Calcutta High Court Directs Govt To Finalise Minimum Wage Of Tea Plantation Workers Within 6 Weeks, Calls It A Statutory & Legal Right

The Calcutta High Court's circuit bench at Jalpaiguri has directed the West Bengal government to finalise the minimum wage of tea plantation workers within 6 weeks, under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.

This comes after a coordinate bench had upheld the interim hike in wages for the workers and directed the state to finalise a minimum wage within 6 months. Upon the expiry of this period, the petitioners represented by Senior Advocate Dr S Muralidhar approached the Court stating that the State had not complied with the Coordinate bench's direction for setting a minimum wage.

Upon hearing these submissions, a single bench of Justice Aniruddha Roy held:

To receive minimum wages is a statutory and legal right under the Minimum Wages Act. Even an individual if thinks fit that he is deprived of such legal right can maintain a writ petition. [State] shall decide the issue in the light of the observation made by the co-ordinate bench In the matter of: Goodricke Group Limited & Ors. (Supra) as quoted above, by passing a reasoned order in accordance with law. The entire exercise as directed above shall be carried out and completed by the respondent No. 2 positively within a period of six weeks from the date of communication of this order.

The counsel for the petitioners stated that despite direction being made by the coordinate bench, the State Government through its appropriate authority had not yet taken any step for finalization of the minimum wages within the time frame directed. 

It was stated that since the said judgment was delivered by the co-ordinate bench on the challenge made by the different petitioners, these petitioners cannot file contempt as these petitioners were not parties to the previous writ petition in which the judgment was delivered.

Counsel for respondent No. 4 stated a preliminary objection to the maintainability of this writ petition. He submitted that the cause espoused through this writ petition was in the nature of a Public Interest Litigation and therefore, the present writ petition filed by an unrecognised Trade Union was not maintainable.

However, the Court stated that receiving minimum wages was a statutory and legal right under the Minimum Wages Act and that even an individual if thinks fit that he is deprived of such legal right can maintain a writ petition.

Accordingly, it directed the State to comply with the order passed by the coordinate bench.

Advocates for the petitioners: Dr. S. Muralidhar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Purbayan Chakraborty, Adv. Mr. Deeptangshu Kar, Adv.  Mr. M. A. Karthik, Adv Mr. Maitreya Subramaniam, Adv Ms. Pallak Bhagat, Adv Mr. Hillol Saha Podder, AO

Case: Paschim Banga Cha Majoor Samity & Ors. v The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Case No: W.P.A. 814 of 2024

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Cal) 89