T.P. SOKKALAL RAMSAIT FACTORY PRIVATE LIMITED BY ITS MANAGING PARTNER T.P.S.H. SELVA SAROJA Vs. THE GOVERNMENT OF MADRAS BY THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIES, LABOUR AND HOUSING

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS Writ Petition is filed by Messrs. T.P. Sokkalal Ramsait Factory (Private) Limited, Mukkudal, by its Managing Partner for the issue of a writ of certiorari to declare as ultra vires the notification of the Government of Madras by the Secretary, Department of Industries, Labour and Housing, Fort St. George, published in the Fort St. George Gazette (Extraordinary) dated 31st May, 1968, G.O. Ms. No. 2098, Industries, Labour and Housing (Labour) II - -I No. 2448 of 1968 and to quash the same.

(2.) THE notification published on 31st May, 1968, and which provides that it shall come into force on the 30th May, 1968, is challenged as ultra vires and unconstitutional. It is contended that the respondent has no power to fix the minimum wage retrospectively even by a day, and inasmuch as the impugned notification purports to do so, it is illegal and liable to be struck down. It is further contended that the fixation of scales of wages for types of beedies alone without taking into account the conditions and cost of living obtaining in different parts of the State violates Article 14 of the Constitution and throws an unequal burden on manufacturers in different parts of the State. The failure to take into account the capacity to pay of the different employers, it is submitted, is contrary to law. The relationship of the employer and the employee relating to the persons entitled to the benefits under the Act is also questioned.

(3.) THE challenge to the validity of the fixation of minimum wage is resisted on the ground that wages were fixed taking into account the conditions and cost of living and the circumstances under which the products were manufactured in different parts of the State. The plea that the fixation of the minimum wages throws an unequal burden on manufacturers in different parts of the State cannot be accepted. In determining the minimum wages, the capacity of the different employers to pay need not be taken into account, as the employers are bound to pay minimum wages as provided for in the Act. The question as to the relationship between the employer and employee has been the subject -matter of a, number of decisions of the Supreme Court, and the position has been clearly stated in the decision in D.C. Dewan Mohideen Sahib & Sons v. United Bidi Workers' Union, (1964) 2 L.L.J. 633. Learned Counsel for the petitioner was unable to say how he can contend that the relationship does not exist.