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TMI Blog1958 (3) TMI 74X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ustry in which big industrialists invested money and combines controlling several newspapers all over the country also became the special feature of this development. The working journalists except for the comparatively large number that were found concentrated in the big metropolitan cities, were scattered all over the country and for the last ten years and more agitated that some means should be found by which those working in the newspaper industry were enabled to have their wages and salaries, their dearness allowance and other allowances, their retirement benefits, their rules of leave and conditions of service, enquired into by some impartial agency or authority, who would be empowered to fix just and reasonable terms and conditions of service for working journalists as a whole. Isolated attempts were made by the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh Governments in this behalf. On June 18, 1947, the Government of Uttar Pradesh appointed a committee to enquire into the conditions of work of the employees of the newspaper industry in the Uttar Pradesh. On March 27, 1948, the Government of Central Provinces & Berar also appointed an Inquiry Committee to examine and report on certai ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... information was available only 59 were returning profits and 68 showed losses. The industry taken as a whole had returned a profit of about 6 lakhs of rupees on a capital investment of about 7 crores, or less than 1 per cent. per annum. It found that proof-readers as a class could not be regarded as working journalists, for there were proof-readers even in presses doing job work. It came to the conclusion that if a person had been employed as a proof-reader only for the purpose of making him a more efficient sub-editor, then it was obvious that even while he was a proof-reader, he should be regarded as a working journalist but in all other instances, he would not be counted as a journalist but as a member of the press staff coming within the purview of the Factories Act. The question of the emoluments payable to working journalists, was discussed by it in paragraphs 538 and 539 of its report : 538 :- "SCALES TO BE SETTLED BY COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OR ADJUDICATION :- It has not been possible for us to examine in detail the adequacy of the scales of pay and the emoluments received by the working journalist having regard to the cost of living in the various centers where t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tional standard without which it would be impossible for him to perform his duties efficiently. His wage and his conditions of service should therefore be such as to attract talent. He has to keep himself abreast of the development in different fields of human activity-even in such technical subjects as law, and medicine. This must involve constant study, contact with personalities and a general acquaintance with world's problems." It considered therefore that there should be a certain minimum wage paid to a journalist. The possible impact of such a minimum wage was also considered by it and it was considered not unlikely that the fixation of such a minimum wage may make it impossible for small papers to continue to exist as such but it thought that if a newspaper could not afford to pay the minimum wage to the employee which would enable him to live decently and with dignity, that newspaper had no business to exist. It recommended division of localities for taking into account the differential cost of living in different parts of India, and determining what should be the reasonable minimum wage in respect of each area. It endorsed the concept of a minimum wage which has ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rd to (i) notice period; (ii) bonus; (iii) minimum wages; (iv) Sunday rest; (v) leave, and (vi) provident fund and gratuity. Almost immediately after the Report of the Press Commission, Parliament passed the Working Journalists (Industrial Disputes) Act, 1955 (I of 1955) which received the assent of the President on March 12, 1955. It was an Act to apply the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, to working journalists. "Working Journalist" was defined in s. 2(b) of the Act to mean "a person whose principal avocation is that of a journalist and who is employed as such in, or in relation to, any establishment for the production or publication of a newspaper or in, or in relation to, any news agency or syndicate supplying material for publication in any newspaper, and includes an editor, a leader-writer, news-editor, sub-editor, feature writer, copy-taster, reporter, correspondent, cartoonist, news-photographer and proof reader but does not include any such person who : (i) is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity, or (ii) being employed in a supervisory capacity, exercises, either by the nature of the duties attached to the office or by reason of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mployed in newspaper establishments. "Newspaper establishment" was defined in s. 2(d) to mean "an establishment under the control of any person or body of persons, whether incorporated or not, for the production or publication of one or more newspapers or for conducting any news agency or syndicate". The definition of "working journalist" was almost in the same terms as that in the Working Journalists (Industrial Disputes) Act, 1955, and included a proof reader. All words and expressions used but not defined in this Act and defined in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, were under s. 2(g) to have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act. Section 3 applied the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, as it was in force for the time being, to working journalists as they applied to, or in relation to workmen within the meaning of that Act subject to the modification that s. 25(F) of that Act in its application to working journalists in regard to the period of notice in relation to the retrenchment of a workman was to be construed as substituting six months in the case of the retrenchment of an editor and three months, in the case of a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... it thought fit within a period of one month from the date of its receipt by the Central Government and the decision so published was to come into operation with effect from such date as may be specified, and where no date was so specified on the date of its publication. Section 11 prescribed the powers and procedure of the Board and stated that subject to any rules of procedure which might be prescribed the Board may, for the purpose of fixing rates of wages, exercise the same powers and follow the same procedure as an Industrial Tribunal constituted under the Industrial disputes Act, 1947, exercised or followed for the purpose of adjudicating an industrial dispute referred to it. The decision of the Board under s. 12 was declared to be binding on all employers in relation to newspaper establishments and every working journalist was entitled to be paid wages at a rate which was to be in no case less than the rate of wages fixed by the Board. Sections 14 and 15 applied the provisions of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, as it was in force for the time being and also the provisions of the Employees' Provident Funds Act, 1952, as