39. (1) All amounts payable to an employee by way of bonus under this Code shall be

paid by crediting it in the bank account of the employee by his employer within a period of

eight months from the close of the accounting year:

Provided that the appropriate Government or such authority as the appropriate

Government may specify in this behalf may, upon an application made to it by the employer

and for sufficient reasons, by order, extend the said period of eight months to such further

period or periods as it thinks fit; so, however, that the total period so extended shall not in

any case exceed two years.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where there is a dispute

regarding payment of bonus pending before any authority, such bonus shall be paid, within

a period of one month from the date on which the award becomes enforceable or the

settlement comes into operation, in respect of such dispute:

Provided that if, there is a dispute for payment at the higher rate, the employer shall

pay eight and one-third per cent. of the wages earned by the employee as per the provisions

of this Code within a period of eight months from the close of the accounting year.