Uttaranchal High Court: The present writ petition was filed seeking to issue a writ, order, or direction in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondents to take proper measures for the compliance of the Government Order No. 329/VIII/19-228(Labour)/2001-Part-II dated 08-03-2019 and Government Order No. 306/ VIII-1/24- 228(Labour)/ 2001-Part-II dated 15-03-2024 and to provide minimum wages/salary to the brick kiln workers otherwise the petitioner shall suffer irreparable loss and legal injury. Manoj Kumar Tiwari, J., directed the Labour Commissioner, Uttarakhand, to have all Brick Kilns inspected to ensure that the minimum wages, as revised vide Government Order dated 15-03-2024, were paid to all the workers.
The petitioner submitted that the State Government had issued a Government Order dated 15-03-2024, whereby minimum wages payable to workmen employed in Brick Kiln were revised.
Counsel for the respondents submitted that surprise inspections were made in 13 Brick Kilns in Haridwar District, and it was found that minimum wages, as revised by the Government Order, were being paid to all workmen employed in those Brick Kilns. Thus, he submitted that the present writ petition was filed without verifying facts.
Counsel for the petitioner, however, submitted that there were more than 200 Brick Kilns in Haridwar District and surprise inspection was done only in 13 of them. He further submitted that the condition of workmen employed in Brick Kilns was pathetic, as they were being paid paltry sum as wages, which was much less than the minimum wages fixed for them.
The Court disposed of the writ petition with direction to the Labour Commissioner, Uttarakhand, to have all Brick Kilns inspected to ensure that the minimum wages, as revised vide Government Order dated 15-03-2024, were paid to all the workers. The Labour Commissioner shall also ensure that the provisions of all Labour Welfare Legislations were also being complied with in respect of Brick Kiln workers. The Court stated that the compliance report shall be filed by the Labour Commissioner within eight weeks of the date of production of a certified copy of this order.
[Madan Singh Khalsa v. State of Uttarakhand, 2024 SCC OnLine Utt 1493, decided on 11-06-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Petitioner: Shubhr Rastogi, Advocate
For the Respondent: Suyash Pant, Standing Counsel