it was in force for the time ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... so filled. By a notification dated May 2, 1956, the Central Government constituted a Wage Board under s. 8 of the Act for fixing rates of wages in respect of working journalists in accordance with the provisions of the Act, consisting of equal representatives of employers in relation to newspaper establishments and working journalists and appointed Shri H. V. Divatia, Retired Judge of the High Court of Judicature, Bombay, as the Chairman of the Board. The three members of the Board who were nominated to represent employers in relation to newspaper establishments were (1) Shri G. Narasimhan, Manager, The Hindu, Madras and President, Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society; (2) Shri A. R. Bhat, M.L.C., who had been a member of the Press Commission and was the President of the Indian Language Newspapers Association, as also the Chairman of the Minimum Wages Inquiry Committee for the Printing Industry in Bombay and, (3) Shri K. P. Kesava Menon, Editor, Mathrubhumi, Calicut. The other three members of the Board who were nominated to represent working journalists were : (1) Shri G. Venkataraman, M.P., (2) Shri C. Raghavan, Secretary-General, Indian Federation of Working Journalists, and ( ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t accounting year, a period of three years as near thereto as possible. It further pointed out that under s. 11 of the Act the Board had the powers of an Industrial Tribunal constituted under the Industrial Disputes Act. In Part "A" of the questionnaire under the heading "Cost of Living", cost of living index for the respective centers were called for and a special question was addressed whether the basic minimum wage, dearness allowance and metropolitan allowance in the table attached to paragraph 546 of the Press commission was acceptable to the party questioned and, if not, what variations would the party suggest and why. Comparable employment suggested included (a) Higher secondary school teachers; (b) College and university teachers; (c) Journalists employed as publicity and public relations officers in the information departments of the Central and State Governments; (d) Journalistic employees of the news service division of All India Radio and (e) Research personnel of the economic and social research departments of Central Government ministries like finance, labour and commerce. Under the heading "Special Circumstances", the only question addre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y scales of important categories of journalists, etc., the total income, break up of expenditure in relation to total income and total expenses, total income in relation to net profits, and net losses and net profits in relation to circulation of the several newspapers which had sent in the replies to the questionnaire. Further meetings of the Board were held on August 17, and August 20, 1956, in Bombay. The Chairman informed the members that response from journals, organisations, etc., to whom questionnaire was sent was unsatisfactory and it was decided to issue a Press Note requesting the papers and journals to send their replies, particularly to Part "B" of the questionnaire as soon as possible inviting their attention to the fact that the Board had powers of an Industrial Tribunal under the Act, and if newspapers failed to send their replies, the Board would be compelled to take further steps in the matter. It was decided that for purposes of taking oral evidence, the country be divided into 5 zones, namely, Trivandrum, Madras, Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay and the Secretary was asked to summon witnesses to the nearest and convenient center. It was further decided that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... presentatives of the working journalists voted in favour while the representatives of the employers voted against. Regarding scales of pay, the chairman suggested at the meeting of March 27, 1957, that pending final settlement of the issue the parties should submit figures of scales based on both assumptions, namely, consolidated wages and basic scales with separate dearness allowance. Both sides agreed to submit concrete suggestions on the following day. At the Board's meeting on March 28, 1957, the representatives of the employers stated that the term "rates of pay" did not include scales of pay; therefore, the Board was not competent to fix scales of working journalists and they submitted a written statement signed by all of them to the chairman in support of their contention. The representatives of the working journalists argued that the Board was competent to fix scales of pay. The chairman adjourned the sitting of the Board to study this issue. A copy of the written statement submitted by the representatives of the employers was given to the representatives of the working journalists and they submitted a written reply the same afternoon contending that the Board ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as they are relevant for the purposes of the inquiry before us. For the purpose of fixation of wages of working journalists, newspaper establishments should be grouped under different classes. Except in the case of weeklies and other periodicals expressly provided for hereinafter, newspaper establishments should be classified on the basis of their gross revenue. For purposes of classification, revenue from all sources of a newspaper establishment, should be taken for ascertaining gross revenue. Classification of Newspaper Establishments : Dailies - Newspaper Establishments should be classified under the following five classes :- Class Gross Revenue "A" over ₹ 25 lakhs "B" over ₹ 12 1/2 to 25 lakhs "C" over ₹ 5 to 12 1/2 lakhs "D" over ₹ 2 1/2 to 5 lakhs "E" ₹ 2 1/2 lakhs and below 5. Classification of newspaper establishments should be based on the average gross revenue of the three-year period, 1952, 1953 and 1954. It shall be open to the parties to seek re-classification of the newspaper establishments on the basis of the average of every three years commencing from the year ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... .) III 115 115-7 1/2-205 - (12 Yrs.) EB-15-295 (6 Yrs.) II 200 200-20-400 (10 Yrs.) I C IV 100 100-5-165 (13 Yrs.) EB-7-200-(5 Yrs.) III 125 125-10-245 (12 Yrs.) EB-12 1/2-320 (6 Yrs.) I 225 225-20-385 (8 Yrs.) EB-30-445 (2 Yrs.) I 350 350-25-550 (8 Yrs.) -40-630 (2 Yrs.) B IV 100 100-5-165 (13 Yrs.) EB-7-200 (5 Yrs.) III 150 150-12 1/2-300 (12 Yrs.) EB-20-420 (6 Yrs.) II 350 350-20-510 (8 Yrs.) EB-30-570 (2 Yrs.) I 500 500-30-740 (8 Yrs.) -40-820 (2 Yrs.) A IV 125 125-7 1/2-215 (12 Yrs.) EB-10-275 (6 Yrs.) III 175 175-20-415 (12 Yrs.) EB-25-515 (4 Yrs.) II 500 500-40-820 (8 Yrs.) EB-50-920 (2 Yrs.) I 1000 1000-50-1300 (6 Yrs.) -75-1600 (4 Yrs.) Dearness allowance, location allowance and part time employees remuneration were also majority decisions. - The chairman and the representatives of the working journalists voting for and the representatives of the employers voting against. Other allowances :- In view of the paucity of evidence on the subject, the Board decided that the fixation of conveyance and other allowances should be left to collective bargaining between the working journalists and the newspaper establishments ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... its cost of production. Further, the cost of production specially that of newsprint, went on varying and the frequent rises in newsprint price