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2020 Supreme(Mad) 416
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
K. RAVICHANDRABAABU, J.
M/s. Aarthi Enterprises, Rep. by its Partner G. Mythili - Appellant
Versus
Southern Railways, Rep. by the General Manager, Chennai & Others - Respondent
W.P.No. 17160 of 2019 & W.M.P. Nos. 16703 & 16705 of 2019
Decided On : 10-03-2020
For the Petitioner:P. Wilson, Senior Counsel, R. Neelakandan, Advocate. For the Respondent: R1 & R2, P.T. Ramkumar, Standing Counsel, R3, S. Thiruvengadam, SPC.
Headnote:
Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 226 - Minimum Wages Act, 1948 - Section 12 - Arbitration Act - Section 11 - Payment of revised Minimum wages – Enquiry – Contract - Petition from date of its implementation to continue to release revised minimum wages to petitioner enabling to disburse wages to employees engaged by petitioner as per Amendment regarding enhancement of wages to reimburse entire amount of excess wages being paid by petitioner to employees based on Ministry of Labor and Employment of Government of India along with interest at rate from date of respective payments made by petitioner to employees covered in all contracts and to pay corresponding and Bonus to employees engaged by petitioner on par with enhancement of minimum wages with further direction to third respondent to ensure above payments to be made by respondents petitioner within reasonable period be fixed by this Court - Held, Contention that rebate given by petitioner is inclusive of Schedule and therefore petitioner has to adjust from rates quoted Schedules and pay balance enhanced minimum wages to employees by themselves and not to claim same from Railways - Court not in position agree with above said submission for simple reason that neither petitioner nor Railways is entitled to touch amount referred to Clause either by way of reducing or giving rebate over same in any manner - Tender conditions and terms of contract are in clear and categorical terms say that it is not negotiable - Therefore railway is not justified in relying rebate given by petitioner which is undoubtedly referable only to Schedule certainly not to Schedule which are statutory obligations fastened on employer which nobody can give any rebate - Considering all these facts and circumstances court find that writ petition is maintainable as there is no arbitral dispute arises between parties for driving them for arbitration proceedings requiring fully fledged enquiry - Court also find that minimum wages enhanced from time to time is liable to be paid by employer to employee and in this case Railway being principal employer bound to reimburse same petitioner on making such payment to employees - In this case it is stated that petitioner has already paid minimum wages to its employees in pursuant to this Courts direction as an interim order - Therefore Railway is duty bound to reimburse same to petitioner - Petition disposed
JUDGMENT
(Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of mandamus to direct the respondents 1 and 2 to sanction and release of the Amended Enhanced Minimum Wages based on Notification No.S.O.190(E) dated 19.01.2017 issued by Ministry of Labour and Employment of Government of India, to the petitioner, in respect of all 30 contracts covered in this writ petition, from the date of its implementation; to continue to release the revised minimum wages to the petitioner, enabling to disburse the wages to the employees engaged by the petitioner as per the Amendment regarding enhancement of wages; to reimburse the entire amount of excess wages being paid by the petitioner to the employees, based on the Ministry of Labour and Employment of Government of India, along with interest at the rate of 18% from the date of respective payments, made by the petitioner to the employees covered in all 30 contracts and to pay corresponding EPF, ESI and Bonus to the employees engaged by the petitioner on par with the enhancement of minimum wages; with the further direction to the third respondent to ensure the above payments to be made by the respondents 1 and 2 to the petitioner within a reasonable period to be fixed by this Court.)
This Writ Petition is filed for issuing a Mandamus to direct the respondents 1 and 2 to sanction and release of the Amended Enhanced Minimum Wages based on Notification No.S.O.190(E) dated 19.01.2017 issued by Ministry of Labour and Employment of Government of India, to the petitioner, in respect of all 30 contracts covered in this writ petition, from the date of its implementation; to continue to release the revised minimum wages to the petitioner, enabling to disburse the wages to the employees engaged by the petitioner as per the Amendment regarding enhancement of wages; to reimburse the entire amount of excess wages being paid by the petitioner to the employees, based on the Ministry of Labour and Employment of Government of India, along with interest at the rate of 18% from the date of respective payments, made by the petitioner to the employees covered in all 30 contracts and to pay corresponding EPF, ESI and Bonus to the employees engaged by the petitioner on par with the enhancement of minimum wages; with the further direction to the third respondent to ensure the above payments to be made by the respondents 1 and 2 to the petitioner within a reasonable period to be fixed by this Court.
2. The case of the petitioner in short is as follows:
(i) The petitioner is a partnership firm mainly involved in construction and contract works. The petitioner is the contractor for executing the work of cleaning of the respective Railway Stations as per the 30 contracts awarded by the 1st respondent through the 2nd respondent, for a period of three years from the date of commencement of work. Letters of Acceptance were given and agreements have also been entered into between the petitioner and Commercial Divisional Manager of Southern Railways, Chennai. Four components of Schedules are stipulated in the subject Tenders Schedule as follows:
(A) Cost of Labourers for Normal Cleaning, Cobweb Removal and Garbage Removal;
(B) Cost of Consumables as per Annexure-D and E;
(C) Rental of Machineries/Vehicles as per Annexure-F
(D) Service Tax, EPF, ESI & Bonus.
Schedule A and Schedule D are non-negotiable conditions and there cannot be any alterations and reduction as they are fixed by the respective Statutes through the Statutory Authorities. The wages for the employees is fixed on par with the Minimum Wages Act. The petitioner took note of the minimum wages relating to the time of tender and quoted the bid amount. The petitioner cannot predict the quantum of enhancement of minimum wages as it is an outcome of the Parliament. It is always the duty of the employer to bear such enhancement
