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ABP Pvt. Ltd. and Another v. Union of India and Others

Writ Petition (Civil) · Neutral citation not assigned (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 246 of 2011)Decided 7 Feb 2014
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 246 of 2011
Chief Justice P. Sathasivam · Justice Ranjan Gogoi · Justice Shiva Kirti Singh

Background

Newspaper employers challenged the statute regulating newspaper employees' service conditions and the government notification adopting the Majithia Wage Boards' recommendations. They alleged unconstitutional discrimination, biased board membership, procedural irregularities and failure to assess capacity to pay. Eligible employees sought implementation of the revised wages.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the challenges and upheld the wage recommendations. The existence of other media industries without the same benefits did not invalidate the protection granted to newspaper employees, and the claimed bias and procedural defects were not established. The boards had taken relevant financial and regional factors into account, including graded obligations for differently sized establishments. Revised wages were payable from 11 November 2011, with arrears through March 2014 payable in four equal instalments within a year and revised ongoing wages from April 2014.

Lesson Learnt

Employees covered by a valid statutory wage award can claim its prescribed wages and arrears. Employers cannot avoid that obligation merely because employees in another industry lack equivalent benefits or because they disagree with the board's assessment.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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