made it difficult to plan and undertake any long term commitment of an increasing expenditure. (b) The income of the newspaper industry was principally derived from two main sources : sales of copies and advertisement. While sales depended on public acceptance, income from advertisement depended upon circulation, prestige and purchasing power of readers. All those factors made publishing of newspapers a hazardous undertaking and the hazard continued throughout its existence with the result that it was obligatory that the rates of wages or scales should be fixed at the minimum level, leaving it to the employees to share the prosperity of the units through bonuses. (c) It was not ordinarily easy for newspapers to increase the selling price and it had been the experience of some established newspapers that such a course, when adopted, had invariably brought about a reduction in circulation. The fall in circulation had in turn an adverse effect on the advertisement revenue. The sales or advertisement income of a newspaper was not responsive ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ear the economy of most of the newspapers. It might be that there may not be many closures immediately, because many of the newspapers would not be in a position to meet the liability of retrenchment compensation, gratuity, etc., resulting from such a step, newspapers would try to meet the liability by borrowing to the extent possible and when their credit was exhausted, they must close down. So far as new newspaper promotions were concerned, they would be few and far between, with the result that after a few years it would be found that the number of daily newspapers in the country had not increased but had gone down. Such an eventuality was not in the interests of the country both from the point of view of employment as well as of freedom of expression. (g) As regards chains and groups the criterion for classification adopted by the majority was unfair and unnatural. The total gross revenue of all the units in a chain or a group gave an unreal picture of its capacity to pay. (h) Giving of retrospective effect, would help only to aggravate the troubles of the newspaper industry which had been already called upon to devise ways and means of meeting the burden of retrospective g ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sely affected. When the tone and condition of journalism in India has to be brought on a higher level it is inevitable that in doing so, more or less burden will fall on several newspapers; I realise that in cases where wages are very low and dearness allowance is also low or even non-existent and there are no scales at all, the reaction to our wage schedule will be one of resentment by the proprietors. Some anomalies may also be pointed out; but it must be remembered that we had no data of all the newspapers before us and where we had, it was in many cases not satisfactory. Under these circumstances, we cannot satisfy all newspapers as well as journalists. However, we have tried to proceed on the basis of accepted principles also keeping in view the recommendations of the Press Commission and not on the editorial expenditure of each newspaper. I am also of the opinion that by rational management there is great scope for increasing the income of newspapers and we have evidence before us that the future of the Indian language newspapers is bright, having regard to increasing literacy and the growth of political consciousness of the reading public. When there are wide disparities, th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion." The chairman then referred to the points which the representatives of the newspaper employers had urged as to the burden which might be cast as a result of the decisions and expressed himself as under : "I Sympathies with their view point and in my opinion, looking to all the circumstances, especially the fact that this is the first attempt to fix rates of wages for journalists, it is probable that some anomalies may result from the implementation of our decisions. We are, therefore, averse to imposing a wage schedule of all classes of newspapers on a permanent basis. It is, thus important that the wage rates fixed by us should be open to review and revision in the light of experience gained within a period of 3 to 5 years. This becomes necessary especially in view of the fact that the data available to us have not been as complete as we would have wished them to be, and also because it is difficult for us at this stage to work out with any degree of precision, the economic and other effects of our decisions on the newspaper industry as a whole." The chairman suggested as a palliative the creation by the Government of India immediately of a standing adminis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a Prabha, a Telugu Daily and weekly. The total number of working journalists employed by them are 331, out of whom there are 123 proof readers, as against 1570 who form the other members of the staff. The present emoluments of the working journalists in their employ amount to ₹ 9,77,892, whereas if the decision of the Wage Board were given effect to they would go up to ₹ 15,21,282.12 thus increasing the wage bill of the working journalists annually by ₹ 5,43,390.12. They would also have to pay remuneration to the part-time correspondents on the basis of retainer as well as payment or news items on column basis. That would involve an additional burden of about ₹ 1 lakh a year. The retrospective operation of the Wage Board's decision with effect from May 2, 1956, in their case would further involve a payment of ₹ 5,16,337.20. This would be the extra burden not taking account the liability for past gratuity and the recurring gratuity as awarded under the provisions of the Act and also the increased burden which would have to be borne by reason of the impact of the provisions in regard to reduced hours of working, increase in leave, etc., provided ther ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at Jyoti, an English Weekly (iv) Janashakti, a morning Gujarati Daily and (v) Navashakthi, a Marathi Daily - all from Bombay. They employ 442 employees including part-time correspondents out of whom 65 are working journalists and 21 are proof readers and the rest from members of the other staff not falling within the category working journalists. The effect of the decision of the Wage Board would be that there would have to be an immediate payment of ₹ 1,73,811 by reason of the retrospective operation of the decision and there will also be an annual increase in the wage bill to the same extent, i.e., ₹ 1,73,811. There will also be a yearly recurring increase to the extent of ₹ 22,470 and also corresponding increase for contribution to the provident fund on account of increase in salary. Under the provisions of the Act in regard to reduced hours of work, and increase in leave, moreover, there will be an increase in liability to pay ₹ 90,669 and ₹ 29,806 respectively, in the case of working journalists, besides the liability for past gratuity in another sum of ₹ 1,08,534 and recurring annual liability for gratuity in a sum of ₹ 17,995. If sim ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nent units have got to be treated as "A" class newspapers, whereas if they were classified on a computation of the gross revenue of their component units Vyapar would fall within Class "B" the Janmabhoomi and Lokmanya would fall within Class "C" and the Cuttccha Mitra, Fulchhab and Pratap would fall within class "E". The inequity of this measure is, moreover, sought to be augmented by their pointing out that whereas the Janmabhoomi from Bombay is placed in the "A" Class, Bombay Samachar (Bombay), a morning Gujrati Daily from Bombay, which has a larger gross revenue than Janmabhoomi taken as a single unit is placed in Class B. Similarly, the Pratap from Surat is placed in Class A, whereas the Gujarat Mitra from Surat which has a larger gross revenue than the Pratap is placed in Class "B" because of its being treated as a unit by itself; and the Fulchhab from Rajkot is also placed in Class "A", whereas the Jaihind from Rajkot, which has a larger gross revenue than the Fulchhab, is placed in Class "C" for an identical reason. The total cost of closing down the concern, if perchance the petitioners have to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ase in the annual wage bill, ₹ 5,02,000 (Approx.), (b) arrears of payments from May 2, 1956, to April 30, 1957, ₹ 4,51,000 (Approx.), (c) Past liability in respect of gratuity as on March 31, 1957, ₹ 5,50,000 (Approx.), (d) Recurring annual liability for gratuity ₹ 60,000 (Approx.). The total comes to ₹ 15,63,000. The petitioners in petition No. 116 of 1957 are the Loksatta Karyalaya, Baroda, which publish the Loksatta, a Gujarati Daily from Baroda. They employ 15 working journalists. The annual wage bill of working journalists would have to be increased by reason of the decision of the Wage Board by ₹ 10,800; the burden of payment of retrospective liability being ₹ 9,600. Moreover, there will be a recurring annual burden of ₹ 6,340 inclusive of the expenditure involved by reason of the provisions as to (i) Notice pay, (ii) Gratuity, (iii) Retrenchment compensation and (iv) Extra burden of reduced hours of work and increased leave. The Sandesh Ltd., the petitioners in Petition No. 117 of 1957, otherwise styled, the Sandesh Group, Ahmedabad, Publish (i) Sandesh, a morning Gujrati Daily, (ii) Sevak, an evening Gujrati Daily, ( ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ase by ₹ 48,720. The total cost of closing down, if such a contingency ever arose, would come to ₹ 1,00,798 under the provisions of the Act and the Wage Board decision as against ₹ 45,206 on the old basis. All these petitions filed by the several petitioners as above followed a common pattern. After succinctly reciting the history of the events narrated above which led to the enactment of the impugned Act and the decision of the Wage Board, they challenged the vires of the Act and the decision of the Wage Board. The vires of the Act was challenged on the ground that the provisions thereof were violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution under Art. 19(1)(a), Art. 19(1)(g), and Art. 14; but in the course of the arguments before us another Article, viz., Art. 32 was also added as having been infringed by the Act. The decision of the Wage Board was challenged on various grounds which were in pari materia with the objections that had been urged by the representatives of the employers in the Wage Board in their minute of dissent above referred to. It was also contended that the implementation of the decision would be beyond the capacity of the pe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssified into three categories, viz., (1) the living wage, (2) the fair wage and (3) the minimum wage. 57.The concept of the living wage : "The concept of the living wage which has influenced the fixation of wages, statutorily or otherwise, in all economically advanced countries is an old and well-established one, but most of the current definitions are of recent origin. The most expressive definition of the living wage is that of Justice Higgins of the Australian Commonwealth Court of Conciliation in the Harvester case. He defined the living wage as one appropriate for "the normal needs of the average employee, regarded as a human being living in a civilized community". Justice Higgins has, at other places, explained what he meant by this cryptic pronouncement. The living wage must provide not merely for absolute essentials such as food, shelter and clothing but for "a condition of frugal comfort estimated by current human standards." He explained himself further by saying that it was a wage "sufficient to insure the workmen food, shelter, clothing frugal comfort, provision for evil days, etc., as well as regard for the special skill of an artisan i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... levels of living standard in four categories, viz., (i) the poverty level, (ii) the minimum subsistence level, (iii) the subsistence plus level and (iv) the comfort level, and chose the subsistence plus level as the basis of what it called the "minimum living wage". The Bombay Textile labour Inquiry Committee, 1937 considered the living wage standard at considerable length and, while accepting the concept of the living wage as described above, observed as follows : ".... what we have to attempt is not an exact measurement of a well-defined concept. Any definition of a standard of living is necessarily descriptive rather than logical. Any minimum, after all, is arbitrary and relative. No completely objective and absolute meaning can be attached to a term like the "living wage standard" and it has necessarily to be judged in the light of the circumstances of the particular time and country." The Committee then proceeded through the use of norms and standard budgets to lay down what the basic wage should be, so that it might approximate to the living wage standard "in the light of the circumstances of the particular time and country." Th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat "where a living wage criterion has been used in the giving of an award or the fixing of a wage, the decision has always been tempered by other considerations of a practical character." "In India, however, the level of the national income is so low at present that it is generally accepted that the country cannot afford to prescribe by law a minimum wage which would correspond to the concept of the living wage as described in the preceeding paragraphs. What then should be the level of minimum wage which can be sustained by the present stage of the country's economy ? Most employers and some Provincial Governments consider that the minimum wage can at present be only a bare subsistence wage. Intact, even one important All-India organisation of employees has suggested that "a minimum wage is that wage which is sufficient to cover the bare physical needs of a worker and his family." Many others, however,.... consider that a minimum wage should also provide for some other essential requirements such as a minimum of education, medical facilities and other amenities. We consider that a minimum wage must provide not merely for the bare sustenance of life b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nts and amenities, as contemplated above. (Cf. also the connotation of "minimum rate of wages" in s. 4 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (XI of 1948)). The concept of the fair wage : "The payment of fair wages to labour is one of the cardinal recommendations of the Industrial Truce Resolution...... Marshall would consider the rate of wages prevailing in an occupation as "fair" if it is "about on level with the average payment for tasks in other trades which are of equal difficulty and disagreeableness, which require equally rare natural abilities and an equally expensive training." Prof. Pigou would apply two degrees of fairness