New Delhi Jun 19,
2017. The Supreme Court has directed that the Majithia Wage Board
recommendations on wages for newspaper employees have to be "implemented
in toto" and managements could not cite lack of funds for avoiding
payments.
It also said in
its judgment on Monday that there was no difference between full-time employees
and contract workers as far as the implementation of the Majithia Wage Board
recommendations are concerned.
A two-member bench
of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, had on May 3 reserved its
judgement in a contempt petion against newspaper groups brought by newspaper
employee unions, including the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ).
The court said on
Monday that newspapers' defiance of the earlier court order was not
"wilful".
Earlier, counsel
for many newspaper groups had argued that implementing the Wage Board's
recommendations would be beyond their paying capacity. The print media
companies have said that any forced implementation would "cripple newspapers'
finances".
The newspaper
unions had, however, argued that newspapers had the capacity to pay but were
avoiding to do so.
The Majithia panel
was set up by the Congress-led UPA government in 2007 and four years later its
recommendations were accepted by the union cabinet. The Gazette notification on
this was published on November 11, 2011.
In February 2014,
the Supreme Court had upheld the recommendations, directing the newspaper
companies to implement the recommendations.
[Source: -IANS]
SC verdict on
non-implementation of Majithia wage board award
The Supreme Court
today said the part implementation and non-implementation of the Majithia Wage
Board award on pay structures of journalists and non-journalists by some
newspaper establishments would not amount to wilful default attracting
contempt.
The court also
said the award has been approved by it in its judgment on February 7, 2014 and,
therefore, has to be "implemented in full".
Granting one more
opportunity for implementation of the Wage Board award and its judgement, the
court said non-implementation or partial implementation clearly stemmed from
the understanding of the award by the concerned newspaper establishments in a
particular manner.
The apex court was
delivering its judgement while disposing off 83 contempt petitions filed by
journalists, non-journalists and associations.
"At best, the
default alleged has taken place on account of a wrong understanding of the
Award as upheld by this court. This would not amount to wilful default so as to
attract the
liability of civil
contempt as defined under Section 2(b) of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
"The default alleged though is unmistakably evident to
us, in the absence
of any wilful or deliberate intention to commit the same cannot make any of the
newspaper establishment liable for contempt. On the other hand, they are
entitled to
one more
opportunity to implement the Award in its proper spirit and effect in the light
of what we now propose to say," a bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin
Sinha said.
It said clause
20(j) of the award read with Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees
(Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955, guarantees to
each
"newspaper employee" as defined under the Act the entitlement to
receive wages as recommended by the Wage Board and approved and notified by the
Central Government.
"The wages
notified supersedes all existing contracts governing wages as may be in force.
However, the legislature has made it clear by incorporating the provisions of Section
16 that, notwithstanding the wages as may be fixed and notified, it will always
be open to concerned employee to agree to and accept any benefits which is more
favourable to him than what has been notified under the Act," it said.
The court said there
was nothing either in the Act or in the terms of the wage board award which
would enable it to hold that the benefits of the award would be
"restricted to regular employees and not contractual employees".
It also said
"variable pay" concept has been incorporated in the award in order to
give a fair and equitable treatment to employees of newspapers and news
agencies.
The bench said
since it has been held that none of the newspaper establishments in the facts
of the cases before it, was guilty of contempt, the complaints with regard to
non-
implementation of
the Award or otherwise would be dealt by the mechanism provided under the Act
itself.
The apex court had
on February 7, 2014, upheld the recommendations of Majithia Wage Board for
journalists and non-journalists on their pay structure and directed that the
revised salaries
be granted to the employees.
The 6th (Majithia)
Wage Board was constituted by the Labour Ministry in 2007 despite strong
reservations from the newspaper industry. The award has led to additional
financial burden for the industry, according to newspaper establishments.
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