Telangana HC Issues Notice In Contempt Plea Alleging Non-Compliance Of Orders Directing Publication Of Revised Minimum Wages For Scheduled Employment

The Telangana High Court has issued a contempt notice to the Chief Secretary, Special Chief Secretary, Commissioner of the Labour, and Secretary Printing Press for not revising and publishing the minimum wages in respect of scheduled employment under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 as per the earlier directions of the Court in a PIL.

Contempt proceedings were initiated against the State Authorities alleging wilful non-compliance with the aforesaid order of the Court directing the publication of the minimum wages through Government Orders (G.O.'s).

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice N. V. Shravan Kumar, after hearing the petitioner issued notice and postponed the matter for counterarguments of the State.

In October 2023, M/s Telangana Regional Trade Union Council filed a PIL challenging the inaction of the government in not revising the minimum rate of wages for 73 scheduled employments which are listed in Part 1&2 of the Minimum Wages Act, and for non-publishing of G.O.s for the Five Schedule Employments.

The counsel on behalf of the petitioner had contended that proposals for revision of wages had been pending before the State Government for the last 12-16 years, yet no steps had been taken to issue revised wages.

Further, it had been argued that although the State Government had issued G.O.s in 2021 prescribing revised minimum wages for 5 scheduled employments, no G.O.s had been published in respect of the revised wages, and the same was adversely affecting almost 47 Lakh unorganized laborers.

The State Government had undertaken to ensure that the concerned G.O.s would be published in the Gazette at the earliest.

Owing to the undertaking made on behalf of the State, the Bench had passed directions, directing the State Government to take necessary actions to revise the minimum wages as prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act and to publish the same in a Gazette within 6 weeks.

The present contempt proceedings have been filed against non-compliance with the above-mentioned orders.

CC 2624 of 2023 in Wp(PIL) 14 of 2023

Counsel for petitioner: Prabhakar Chikkudu.

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