in judging a wage rate, viz., "fair in the narrower sense" and "fair in the wider sense". A wage rate, in his opinion, is "fair in the narrower sense" when it is equal to the rate current for similar workmen in the same trade and neighbourhood and "fair in the wider sense" when it is equal to the predominant rate for similar work throughout the country and in the generality of trades." .............................................. "The Indian National Trade Union Congr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... thus a mean between the living wage and the minimum wage and even the minimum wage contemplated above is something more than the bare minimum or subsistence wage which would be sufficient to cover the bare physical needs of the worker and his family, a wage which would provide also for the preservation of the efficiency of the worker and for some measure of education, medical requirements and amenities. This concept of minimum wage is in harmony with the advance of thought in all civilised countries and approximates to the statutory minimum wage which the State should strive to achieve having regard to the Directive Principle of State Policy mentioned above. The enactment of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, affords an illustration of an attempt to provide a statutory minimum wage. It was an Act to provide for fixing minimum rates of wages in certain employments and the appropriate Government was thereby empowered to fix different minimum rates of wages for (i) different scheduled employments; (ii) different classes of work in the same scheduled employment; (iii) adults, adolescents, children and apprentices; and (iv) different localities; and (v) such minimum rates of wages could be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of) value, etc." In chambers' Twentieth Century Dictionary its meaning is given as : estimated amount or value (Shakespeare), and also "amount determined according to a rule or basis; a standard; a class or rank; manner or mode". "Rates of wages" therefore mean the manner, mode or standard of the payments of remuneration for work done whether at the start or in the subsequent stages. Rates of wages would thus include the scales of wages, and there is no antithesis between the two expressions, the expression being applicable both to the initial as well as subsequent amounts of wages. It is true that in references made to Industrial Tribunals fixing of scales of pay has been specifically mentioned, e.g., in the Industrial dispute between certain banking companies and their workers. But that is not sufficient to exclude the "scales of wages" from being comprised within the larger connotation of the expression "rates of wages" which is capable of including the scales of wages also within its ambit. Even without the specific mention of the scales of wages it would be open to fix the same in an inquiry directed towards the fixation of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ial concessions are shown to depressed industries. In Australia the Arbitration Court considered that "in view of the absence of clear means of measuring the general wage-paying capacity of total industry, the actual wage upon which well-situated labourers were at the time maintaining the average family unit could justifiably be taken as the criterion of what industry could probably pay to all labourers". This is at best a secondary definition of capacity, for it could only serve to show that certain industries or units could afford to pay as much as certain others." "The Bombay Textile Labour Inquiry Committee came to conclusion that it was not possible to define the term "capacity to pay" in a precise manner and observed as follows : "The capacity to pay a wage cannot obviously be determined merely by the value of production. There is the important question of determining the charges that have to be deducted before arriving at the amount that can be paid in wages. The determination of each of a large number of charges involves difficulties, both theoretical and practical. Interest charges, remuneration to salaried staffs and managing agents, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ossible, increased. From this point of view, it will be clear that the level of wages should enable the industry to maintain production with efficiency. The capacity of industry to pay should, therefore, be assessed in the light of this very important consideration. The wages board should also be charged with the duty of seeing that fair wages so fixed for any particular industry are not very much out of lien with wages in other industries in that region. Wide disparities would inevitably lead to movement of labour, and consequent industrial unrest not only in the industry concerned but in other industries." (Report of the Committee on Fair Wages, p. 14, para. 24). The main consideration which is to be borne in mind therefore is that the industry should be able to maintain production with efficiency and the fixation of rates of wages should be such that there are no movements from one industry to another owing to wide disparities and employment at existing levels is not only maintained, but if possible, increased. Different tests have been suggested for measuring the capacity of the industry to pay : viz : (1) The selling price of the product; (2) The volume of the outp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ered on an industry-cum-region basis after taking a fair cross section of the industry; and (3) that the proper measure for gauging the capacity of the industry to pay should take into account the elasticity of demand for the product, the possibility of tightening up the organisation so that the industry could pay higher wages without difficulty and the possibility of increase in the efficiency of the lowest paid workers resulting in increase in production considered in conjunction with the elasticity of demand for the product - no doubt against the ultimate background that the burden of the increased rate should not be such as to drive the employer out of business. These are the principles of fixation of rates of wages and it falls now to be considered what is the machinery employed for such fixation. The machinery for fixations of wages : The fixation of wages may form the subject matter of reference to industrial tribunals or similar machinery under the Labour Relations Law. But this machinery is designed for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes which have either arisen or are apprehended, disputes relating to wages being one of such disputes. The ensuring ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... board is a fairly large body consisting of an equal number of representatives of employers and workers with a few independent members including the chairman. Although appointments are made by the Minister, the representatives of employers and workers are appointed on the recommendation of the associations concerned. The trade board publishes a notice announcing its tentative proposals for the fixation or revision of a wage rate and invites objections or comments. After a two months' notice the board takes a final decision and submits a report to the Minister who must confirm the rate unless, for any special reasons, he returns the recommendations to the board for further consideration." (The Report of the Committee on Fair Wages, pp. 25-26, para 50). The Wage Council Act, 1945 (8 & 9 Geo. VI, ch. 17) provides for the establishment of Wage Councils. The Minister