Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) The Supreme Court Tuesday said that when the union cabinet was seized of the matter relating to the recommendations of the Justice G.R. Majithia wage boards for working journalists and non-journalists and other newspaper employees, propriety demands that the court should not interfere with it.

An apex court bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Dipak Misra said: “Once the matter has been referred to the cabinet, the propriety demands (to) let the cabinet take the decision.”

The observation came after senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) objected to the legality of the wage board’s constitution, contending that the government manipulated its composition to ensure that newspapers remained subservient to it.

Justice Bhandari told the senior counsel that there were two options - to either keep the matter pending or wait for the cabinet to take decision. “In case it goes in your favour, you need not oppose it. Otherwise you come to the court.”

The other option is “we do not allow the cabinet to take the decision and hear you first”.

Venugopal said: “We want the second option because once the government notifies the recommendations of the wage board it will come into force with immediate effect.”

“As it is we pay 15 percent more salaries, giving 30 percent more would undoubtedly create labour problems,” he maintained.

Venugopal told the court that the wage board was not validly constituted because the government never appointed three independent persons as required.

Asserting that “this is no wage board in the eyes of law”, Venugopal said that the government had appointed its own labour secretary as the secretary to the wage board.

The court gave the central government four weeks to file an affidavit stating its position and listing the matter for Dec 7.