NAROTTAMDAS HARJIWANDAS Vs. P B GOWARIKARINSPECTORMINIMUM WAGESASSISTANT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order will also govern Miscellaneous Petitions Nos. 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 78, 81, 85, 87, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 101, 118, 150 and 152 all of 1960.

(2.) The petitioners in these twenty-One petitions under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, who are all owners of concerns in the Mahakoshal region of Madhya Pradesh engaged in the manufacture and sale of bidis, challenge the legality of notification No. 307-XVI-58 published in the extraordinary Gazette dated the 30th December 1958 notifying the minimum rates of wages in respect of employment in tobacco (including bidi making) manufactory. The petitioner in each of the eases seeks an appropriate writ or direction prohibiting the opponent State from giving effect to the said notification, and a writ of certiorari for quashing the order of the authority constituted under Section 20(1) of the Minimum Wages Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) directing him to pay the difference between the wages actually paid and the wages that ought to have been paid under the said notification to the bidi rollers employed, using the word in a neutral sense, by the Sattedar (intermediary), who has been impleaded in each case as one of the opponents.

(3.) The material facts are that in the former State of Madhya Pradesh, which comprised the Mahakoshal region of the new State of Madhya Pradesh, the minimum wages for the workers in the bidi industry were first fixed in 1951 by notification No. 111-132-XXIII dated the 11th January 1951. These rates were revised in 1958 with effect from 2nd March 1950 by notification No. 564-451XXIII dated the 23rd February 1956. After the coming into being of the new State of Madhya Pradesh the Government, by notification No. 31-4029-XVI elated the 30th April 1957, constituted under Sections 5 and 6 of the Act, (as they stood then) an Advisory Board. This consisted of the Labour Commissioner Shri Oak, Shri Mehta, the Director of Economics and Statistics, six representatives said to be of the employers and six representatives said to be of the employee's. Shri Oak was appointed as the Chairman. On 18th August 1958, the Government issued a notification under Section 5(1) of the Act, which ran as follows: "No. 189-XVI -- As required by the amended provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (Act No. XI of 1948) and in exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-section (1) of Section 5 of the said Act, the State Government are pleased to publish its proposals for the rates of wages specified in the schedule as minimum rates of wages in respect of employment in any Tobacco (including bidi making) manufactory for the information of all concerned. All representations in this behalf may be addressed to the Secretary to Government in the Labour Department, Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, within a period of two months from the date of the publication of this notification. These proposals together with representations, if any, received within the period specified above shall be taken into consideration as per Sub-section (2) of the said section after a period of two months from the date of the publication of this notification." The notification then set out the rates of minimum wages. On 26th and 27th December 1958 meetings of the Advisory Board were held. It seems that at these meetings some consideration was given to the proposals published on 18th August 1958 and the representations received. Ultimately on 1st January or 2nd January 1959 the Government published the impugned notification dated 30-12-58 bringing into force the rates of minimum wages set out therein from 1st January 1959. There is some dispute as to when the extraordinary Gazette containing the notification was published. The petitioners say it was published on 9th January 1959. On the other hand, it was stated by the opponent State that an extraordinary Gazette publishing the notification was issued on 30th December 1958 that some copies of the extraordinary gazette were distributed along with the ordinary gazette dated the 2nd January 1959; and that the remaining copies were distributed in the ordinary gazette issued on 9th January 1959. 3-A. The validity of the notification in question was assailed by Shri Sen, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner Narottamdas, on the ground that the minimum rates of wages for employment in the bidi making manufactory having already been fixed first by a notification issued in 1951 and then revised in 1956, the State Government could not again fix minimum rates of wages for this employment and that it could only revise the rates already fixed in accordance with the new Section 5 of the Act; and that in so far as the impugned notification purported to be under Section 5(1) (b) of the Act fixing the minimum rates of wages for the bidi making manufactory over again, St was void and inoperative. It was pointed out that the notification issued on 30th April 1957 constituting the Advisory Board stated that the Board had been constituted for fixation of wages ?fu?kkZfjr djus ds laca/k esa? that the notification dated the 18th August 1958 publishing the proposals for wages made no mention whatsoever of revision of minimum rates of wages already fixed; and that the notification issued on 30th December 1958 nowhere said anything about the supersession of earlier notifications or revision of the minimum wages fixed thereby.