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Jurists flay non-payment of minimum wages

Special Correspondent

Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

Delinking of MGNREGA wage from minimum wage ‘unconstitutional'

Government urged to honour Minimum Wages Act

NEW DELHI: Fourteen eminent jurists on Thursday issued an open statement expressing anguish
over the payment of less than minimum wages by the government under the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and warned that it amounted to
perpetuating forced labour.

The legal luminaries, among them retired judges of the Supreme Court, urged the Union and State
governments to honour the Minimum Wages Act as it was inconceivable to have the government
pay less-than-the-minimum wages on its own works.

Describing as unconstitutional the Central government's delinking of MGNREGA workers' wages

from the minimum wage, they said it severely undermined the sanctity of the Minimum Wages Act
and was an attempt to legalise what the apex court had declared as “forced labour.”

Pointing out that the Supreme Court had, through three separate rulings, held that non-payment of
the minimum wages amounted to “forced labour,” prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution,
they questioned the government's order freezing wages under the MGNREGA.

They expressed surprise that the government continued to invoke this order despite the Andhra
Pradesh High Court having since set it aside as unconstitutional.

They said that “to undermine the right to minimum wages is unfair and unconstitutional. It makes a
mockery of India's claim of fostering humanitarian values. The Government of India must
immediately revoke its unconstitutional notification, and along with State governments ensure that
minimum wages are paid to all workers in India.”

The signatories to the statement include Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer (Former Judge, Supreme Court of
India), Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah (former Chief Justice of India), Justice P.B. Sawant (former
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Judge, Supreme Court of India), Justice A.P. Shah (former Chief Justice, Delhi High Court), Justice
K. Ramaswamy (former Judge, Supreme Court of India), Justice V.S. Dave (former Judge,
Rajasthan High Court), Fali S. Nariman (senior advocate, Supreme Court of India), Santosh Hegde
(former Solicitor-General of India and former Judge, Supreme Court of India), Kamini Jaiswal
(senior advocate, Supreme Court of India), Rajeev Dhawan (senior advocate, Supreme Court of
India), Dr. Mohan Gopal (former Director, National Law School of India, Bangalore), Prashant
Bhushan (noted Civil Liberties Lawyer, Supreme Court of India), Upendra Baxi (Emeritus
Professor of Law, University of Delhi), Vrinda Grover (lawyer and Director of MARG).

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