JUDGMENT

K. JAGANNATHA SHETTY, J.

(1) THE petitioners are carpenters 1st and 2nd grade employed at the Wood Working Centre of the Himachal Pradesh State Handicraft Corporation (the "Corporation"). They are termed as daily rated employees. In this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, they are seeking enforcement of their fundamental right to have "equal pay for equal work". They demand payment in terms paid to their counterparts in regular services. They want the same pay of the regular employees as carpenters or in the alternative, the minimum wages prescribed by the Deputy Commissioner for like categories of workmen. They also seek regularisation of their services with the benefits of pension, gratuity, etc.

(2) THE Corporation has resisted the petitioners claim. The case of the Corporation is that the unit where the petitioners are working is a factory registered under the Factories Act. The petitioners are treated as industrial workmen and are given all benefits due to them under the various labour legislations. The government has not fixed the minimum wages payable to the petitioners engaged in the Corporation or other like industries, but the Corporation