BOKARO CONTRACTOR ASSOCIATION Vs. BOKARO STEEL PLANT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) At the request of the learned counsel for the petitioner, the defects as pointed out by the office are ignored for the present.

(2.) In the present writ petition, the petitioner has prayed for issuance of direction upon the respondents to allow the members of the petitioner-Association to pay the monthly wages to their labourers as per long existing practice of payment through issuing the individual cheque. A further prayer has been made for quashing the circular 15.11.2017 issued by the respondent no. 4 (Annexure2 to the writ petition) contained in Memo No. PERS/W/CLC/20172175, whereby members of the petitioner-Association have been directed to make payment of wages to their workers/labourers by way of bank transfer through epayment mode i.e., RTGS/NEFT and no payment of wages should be done through individual bank cheque.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioner-Association submits that it is a registered Association and the members are the contractors engaged in execution of different types of civil, mechanical and electrical jobs under Bokaro Steel Plant. The members of the petitioner-Association have engaged several workers/labourers for execution of the job awarded to them and they use to make payment of wages to the said workers/labourers by way of issuing cheques. The learned counsel for the petitioner-Association further submits that the amended provision of Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 [as per the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016], the wages are to be paid in current coin or currency notes or by cheque or by crediting the wages in the bank account of the employees. Thus, the circular dated 15.11.2017 issued by the respondent no. 4 directing inter alia that no payment of wages to the contract workers will be made by individual cheque, rather the same should be made by way of bank transfer through epayment mode i.e., RTGS/NEFT is completely arbitrary. The members of the petitioner-Association are not in a position to make payment of wages to the workers through electronic mode in such a short span of time.