JUDGMENT

Rajendra Babu, J.-The Government of Tamil Nadu issued a notification under Section 10(1) of the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 [hereinafter referred to as the Act ] prohibiting the employment of contract labour in the process of sweeping and scavenging in the establishments/factories which are employing 50 or more workmen. This prohibition is without reference to class of establishment which is involved or the conditions of work in a particular establishment. Under Section 10 of the Act the Government is obliged to consult the Tamil Nadu State Contract Labour Advisory Board [for short the Board ] before issuing a notification in question. The appellants contended that there has been no effective consultation with the Board inasmuch as the only occasion when this aspect was considered was in the Sub-Committee meeting of the Board. The Minutes of the meeting made available to the Court disclosed that it recorded the views of the All India Manufacturers Organisation to the effect that the sweepers and scavengers work not for more than 2 to 3 hours daily and the view of the employees representatives was that sweepers and scavengers are working for more t