Delhi govt will move SC against quashing revision of min wages by HC

The APP government will challenge the Delhi High Court verdict that quashed its notification on revision of minimum wages for workers, Labour minister Gopal Rai said today.

In its August 4 verdict, the court scrapped the Delhi government's much-touted March 2017 order revising the minimum wages for all classes of workmen in scheduled employment, saying the "hurried" decision was taken without hearing the employers or employees who would be affected and was violative of the Constitution.

In a meeting with officers his department, Rai reviewed the court order.

"Delhi government will challenge the verdict through a special leave petition in the Supreme Court," Rai told reporters.

The strategy to be followed by the government in challenging the High Court verdict will be discussed with the counsel of the department in a meeting tomorrow, he said.

The minister claimed that the order impacts the interests of around 50-60 lakh employees, and said opinion of the trade unions will also be sought on the issue through a meeting with them on August 9.

The government will also explore administrative ways to find a solution, he said.

In its 218-page verdict, the High Court had also set aside the September 2016 notification by which a Minimum Wages Advisory Committee for all scheduled employments was set up, saying that its constitution was "completely flawed".

Rai said a study of court verdict showed that the court raised two points- the decision was made hurriedly and the constitution of the committee was flawed- which were "not that strong".

"The court has not, however, commented on the formula used by us to hike the minimum wages," he said.

The minister claimed that the notification was issued after the revision of wages was deliberated in at least 17 meetings of two committees over a period of over a year.

The committee which recommended revised wages was similar in constitution to a committee that had been formed for revision of dearness allowance (DA), he said.