of Labour and National Service has the power to make a wages council order after considering objections made with respect to the draft order on behalf of any person appearing to him to be affected. The Wage Council makes such investigation as it thinks fit and publishes notice of the wage regulation proposals and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 624) The Fair Labour Standards Act of 1938 in the U.S.A. provides for convening by the Administrator of industry committees for each such industry which from time to time recommend the minimum rate or rates of wages to be paid by the employers. The committee recommends to the administrator the highest minimum wage rates for the industry which it determines, having due regard to economic and competitive conditions, will not substantially curtail employment in the industry. Wage orders can thereupon be issued by the administrator after due notice to all interested persons and giving them an opportunity to be heard. In Australia also there are provisions in various states for the appointment of wage boards the details of which we need not go into. We may only refer to the wage board system in Victoria which was established in 1896 as a means of directly regulating wages and working conditions in industries subject to "sweating", and was not intended to control industrial relations as such. "Under the Factories and Shops Act, 1924, wage boards are set up for the various industries with a court of Industrial Appeals to decide appeals from a determination of a wage boa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion for any appeal. There is an advisory board in each province to co-ordinate the work of the various committees. There is also a Central Advisory Board to co-ordinate the work of provincial boards. Complaints of non-payment of the minimum rates of wages fixed by Government may be taken to claims authorities. Breaches of the Act are punishable by criminal courts." (Report of the Committee on Fair Wages, pp. 26-27, para. 51, 52). It is worthy of note that these committee, sub-committees, advisory board and central advisory board are to consist of persons to be nominated by the Central Government representing employers and employees in the scheduled employments, who shall be equal in number, and independent persons not exceeding one-third of its total number of members; one of such independent persons shall be appointed the chairman by the appropriate Government. "Under a recent amendment to the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946, wage boards can be set up in the Province of Bombay either separately for each industry or for a group of industries. The wage board is to consist of an equal number of representatives of employers and employees and some independent person ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... wage-fixing body should also include one or more independent persons whose votes can ensure effective decisions being reached in the event of the votes of the employers' and workers' representatives being equally divided. Such independent persons should, as far as possible, be selected in agreement with or after consultation with the employers' and workers' representatives on the wage fixing body. "(b) In order to ensure that the employers' and workers' representatives shall be persons having the confidence of those whose interests they respectively represent, the employers and workers concerned should be given a voice as far as is practicable in the circumstances in the selection of their representatives, and if any organisations of the employers and workers exist these should in any case be invited to submit names of persons recommended by them for appointment on the wage-fixing body. (c) The independent person or persons mentioned in paragraph (a) should be selected from among men or women recognized as possessing the necessary qualifications for their duties and as being dissociated from any interest in the trade or part of trade concerned which ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ose of the legislation. It leaves the broadest possible discretion in practice to the wage fixing tribunals. In the case of the Commonwealth laws indeed the Court is left completely free to determine the principles on which the basic or living wage is to be assessed. Under certain of the State laws specific, though limited, directions are given. Thus in Queensland there is a statutory definition of the family unit on whose requirements the basic wage is to be calculated. In certain cases the general emphasis on the criterion of the workers' needs is supplemented by directions to fix wage rates that will be "fair and reasonable" and in doing so to take into account the average standard of comfort being enjoyed by workers in the same locality or in similar occupations. Such references, it may be noted, involve at least an indirect allusion to general economic conditions and the capacity of industry to pay, since the standards currently enjoyed are closely related to these factors. In at least one case (in Queensland) the Court is specifically directed to examine the probable effects of its decisions upon industry and the community in general." In the United States ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... wage boards are held in the offices of the Department of Labour an officer of the department acting as secretary." (Kenneth F. Walker "Industrial Relations Australia", p. 24). The wage boards thus constituted are left to regulate their procedure in such manner as they think fit and it is not necessary that any regulation should be made in regard to the procedure to be adopted by them in the conduct of the enquiry before them. There are, however, a number of safeguards which have been provided in order to protect the interests of the parties concerned. The wages councils established by the Minister of Labour and National Services in the United Kingdom are so established after considering objections from persons appearing to be affected thereby and wage regulation orders are also recommended by these councils after considering the written representations in regard to their proposals which are duly published in the manner prescribed. These recommendations are again in their turn considered by the minister and it is only after the minister is satisfied that these wage regulation orders are promulgated, the minister having the power in proper cases to send the same bac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o file appeals against the same in the industrial courts. If these safeguards are provided against the determinations of the wage boards, it will be really immaterial what procedure they adopt in the course of the proceedings before them. They would normally be expected to adopt all procedure necessary to gather sufficient data and collect sufficient materials to enable them to come to a proper conclusion in regard to the matters submitted to them for their determination. If however at any time they flouted the regulations prescribed in regard to the procedure to be followed by them or in the absence of any such regulations adopted a procedure which was contrary to the principles of natural justice their decision would be vitiated and liable to be set aside by the appropriate authority. Character of the functions performed : There is considerable divergence of opinion in regard to the character of the functions performed by these wage boards and a controversy has arisen as to whether the functions performed by them are administrative, judicial or quasi-judicial or legislative in character. The question assumes importance on two grounds; viz., (i) whether the decisions of the wag ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... no case in which you are to have a judicial proceeding, by which a man is to be deprived of any part of his property, without his having an opportunity of being heard."