the Bonus Act by the board must necessarily fail on account of Supreme Court decisions in the Haryana Housing Board and TWAD Board cases.

Once the statutory exemptions pleaded under the Bonus Act by the government and the board failed and there being no other exemption granted by the State government under the Act, the necessary corollary was that the Act would apply to the PHB.

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