Per SUNIL AMBW ANI, J.

Heard Shri G.D. Misra for the petitioner.

Shri M.P.S. Chauhan appears for respondent-workmen Nos. 4 to 59.

The petitioner is a co-operative society engaged in the business of purchasing, pausturising, packing and selling milk and milk products in the trade name of Parag in District Hathras. By this writ petition the petitioner has prayed to set aside an order dated October 31, 2008 passed by the Prescribed Authority, Minimum of Wages Act, 1948/Depuly Labour Commissioner, Aligarh, by which he has awarded Rs.1,86,696/- as the difference between minimum wages and the wages paid to the 56 workmen engaged by the petitioner as labour, paiker, mali, lab assistant, electrician, refrigiration plant operator, sweeper, clerk and boiler attendant etc. and Rs. 56,000/- as penalty at the rate of Rs.1000/- per workman.

2. The 56 workmen made a complaint to the Prescribed Authority that they were engaged through Shri Jai Mangal and Shri Roshan Singh, contractors to work in the dairy run by the petitioner. They claimed the difference of minimum wages and wages paid to them for the period from August 2005 to January 2006 and ten times compensation for defaults made under