TRUST OF INDIA AND ANR. versus UNION OF INDIA & ANR.

TRUST OF INDIA AND ANR. versus UNION OF INDIA & ANR.

The order of the Central Government in relation to P.T.I. is struck down as it violates Article 14 and the requirements of Section 10. The Wage Board failed to justify placing P.T.I. in a higher class and did not properly consider its capacity to pay, nor should it have awarded wages higher than those demanded without due procedure.

Parties
Appellant/petitioner: Press Trust of India; Petitioner: Indian National Press (Bombay) Ltd.; Respondent No. 1: Union of India; Respondent No. 2: Indian Federation of Working Journalists; Intervener (in C.a. 2102/68): K. Rajendra Chaudhry
Jurisdiction
India
Judgment Date
23 April 1974
Procedural Posture
Civil Appeal and Writ Petitions / Supreme Court (final Disposition)
Outcome
Allowed in part; order against P.T.I. struck down; dismissed as to Indian National Press.
Legal Topics
Working Journalists' Wages, Reasonableness of Classification, Discrimination Under Article 14, Procedural Safeguards in Wage Fixation
Labour Law Constitutional Law Working Journalists' Wages Reasonableness of Classification Discrimination Under Article 14 Procedural Safeguards in Wage Fixation

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Parties

Press Trust of India

Appellant/petitioner

Indian National Press (Bombay) Ltd.

Petitioner

Union of India

Respondent No. 1

Indian Federation of Working Journalists

Respondent No. 2

K. Rajendra Chaudhry

Intervener (in C.a. 2102/68)

Procedural Posture

Civil Appeal and Writ Petitions / Supreme Court (final Disposition)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the Central Government's order accepting the Wage Board's recommendations violated Article 14 by discriminating against P.T.I. in classification and wage fixation.
  2. 2 Whether the Wage Board considered P.T.I.'s capacity to pay, as required under Section 10 of the Working Journalists (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955.
  3. 3 Whether the Wage Board exceeded its jurisdiction by awarding wages higher than those demanded by the employees.

Ratio Decidendi

The order of the Central Government in relation to P.T.I. is struck down as it violates Article 14 and the requirements of Section 10. The Wage Board failed to justify placing P.T.I. in a higher class and did not properly consider its capacity to pay, nor should it have awarded wages higher than those demanded without due procedure.

Court Disposition

Allowed in part; order against P.T.I. struck down; dismissed as to Indian National Press.

Orders

  • The order of the Central Government (S.O. 3883 dated October 27, 1967), in so far as it concerns Press Trust of India, is struck down.
  • P.T.I. is directed to pay the wages agreed between P.T.I. and its employees from the date when wages were payable as per the Board's recommendations until refixed by the government on recommendations of another Wage Board.