MANIBHAI SADARAM PATEL Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners herein who are residents of three villages Shera Mangrol and Malanpor of Hansot Mahal in Broach District have challenged the validity of the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) as also the validity of the Gujarat Minimum Wages Rules 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) and particularly rules 25 26 26 and 26B on the ground that they are ultra vires Articles 14 19 and (g) of the Constitution. They have also challenged the Notification issued by the State of Gujarat on August 19 1964 appointing an Advisory Committee under sec. 5(1)(a) of the Act for investigating and advising the Government in the matter of fixation and revision of minimum rates of wages for those employed in agricultural occupations all over the State of Gujarat. They have challenged also the Notification dated December 8 1967 issued by the Government of Gujarat fixing the minimum rates of wages as shown in columns 5 and 6 of the Schedule in respect of the zones shown in column 4 of the said Schedule. The petitioners have also prayed that the State of Gujarat and the Government Labour Officer and the Minimum Wages Inspector Baroda who are the respondents herein be restrained permanently from enforcing the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act and the rules made thereunder against the petitioners.

(2.) In order to appreciate the contentions which have been urged in this petition before us it is necessary to give a few dates and refer to some of the provisions of the relevant statute. In 1948 the Dominion Legislature passed the Minimum Wages Act 1948 which was an Act to provide for fixing the minimum rates of wages in certain employments-and the preamble of the Act stated that it was being enacted as it was expedient to provide minimum rates of wages in certain employments Under sec. 3 the appropriate Government was empowered in the manner provided in the Act to fix the minimum rates of wages payable to employees employed in an employment specified in Part II of the Schedule at the commencement of the Act. The appropriate Government in this connection is the State Government. Part II of the Schedule to the Act mentions Employment in agriculture that is to say in any form of farming including the cultivation and tillage of the soil dairy farming the production cultivation growing and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodity the raising of live-stock. bees or poultry and practice performed by a farmer or on a farm as incidental to or in conjunction with farm operations (including any forestry or timbering operations and the preparation for market and delivery to storage or to market or to carriage for transportation to market or farm produce.) The procedure for fixing and revising the minimum wages has been laid down and under sub-sec. (1) of sec. 5 in fixing minimum rates of wages in respect of any scheduled employment for the first time under this Act or in revising minimum rates of wages so fixed the appropriate Government shall either (a) appoint a Committee to hold enquiries and advise it in respect of such fixation or revision as the case may be; or (b) by notification in the Official Gazette public its proposals for the information of persons likely to be affected thereby and specify a date not less than two months from the date of the notification on which the proposals will be taken into consideration. Acting under the powers conferred upon it by sec. 5(1)(a) of the Act the Government of Gujarat appointed an Advisory Committee by a Notification dated August 19 1964 A copy of the Notification is annexed as part of Annexure B to the petition. The Notification shows that the Chairman of the Committee was Prof. M. B. Desai of the Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty of Arts M. S. University of Baroda, Baroda; two representatives of Landlords were members of the Committee and two representatives of Labourers were also members of the Committee. An Assistant Labour Commissioner was to perform the duties of the Secretary to this Committee in addition to his own duties. Subsequently the composition of the Committee had to be changed as one member of the Committee resigned and subsequently one R. L. Mehta Lecturer in Economics in the M. S. University of Baroda was appointed an independent member of the Advisory Committee. The Committee submitted its report on October 31 1966 and thereafter the Government of Gujarat issued the impugned Notification on December 8 1967 under sec. 5(2) of the Act after considering the report of the Committee and by this Notification it fixed the minimum rates of wages in respect of this particular scheduled employment regarding agriculture in all areas of the State of Gujarat other than Umergaon Taluka of Bulsar District and Kutch District. It may be pointed out that as regards Umergaon Taluka and Kutch District the Notification revised the rates of minimum wages which were already in force in Umergaon Taluka and Kutch District. It appears that the Government of Bombay had fixed the minimum rates of wages for agricultural labourers in Umergaon Taluka by its Notification dated December 28 1963 read with Notification dated April 14 1966 and for the Kutch District the minimum wages for agricultural labourers had been fixed by the Notification of the Government of Saurashtra (Kutch) by Notification dated February 26 1951 There-after on November 4 1969 the present petition has been filed by the petitioners. We will deal with the averments in the petition and with the replies thereto in the affidavit-in-reply when we come to deal with the individual submissions made on behalf of the petitioners at the hearing before us.

(3.) We may mention that so far as the challenge to the vires of the sections of the Act is concerned the said challenge is now covered by various decisions of the Supreme Court. We will mention only a few of them at this stage.