... Their Lordships have already indicated that, in their view, the section does not contemplate any judicial proceeding, and thus a decision against the appellant does not infringe the principles stated in Bonaker v. Evans." (16 Q.B. 162, 171). The distinction between a legislative and a judicial function is thus brought out in Cooley's Constitutional Limitations, 8th Edn., Vol. I, ch. V under the caption of "the powers which the legislative department may exercise", at p. 185 :- "On general principles, therefore, those inquires, deliberations, orders, and decrees, which are peculiar to such a department, must in their nature be judicial acts. Nor can they be both judicial and legislative; because a marked difference exists between the employment of judicial and legislative tribunals. The former decide upon the legality of claims and conduct, and the latter make rules upon which, in connection with the constitution, those decisions should be founded. It is the province of judges to de ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rformed by administrative agencies do not fall within water-tight compartments. Stason and Cooper in their treatises on "Cases and other materials on Administrative Tribunals" point out : "One of the great difficulties of properly classifying a particular function of an administrative agency is that frequently - and, indeed; typically - a single function has three aspects. It is partly legislative, partly judicial and partly administrative. Consider, for example, the function of rate-making. It has sometimes been characterised as legislative, sometimes as judicial. In some aspects, actually, it involves merely executive or administrative powers. For example, where the Interstate Commerce Commission fixes a tariff of charges for any railroad, its function is viewed as legislative. But where the question for decision is whether a shipment of a mixture of coffee and chicory should be charged the rate established for coffee or the lower rate established for chicory, the question is more nearly judicial. On the other hand, where the problem is merely the calculation of the total freight charges due for a particular shipment, the determination can fairly be described as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ar industry is required, this is normally supplied by the help of assessors who take no part in the final award. This difference between the constitution of wage boards and that to arbitration tribunals clearly implies a corresponding distinction between the legislative function of the former and the judicial function of the latter. The wages board drafts laws for its own industry, whereas the arbitration court gives judgment on matters submitted by others. The choice of industrial arbitrators unconnected with the industries the merits of whose claims they must pledge, is evidently intended as a guarantee that they, like other judges, will be free from bias arising from personal interest." The High Court of the Commonwealth of Australia has taken a similar view in Australian Boot Trade Employees Federation v. Whybrow & Co. ([1910] 10 C.L.R. 266, 318), in discussing an award made by the wages board empowered by a State statute to fix minimum rates of wages. The test applied for determining the character of that function may be stated in the words of Issacs J. at p. 318 : "If the dispute is as to the relative rights of parties as they rest on past or present circumstance ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t of the United States of America on certification. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948, in our country also provides for the committees, sub-committees, advisory sub-committees, advisory boards and central advisory boards for fixing minimum rates of wages and the recommendations of these committees are forwarded to the appropriate Government who by notification in the official gazette fix minimum rates of wages in respect of each scheduled employment. The notification is a token of the approval by the appropriate Government of these recommendations of the Committees and invests them with legal sanction. 159.The recent amendment of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946, empowers the State Government by notification in the official Gazette to constitute for one or more industries a wage board for the State and enjoins these wage boards to follow the same procedure as the Industrial Court in respect of arbitration proceedings before it and appeals from the decisions of these wage boards lie to the Industrial Courts which has powers of superintendence and control over these wage boards and it cannot, under the circumstances, be urged that these wage boards perform any legislative functi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re not courts in the strict sense of the term and the functions which they perform may at best be quasi-judicial in character. The fact that they are administrative agencies set up for the purpose of fixation of wages do not necessarily invest their functions with an administrative character and in spite of their being administrative bodies they can nevertheless be exercising quasi-judicial functions if certain conditions are fulfilled. The position in law has been thus summarised in Halsbury's Laws of England, 3rd Ed., Vol. 11, at pp. 55-56 :- "The orders of certiorari and prohibition will lie to bodies and persons other than courts stricto sensu. Any body of persons having legal authority to determine questions affecting the rights of subjects, and having the duty to act judicially, is subject to the controlling jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice, exercised by means of these orders. It is not necessary that it should be a court; an administrative body in ascertaining facts or law may be under a duty to act judicially notwithstanding that its proceedings have none of the formalities of, and are not in accordance with the practice of, a court of law. It is enough ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... dministrative body can be said to have a duty to act judicially : "The true view, as it seems to us, is that the duty to act judicially may arise in widely different circumstances which it would be impossible, and, indeed, inadvisable, to attempt to define exhaustively. Where the decision is that of a court, then, unless, as in the case, for instance, of justices granting excise licences, it is acting in a purely ministerial capacity, it is clearly under a duty to act judicially. When, on the other hand, the decision is that of an administrative body and is actuated in whole or in part by questions of policy, the duty to act judicially may arise in the course of arriving at that decision. Thus, if, in order to arrive at the decision, the body concerned had to consider proposals, and objections and consider evidence, then there is the duty to act judicially in the course of that inquiry. That, as it seems to us, is the true basis of the decision in Errington v. Minister of Health....." ([1935] 1 K.B. 249). (See also Rex v. The London Country Council : Ex parte Entertainments Protection Association Ltd. .....