The main legal point established in the judgment is the influence of Art.31C of the Constitution on the validity of the Kerala Motor Transport Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1985, and the reasonableness of the provisions for contributions towards provident fund and gratuity under the Act and the Scheme.

1. This batch of writ appeals and writ petitions is by the owners of the motor transport undertakings in the State of Kerala. They challenge the validity of S.4 of the Kerala Motor Transport Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1985 (the Act for short) and the scheme issued by the Government under S.3 of the Act. A learned Single Judge of this Court has upheld the validity of S.4 and the scheme as per the common judgment in a batch of writ petitions. The writ appeals are against the judgment of the learned Single judge reported in 1987 Lab, I.C. 796. The learned judge has repelled the contention that the relevant provisions of the Act, especially S.4, are violative of Art.14 of the Constitution. The contention that the Act authorises excessive delegation of power to the Government is also negatived. The Act, according to the learned judge, gets the protection of Art.31-C of the Constitution and for that reason is immune from attack as violative of Art.14 and 19 of the Constitution.

2. A general conspectus of the Act and the Scheme is given in the judgment under appeal, and it is unnecessary to repeat the same in this judgment. The act replaced Ordinance 38 of 1985 that had come into force on 27-6-1985. The Government had on 11-7-1985 brought into force a scheme under S.3 of the Ordinance for the implementation of its provisions and the said scheme, by virtue of S.26(2) of the Act, is to be deemed to have been issued under the Act. The bill as passed by the Legislative Assembly of the State was reserved for the assent of the President, the President gave his assent on 12-8-1985 and the Act was published in the gazette dated 16-8-1985. The Preamble of the Act shows that it is to provide for the constitution of a fund to promote the welfare of motor transport workers in the State of Kerala. The Act shall be deemed to have come into force on 27th June, 1985 (S.1(3). S.3 of the Act provides for the framing of a scheme and for constitution of a fund in accordance with the Act and the Scheme. The expression "employee" is defined in S.2(d) as a person employed for wages in a motor transport undertaking. "Motor transport undertaking" as per its definition in S.2(h) means a motor transport undertaking engaged in carrying passengers or goods or both by road for hire or reward and includes a private carrier. S.2(e) defines the term "employer"as a person or the authority having ultimate control over the affairs of a motor transport undertaking. S.4 of the Act reads:

"Contributions to the Fund.-(1) The contribution which shall be paid by the employer to the Fund shall be eight percent of the wages for the time being payable to each of the employees and employees' contribution shall be equal to the contribution payable by the employer in respect of him:

Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to a motor transport undertaking to which the provisions of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (Central Act 19 of 1952), apply.

(2) The employer shall, in addition to the contribution payable under sub-section (1), contribute to the Fund as gratuity an amount equal to five per cent of the wages for the time being payable to each of the employees:

Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to a motor transport undertaking to which the provisions of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (Central Act 39 of 1972), apply.

(3)Where the amount of any contribution payable under this Act involves a fraction of a rupee, such fraction shall be rounded off to the nearest rupee, half of a rupee or quarter of a rupee."

The proviso to sub-sec.(1) of S.4 excludes from its operation motor transport undertakings to which the provisions of the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (Central Act 19 of 1952) apply. Similarly the proviso to sub sec. (2) excludes motor transport undertakings to which the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (Central Act 39 of 1972) applies. Central Act 19 of 1952, in virtue