BALARAM ABAJI PATIL Vs. RAGOJIWALLA M C

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Two questions arise for decision in this petition filed under Art. 227 of the Constitution of India, and the questions are :

(2.) Dealing first with the question whether the definition of "wages" in Payment of Wages Act covers statutory wages as distinguished from contractual wages, we are satisfied that the learned authority was in error in finding this issue in the negative. The present case is concerned with the definition of "wages" in S. 2(vi) of the Payment of Wages Act prior to the amendment introduced therein by Act No. 68 of 1957. The definition, in so far as it is material, was in the following terms :

(3.) In the present case, it is not disputed that the remuneration which is claimed as minimum wages was payable to persons employed in respect of their employment or of work done in their employment. It is, however, disputed that the remuneration claimed by way of minimum wages satisfies the other condition, namely, that it should be payable if the terms of the contract of employment, express or implied, were fulfilled. Now it seems clear that the expression "if the terms of the contract of employment express or implied were fulfilled refer only to such of the terms of the contract of employment as are required to be fulfilled by the employed person. The expression has no reference to the terms of the contract which are to be fulfilled by the employer. This to obvious from the fact that, if all the terms of the contract of employment were fulfilled by both the parties to the contract, i.e., by the employer as well as the employee, no question of unpaid wages would arise in those cases where the workers are entitled only to contractual wages. It follows that the definition of "wages" does not confine that expression to contractual wages. The definition does not define "wages" as the remuneration which is payable to the employed person under the terms of the contract of employment, express or implied, but defines it as all remuneration which is payable to the employed person if the latter fulfils the terms of the contract of employment, express or implied. Moreover, the definition uses the words "all remuneration," with the result that, once the worker has fulfilled his part of the contract, whatever he is entitled to receive from the employer in respect of his employment or of work done in his employment amounts to wages, provided the right of the worker to the remuneration in question flows directly from the fulfilment of of his part of the contract. The definition makes no reference to the origin of the employer's obligation to pay the remuneration. The obligation may arise from contract, from a binding award, or from a statute. In all such cases, if the amount which the employer is obliged to pay is an amount payable to his employee in respect of his employment or of work done in such employment, and if further the amount becomes payable in consequence of the worker having fulfilled the terms of the contract of employment, the amount is "wages" within the definition.