BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this writ application the petitioner has prayed for quashing the order dated July 29, 1997 passed by the Deputy Labour Commissioner-cum-Appellate Authority under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as 'the said Act'). The grievance of the petitioner is that the learned Appellate Authority has erroneously set aside the order of the Assistant Labour Commissioner without proper application of mind on the facts and the grounds which were considered by the Assistant Labour Commissioner.

(2.) The claim applications were filed before the Assistant Labour Commissioner under Section 20(2) of the said Act by the workmen of Birla Institute of Technology through their Legal Advisor and advocate Shri C.K. Mehta praying for a direction to pay wages at par with the wages being paid to the regular employees. Show cause notice was issued to the employer, who appeared and filed reply stating, inter alia, that the applicants were engaged on casual basis/daily wages basis. The claim of the applicants is not for minimum wages as fixed by the Government of India under the said Act, but the claim was for payment of wages at par with the regular employees of Birla Institute of Technology and that the basis of their claim was under Section 12(1-A) of the said Act. The casual workers work for 5 days a week and 6-1/2 hours a day whereas regular employees work for 6 days a week and 8 hours a day and the regular employees are 24 hours' employees of the management and they are bound by the rules and as such the said casual workers cannot be treated or paid at par with the regular employees of the Birla Institute of Technology. Learned Assistant Labour Commissioner, after hearing the parties and considering the evidences adduced before him, came to the conclusion that the applicants are not equally placed with the regular employees of the BIT in respect of days and hours of work and in respect of duties, responsibilities and obedience of rules and other conditions of service and they cannot claim wages equal to the wages of the regular employees of the Birla Institute of Technology under Section 12(1-A) of the said Act. He concluded and held that the claim of the applicants were not tenable under Section 12(1-A) of the Minimum Wages Act. Aggrieved by the said order, an appeal was filed by the employees before the Deputy Labour Commissioner-cum-Appellate Authority under the said Act. Learned Appellate Authority, after hearing both the parties and considering the evidences, came to the conclusion that the employees were getting wages lesser than the prescribed minimum wages under the Act, by the Government. The Appellate Authority held that under the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, the applicants are entitled to get their prescribed minimum wages which has not been paid by the management-Birla Institution of Technology. The Appellate Authority has held that the employees are entitled to get Rs. 2,96,257/- more towards their balance minimum wages.

(3.) On perusal of the impugned order of the Appellate Authority, I find that there is nothing on record to show as to what was the prescribed minimum wages in respect of a particular work and how much has been paid and what is due. There is no clear basis to workout and arrive at the balance amount of the wages. According to the provisions of the law the employees are entitled to get their minimum wages, but in the instant case the employees have not complained of getting lesser wages than the prescribed rate by the Government, rather their claim was for wages at par with the regular employees of Birla Institute of Technology and the Assistant Labour Commissioner-cum-competent Authority rightly held that they were not entitled to the wages at par with the regular employees. The learned Appellate Authority should not have set aside that order while passing an order for payment of minimum wages to the employees in accordance with the prescribed scale of wages by the Government under the Minimum Wages Act. Considering the above, I find that the order of the Appellate Authority setting aside the order of the Assistant Labour Commissioner under the Minimum Wages Act is arbitrary and is not maintainable. The said order is quashed. However, it is made clear that employees are entitled to get their wages at the rate prescribed by the Government under the Minimum Wages Act and the management is liable to pay the minimum prescribed wages to the employees. If any amount is due towards their wages, the same shall be calculated and paid to the respective employee(s) within a period of three months from the date of production of receipt of the copy of this order.