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Issues Involved:
1. Entitlement of a bidi roller to leave wages under Section 79 of the Factories Act. 2. Computation of leave wages under Section 80 of the Factories Act. 3. Relationship of master and servant in the context of bidi rollers. Issue-Wise Detailed Analysis: 1. Entitlement of a Bidi Roller to Leave Wages The primary issue was whether a bidi roller is entitled to leave wages under Section 79 of the Factories Act. The worker claimed entitlement based on having worked over 240 days in the factory. However, the employer contested this, arguing that the worker was not entitled to leave wages. The court held that the worker was not entitled to claim leave wages due to the nature of his employment, which did not meet the criteria established under the Factories Act. Specifically, the court noted that the worker's employment terms made it impossible to compute wages as prescribed by Section 80, thus negating the need to decide on the second point of contention. 2. Computation of Leave Wages The court examined the provisions of Sections 79 and 80 of the Factories Act, which outline the conditions for leave with wages and the computation of wages during the leave period. The court found that the peculiar terms and conditions of the worker's employment made it impossible to compute the wages as required by Section 80. The worker's irregular attendance and the lack of fixed working hours meant that his total full-time earnings could not be accurately calculated. The court referenced the Supreme Court's interpretation in Shankar Balaji v. State of Maharashtra, which clarified that "total full-time earnings" refers to the earnings for a full day's work as per the factory's displayed notice. Since no such notice was produced and the worker's hours were not fixed, the computation of leave wages was deemed unfeasible. 3. Relationship of Master and Servant The court delved into the relationship between the employer and the worker to determine if the worker was indeed a "worker" under the Factories Act. The definition of a worker under Section 2(1) of the Factories Act was scrutinized, which includes a person employed in any manufacturing process. The court reviewed several precedents, including Chintaman Rao v. State of M.P. and Dharangadhra Chemical Works Ltd. v. State of Saurashtra, to establish the criteria for a master-servant relationship. The court concluded that despite the lax controls in the bidi industry, the employer retained sufficient control and supervision over the worker, thereby establishing the worker as a "worker" under the Act. This included control over the issuance of tobacco, supervision of the work, and the requirement for workers to apply for leave for absences beyond three days. Conclusion The court ultimately ruled that the worker was not entitled to leave wages under Section 79 of the Factories Act due to the inability to compute "total full-time earnings" as required by Section 80. Despite recognizing the worker as a "worker" under the Act, the specific employment conditions precluded the application of the leave wage provisions. The petition was allowed, and the order of the Payment of Wages Authority was set aside. The court granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court under Article 133(1)(c) due to the general importance of the issue to all workers in the bidi industry.
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