GENERAL MANAGER ALIGARH DUGDH UTPADAK SAHKARI SANGH LTD Vs. PRESCRIBED AUTHORITY MINIMU WAGES AND DY LABOUR COMMISSIONER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Shri G.D. Misra for the petitioner. Shri M.P.S. Chauhan appears for respondent-workmen Nos. 4 to 59. The petitioner is a co-operative society engaged in the business of purchasing, pausturising, packing and selling milk and milk products in the trade name of 'Parag' in District Hathras. By this writ petition the petitioner has prayed to set aside an order dated October 31, 2008 passed by the Prescribed Authority, Minimum of Wages Act, 1948/Depuly Labour Commissioner, Aligarh, by which he has awarded Rs. 1,86,696/- as the difference between minimum wages and the wages paid to the 56 workmen engaged by the petitioner as labour, paiker, mali, lab assistant, electrician, refrigiration plant operator, sweeper, clerk and boiler attendant etc. and Rs. 56,000/- as penalty at the rate of Rs. 1000/- per workman.

(2.) The 56 workmen made a complaint to the Prescribed Authority that they were engaged through Shri Jai Mangal and Shri Roshan Singh, contractors to work in the dairy run by the petitioner. They claimed the difference of minimum wages and wages paid to them for the period from August 2005 to January 2006 and ten times compensation for defaults made under the Act of 1948.

(3.) The petitioner took a defence that the workmen were engaged through licenced contractors under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 (in shor' the Act of 1970) and that the contractors were required to pay the minimum wages. The workmen were paid the minimum wages by the contractors. One Shri Dalveer Singh, contractor was not made as party to the proceedings. Shri Roshan Singh, contractor had engaged some of the workmen, who were paid Rs. 90/- per day. Shri Banwari Lal was paid Rs. 95/- per day. The workmen from serial Nos. 47 to 49 engaged by Shri Shanker Lal were also paid Rs. 90/- per day. The workmen at serial Nos. 10, 12, 13, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 44 and 55 were not engaged by the opposite party No. 3 nor had worked at the dairy during the relevant period.