Section 33C(2) is unavailable when the claimed settlement-based wage entitlement no longer exists.

The workmen sought computation of wage-revision arrears under Section 33-C(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, relying on a Memorandum of Settlement executed on 20 August 2001, effective from 1 January 1997

The company opposed maintainability, relying on a Government of India letter dated 28 September 2006 which described earlier arrears payments as erroneous and directed recovery

The Tribunal dismissed the company’s maintainability objection, holding that the workmen had a pre-existing right under the settlement.

The company challenged that order by writ petition.

The High Court also noted that the Section 33-C(2) application had been filed after a delay of 17 years

1. Whether the workmen’s claim under Section 33-C(2), founded on the 2001 settlement, was maintainable as a claim based on a pre-existing right, in light of the Government’s 28 September 2006 letter

2. Whether the Tribunal’s order rejecting the company’s maintainability objection was legally sustainable

Section 33-C(2) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 provides for computation of money or benefits due to a workman where the entitlement is founded on an existing right; the provision was the basis of the workmen’s application

The Court considered the terms of the settlement, including its stated duration and the Government’s later direction concerning recovery of arrears paid under the 1997 wage revision

Although the parties cited authorities concerning Section 33-C(2) and related principles, the judgment does not set out or apply those precedents in its reasoning

The Court read the settlement’s duration clause alongside paragraph 7 of the 28 September 2006 Government letter, which characterised the earlier arrears payments as erroneous and directed recovery

It concluded that these materials were prima facie inconsistent with the workmen’s assertion that an enforceable pre-existing right to the claimed arrears continued to exist.

Because the Government letter had not been challenged before the Tribunal and the workmen’s application sought computation based on the settlement, the Court held that the Tribunal erred in finding the application maintainable

The writ petition was allowed, and any connected applications were disposed of accordingly