K.S Hegde, J. - (1.) The above-mentioned appeal by certificate as well as the petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution raise identical questions of law for decision. In both these proceedings the validity of the notification issued by the Government of Mysore in S. O. 1038, dated the 1st June, 1967 fixing the minimum wages of different classes of employees in residential hotels and eating houses in the State of Mysore, under the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (to be hereinafter referred to as the Act) is called into question. The Civil Appeal arises from the decision of the High Court of Mysore rejecting the various contentions advanced on behalf of some of the hotel owners questioning the validity of the impugned notification. The writ petition is filed by the All Mysore Hotels Association, Bangalore and the Madras Woodland Hotel raising these very contentions.
(2.) The impugned notification was challenged on several grounds before the High Court but in this Court only some of those grounds were pressed. The grounds urged in this Court are: (1) Section 5 (1) of the Act is violative of Art. 14 of the Constitution as it confers unguided and uncontrolled discretion on the Government to follow either of the alternative procedures prescribed in clauses (a) and (b) of that sub-section. (2) The provisions of the Act are unconstitutional as they confer arbitrary power without guidance to the Central and the State Governments concerned to fix minimum rates of wages and thus interfere with the freedom of trade guaranteed under Art. 19 (1) (g) of our Constitution. (3) It was incumbent on the Government to appoint a Committee under Sec. 5 (1) (a) of the Act to inquire into and advise it in the matter of fixing minimum wages. Its failure to do so has resulted in fixing minimum wages arbitrarily. (4) Fixing of minimum wages under the provisions of the Act being a quasi-judicial act, the Government's failure to observe the principles of natural justice has vitiated its decision. (5) It was not permissible for the Government to fix different minimum wages in different industries. (6) The division of the State into zones and fixing different rates of minimum wages for different zones was impermissible under the Act. (7) The division of the State into zones was not done on any rational basis and (8) The valuation of the food to be provided to the employees is unreasonably low and the same was done without the authority of law.
(3.) The Act came to be enacted to give effect to the resolutions passed by the minimum wages fixing Machinery Convention held at Geneva in 1928. The relevant resolutions of the Convention are embodied in Arts. 223 to 228 of the International Labour Code. The object of these resolutions as stated in Art. 224 was to fix minimum wages in industries "in which no arrangements exist for the effective regulation of wages by collective agreements or otherwise and wages are exceptionally low". The Central legislature enacted the Act in 1948 and it came into force on March 15, 1948. The long title to the Act says that it is an Act for fixing minimum rates of wages for certain employments. The preamble to the Act says that "it is expedient to provide for fixing minimum rates of wages in certain employments". Section 2 defines certain terms. Section 3 empowers the appropriate Government which expression is defined in Sec. 2 (b) to fix the minimum rates of wages payable to the employees employed in an employment specified in Part I or in part II of the Schedule and in any employment added to either part in exercise of the powers granted under Section 27 of the Act. Clause (b) of Sec. 3 (2) empowers the appropriate Government to review at such intervals as it may think fit, such intervals not exceeding five years, minimum rates of wages so fixed and revise the minimum rates, if necessary. Sub-section (3) of that section stipulates that in fixing or revising minimum rates of wages under that section different minimum rates of wages may be fixed in different scheduled employments for different classes of work in the same scheduled employment for adults, adolescents, children and apprentices and for different localities. Section 4 prescribes the different methods in which the minimum rates of wages can be fixed. Section 5 is important for our present purpose. It reads thus: " (1) In fixing minimum rates of wages in respect of any scheduled employment for the first time under this Act or in revising minimum rates of wages so fixed, the appropriate Government shall either - (a) appoint as many committees and sub-committees as it considers necessary to hold enquiries and advise it in respect of such fixation or revision, as the case may be, or (b) by notification in the Official Gazette, publish its proposals for the information of persons likely to be affected thereby and specify a date, not less than two months from the date of the notification on which the proposals will be taken into consideration. (2) After considering the advice of the committee or committees appointed under clause (a) of sub-section (1) or as the case may be, all representations received by it before the date specified in the notification under clause (b) of that sub-section, the appropriate Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, fix or, as the case may be, revise the minimum rates of wages in respect of each scheduled employment, and unless such notification otherwise provides, it shall come into force on the expiry of three months from the date of its issue: Provided that where the appropriate Government proposes to revise the minimum rates of wages by the mode specified in clause (b) of sub-sec. (1), the appropriate Government shall consult the Advisory Board also". ;