Delhi govt gets Supreme Court nod to notify revised wages

A bench of Justice U U Lalit and Justice Aniruddha Bose said that till the revised wages are notified, an earlier notification dated March 3, 2017, issued by the government would hold the field.

The Delhi HC had on August 4, 2018, quashed the March 3 notification as ultra vires Article 14 of the Constitution and the Minimum Wages Act. The HC order said that the notification suffered from “non-application of mind, is based on no material and is in contravention of principles of natural justice.”

The state challenged this in the SC, which then asked the AAP government to carry out the exercise again. Acting on this direction, the state carried out a fresh exercise and filed an affidavit on August 26, 2019.

The revised minimum wages for unskilled labourers stands at Rs 14,842, Rs 16,341 for semi-skilled and Rs 17,991 for skilled workers. For clerical and supervisory staff, the minimum for non-matriculates is Rs 16,341,

Rs 17,991 for matriculates who are not graduates, and Rs 19,572 for graduates and above.

Appearing for the state, senior advocate Dushyant Dave said the exercise having been completed, the government be allowed to give effect to it.

The Delhi government, in a statement, said: “We welcome the SC’s decision and are working towards notifying it. We revised minimum wages keeping in mind the cost of basics such as food, housing, power etc.”