1982 JTR(SC) 121
1982 30 BLJR 401 ; 1982 45 FLR 140 ; 1982 1 Scale 817 ; 1982 2 SCC 494 ; 1982 SCC(L&S) 262 ; 1982 UJ 553

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Baharul Islam : P.N.Bhagwati
Peoples Union For Democratic Rights
Versus
Union Of India
Case No. : 8143 of 1981
Date of Decision : 5/11/82


Act Referred :CONSTITUTION OF INDIA : Art.32, Art.21, Art.16
CONTRACT LABOUR REGULATION AND ABOLITION ACT : S.21
EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN ACT : S.3
EQUAL REMUNERATION ACT : S.4, S.5
INTER STATE MIGRANT WORKMEN REGULATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE ACT : S.15, S.14, S.17, S.16, S.13
MINIMUM WAGES ACT : S.12

Employment of Children Act, 1938 - Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 - Minimum Wages Act, 1948, - Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 - Relief to workmen - Contractors engaged in construction work of indoor stadium at Estate Asian Village Complex at Fort Road swimming pool at Garden flyovers at Estate Hospital Hotel and Lodi Road and hotel project near Hotel and for this purpose carry out weekly inspections and file copies of inspection reports in this court in proceedings of present writ petition and if any violations of the provisions of these statutes are noticed, then immediately file prosecutions against defaulting contractors - Union of India Administration and Delhi Development Authority are also directed to ensure that minimum wage is paid by contractors directly to workers without intervention of and if any commission has to be paid to contractors may pay it to without deducting any part of it from minimum wage payable to workers and contractors shall not employ any children - Held respondents as also contractors to whom construction work of different projects is entrusted by respondents are directed to provide all necessary facilities for purpose of enabling to carry out inspection as desired by us - If these three persons want to interview any of workmen separately and independently contractors will provide requisite facilities for same - If as a result of reports made by these three gentlemen it is found that any violation of labor laws are committed by any of contractors and no action is taken by concerned authorities for redress in respect of such violations petitioners will be at liberty to apply for necessary relief by having present writ petition placed on board for directions - Order Accordingly

(1) WE allow the writ petition and direct that the Union of India, the Delhi Administration and the Delhi Development Authority do take the necessary steps for enforcing observance of the provisions of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, the Employment of Children Act, 1938 and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 by the contractors engaged in the construction work of the indoor stadium at Indraprastha Estate, Asian Village Complex at Siri Fort Road, swimming pool at Talkatora Garden, flyovers at Indraprastha Estate, Moolchand Hospital, Oberoi Hotel and Lodi Road and the hotel project near Ashoka Hotel and for this purpose, carry out weekly inspections and file copies of the inspection reports in this court in the proceedings of the present writ petition and if any violations of the provisions of these statutes are noticed, then immediately file prosecutions against the defaulting contractors. The Union of India, the Delhi Administration and the Delhi Development Authority are also directed to ensure that the minimum wage is paid by the contractors directly to the workers without the intervention of the Jamadars and if any commission has to be paid to the Jamadars, the contractors may pay it to the Jamadars without deducting any part of it from the minimum wage payable to the workers and the contractors shall not employ any children below the age of 14 years in the construction work and shall provide all the facilities and conveniences which are required to be provided under the provisions of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 which has already come into force with effect from 2/10/1980 and under which the powers to enforce its provisions have been delegated to the Delhi Administration on 18/07/1981. We would also like to appoint two independent institutions to act as ombudsmen for protecting the interests of the workers and ensuring observance of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, the Employment of Children Act, 1938 and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 by the contractors. We would therefore request Shri Walter Fernandes and Shri Alfred DSouza, Directors, Indian Social Institute, Lodi Road, New Delhi-110003 and Shri Das Gupta, Director, Peoples Institutes for Development and Training, New Delhi-110 016, to visit the sites of the construction work carried on in respect of the following projects, namely, indoor stadium at Indraprastha Estate, Asian Village Complex at Siri Fort Road, swimming pool at Talkatora Garden, flyovers at Indraprastha Estate, Oberoi Hotel, Mool Chand Hospital arid Lodi Road and the hotel project near Ashoka Hotel and make close and detailed enquiries of the workmen for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of the above mentioned statutes are being implemented and observed by the contractors. We would in particular invite the attention of Shri Walter Fernandes, Shri Alfred DSouza and Shri Das Gupta to S. 16, 17, 18, 19,20 and 21 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, S. 12 of the Minimum Wages Act, S. 4 and 5 of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, S. 3 of the Employment of Children Act, 1938 and S. 13 to 17 of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979. We suggest that these three persons whom we have nominated for the purpose of inspection, should visit the sites of the construction work once in a week and submit their weekly reports to this court which may be taken on record in the proceedings of this writ petition. We direct the Registry to supply copies of these reports to Mr Govind Mukhoti, petitioner 2, who is an Advocate of this court as also to the Labour Commissioner of Delhi Administration and the Under-Secretary to the Ministry of Labour, government of India, so that on the basis of these reports, necessary action can be taken against the contractors, if so required. The respondents as also the contractors to whom the construction work of the different projects is entrusted by the respondents are directed to provide all necessary facilities for the purpose of enabling Shri Walter Fernandes, Shri Alfred DSouza, and Shri Das Gupta to carry out the inspection as desired by us. If these three persons want to interview any of the workmen separately and independently, the contractors will provide the requisite facilities for the same. If as a result of the reports made by these three gentlemen it is found that any violation of the labour laws are committed by any of the contractors and no action is taken by the concerned authorities for redress in respect of such violations, the petitioners will be at liberty to apply for necessary relief by having the present writ petition placed on board for directions.

(2) WE must express our sense of gratitude to Mr Govind Mukhoti, petitioner 2 for having assisted us in bringing relief to the workmen by filing the present writ petition. Since the petitioners have brought this matter before the court by addressing a letter and they have appeared in person we make no order as to costs except expressing our sense of appreciation for the public service rendered by the petitioners in bringing this litigation before the court.

(3) WE shall give our reasons for making this Order in due course.

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