JUDGMENT :

RANJAN GOGOI, J.

1. The Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955 (hereinafter for short ‘the Act’) was enacted to regulate the conditions of service of working journalists and other persons employed in newspaper establishments throughout the country. The Act is a comprehensive piece of legislation dealing with, inter alia, entitlement to gratuity, hours of work, leave as well as fixation of wages payable both to the working journalists and non-journalist newspaper employees, as may be. So far as fixation and revision of wages is concerned, Section 9 of the Act has left such fixation or revision of wages in respect of working journalists to be dealt with by a Wage Board constituted thereunder. The recommendations of the Wage Board, if accepted, are to be notified by the Central Government under Section 12 of the Act. Section 13 of the Act provides that upon coming into operation of the Order of the Central Government under Section 12 every working journalist will be entitled to be paid wages at the rate not less than what is specified in the Order. Chapter IIA of the Act contains pari materia provisions