The State Legislature has the power to make laws with respect to matters enumerated in the Concurrent List, including the fixation of minimum wages.

( 1 ) THIS order will also govern Miscellaneous Petitions Nos. 227 242, 243 and 297, all of 1961.

( 2 ) IN these five cases under Article 226 of the Constitution, the petitioners, challenge the vires of the Minimum Wages (Madhya Pradesh Amendment and Validation) Act, 1961, (hereinafter referred to as the Validation Act), and seek a declaration that the said Act is constitutionally invalid, ultra vires and unenforceable, and pray that a suitable direction be issued to the opponents for bearing them from giving effect to the Validation Act in any manner whatsoever.

( 3 ) THE matter arises thus. In the former State of Madhya Pradesh, which comprised the Mahakoshal region of the new State of Madhya Pradesh, the minimum wages for the workers in concerns owned by the petitioners were first fixed in 1951 by notifications issued in 1951. These rates were revised in 1956 and 1957. After the formation of the new State of Madhya Pradesh, the Government constituted under Sections 5 and 6 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), an Advisory Board. The proposals published by the Government for fixation of the rates of minimum wages were considered by the Advisory Board and ultimately the Government published Notifications Nos. 306 to 309 XVI-58 dated the 30th December 1958 bringing into force the rates of minimum wages set out therein as from the 1st January 1959. These notifications were struck down by this Court as invalid and inoperative in Anand Transport Company (Private) Ltd. v. The State of Madhya Pradesh, MP No. 150 of 1959 (MP), Corporation of the City of Jabalpur v. State of M. P. , MP No. 66 of 1959 (MP) and Narottamdas v. P. B. Gowarikar, 1961 MP LJ 302 : (AIR 1961 Madh Pra 182 ). It was held in those cases that the notifications' as initially fixing the rates of minimum wages were void and inoperative as the rates of minimum wages had already been fixed and that viewed as notifications of the rates of wages on revision, they were illegal inasmuch as the revision was not in accordance with Section 5 (1) (b) of the principal Act that the notifications about the proposals for fixation of minimum rates were not in compliance with Section 5 (1) (b) as they did not specify any date for the receipt of representations and consequently the notifications settling the rates of minimum wages on the basis of those proposals were unsustainable; and that the notifications wore invalid also on the ground that they gave retrospective operation to the rates of minimum wages fixed by them, as the principal Act did not authorize the issue of a notification with retrospective effect. In the case of Narottamdas, 1961 MP LJ 302 ; (AIR 1951 Madh Pra 182) (supra) it was also held that the Advisory Board constituted by the Government was not validly constituted in conformity with the requirements of section 9 of the principal Act, and consequently a notification fixing minimum rates of wages issued after consultation with such a Board was invalid.

( 4 ) THE notifications having been struck down by this Court, the State Legislature enacted the Minimum Wages (Madhya Pradesh Amendment and Validation) Act, 1961. It is styled as "an Act further to amend the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, (No. XI of 1948), in its application to the State of Madhya Pradesh and to validate fixation and revision of minimum wages in certain scheduled employments". This Act amended some sections of the principal Act and also inserted new provisions. The material provisions of the Validation Act are Sections 5 and 20 by which the following two new sections were inserted in the principal Act :

"9a. No order of the State Government nominating any person as the Chairman or a member of the Advisory Board or a Committee or Subcommittee shall be called in question in any manner and no act or proceeding before any Board, Committee or Sub-committee shall be called in question in any manner in any Court of Law on the grounds merely of the existen