([1931] 2 K.B. 215, 233-4). "Further, an administrative ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sition and opposition on both sides with the result that a lis would arise between them. The determination of these points at issue would have to be arrived at by the wage boards and the wage boards could only do so after collecting proper data and materials and hearing evidence in that behalf. If the functions performed by the wage board would thus consist of the determination of the issues as between a proposition and an opposition on data and materials gathered by the board in answers to the questionnaire issued to all parties interested and the evidence led before it, there is no doubt that there would be imported in the proceedings of the wage board a duty to act judicially and the functions performed by the wage board would be quasi judicial in character. It has been on the other hand urged before us by the learned counsel for the respondents that the very constitution of the wage boards is against the fundamental principle of jurisprudence which postulates that no man should be a judge in his own cause. It was laid down by the House of Lords in Franklin v. Minister of Town and Country Planning ([1948] A.C. 87. 102) at p. 103 : "My Lords, I could wish that the use of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er : "Nothing in sub-clause (a) of clause (1) shall effect the operation of any existing law, or prevent the State from making any law, in so far as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub-clause in the interests of the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence." If any limitation on the exercise of the fundamental right under Art. 19(1)(a) does not fall within the four corners of Art. 19(2) it cannot be upheld. Freedom of speech and expression includes within its scope the freedom of the press and it would be apposite here to refer to the following passages from "Freedom of the Press - A Framework of Principles" (Report of the Commission on Freedom of Press in the United States of America). The General Meaning of Freedom : To be free is to have the use of one's powers of action (i) without restraint or control from outside and (ii) with whatever means or equipment the action requires. "The primary suggestion of the term "freedom" is the negative one, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... first case which came up for decision before this court was that of Ramesh Thaper v. The State of Madras ([1950] S.C.R. 594, 597). It was a case of a ban on the entry and circulation of the appellant's journal in the State of Madras under the provisions of section 9(1-A) of the Madras Maintenance of Public Order Act, 1949, and it was observed by Patanjali Sastri J. (as he then was) at p. 597 : "There can be no doubt that freedom of speech and expression includes freedom of propagation of ideas, and that freedom is ensured by the freedom of circulation. "Liberty of circulation is as essential to that freedom as the liberty of publication. Indeed, without circulation the publication would be of little value." : Ex parte Jackson ([1877] 96 U.S. 727; 24 L.Ed. 877). See also Lovell v. City of Griffin. ([1937] 303 U.S. 444; 82 L.Ed. 949). Brij Bhushan & Anr. v. The State of Delhi ([1950] S.C.R. 605, 608) was the next case which came up for decision before this Court and it concerned the constitutionality of section 7(i)(c) of the East Punjab Public Safety Act, 1949. It was a provision for the imposition of pre-censorship on a journal. Patanjali Sastri J. (as he the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 68 : "The evils to be prevented were not the censorship of the press merely, but any action of the Government by means of which it might prevent such free and general discussion of public matters as seems absolutely essential to prepare the people for an intelligent exercise of their rights as citizens." (Vide Cooley's Constitutional Limitations, 8th Edn., Vol. II, p. 886). The statute was there struck down as unconstitutional because in the light of its history and of its present setting it was seen to be a deliberate and calculated device in the guise of a tax to limit the circulation of information to which the public was entitled in virtue of the constitutional guarantees. The following passage from the dissenting opinion in The Associated Press v. The National Labour Relations Board ([1936] 301 U.S. 103, 136; 81 L.Ed. 953, 963) is also instructive : "If the freedom of the press does not include the right to adopt and pursue a policy without governmental restriction, it is a misnomer to call it freedom. And we may as well deny at once the right to the press freely to adopt a policy and pursue it, as to concede that right and deny the liberty to exercise ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ption that the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources is essential to the welfare of the public." The dissenting opinion of Douglas J. in Beauharnais v. Illinois ([1951] 343 U.S. 250, 285; 96 L.Ed. 919, 943) contains the following at p. 943 : "There is room for regulation of the ways and means of invading privacy. No such leeway is granted the invasion of the right of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. Until recent years that had been the course and direction of constitutional law. Yet recently the Court in this and other cases has engrafted the right of regulation onto the First Amendment by placing in the hands of the legislative branch the right to regulate "within reasonable limits" the right of free speech. This to me is an ominous and alarming trend. The free trade in ideas which the framers of the Constitution visualised disappears. In its place there is substituted a new orthodoxy - an orthodoxy that changes with the whims of the age or the day, an orthodoxy which the majority by solemn judgment proclaims to be essential to the safety, welfare, security, morality, or health of Society. Free speec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... han any other instrumentality of publicity; and since informed public opinion is the most patent of all restraints upon mis-government, the suppression or abridgment of the publicity afforded by a free press cannot be regarded otherwise than with gave concern. The tax here involved is bad not because it takes money from the pockets of the appellees. If that were all, a wholly different question would be presented. It is bad : Because, in the light of its history and of its present setting, it is seen to be a deliberate and calculated device in the guise of a tax to limit the circulation of information to which the public is entitled in virtue of the constitutional guarantees. A free press stands as one of the great interpreters between the Government and the people. To allow it to be fettered is to fetter ourselves." In The Associated Press v. National Labour Relations Board ([1936] 301 U.S. 103, 136; 81 L.Ed. 953, 963), it was held that the freedom of the press safeguarded by the First Amendment was not abridged by the application in the case of an editor employed by the Associated Press to determine the news value of the items received and to rewrite them for transmission t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... an Revolution "really began when......... that Government (of England) sent stamps for newspaper duties to the American colonies" has been alert to the possible uses of taxation as a method of suppressing objectionable publications. Persons engaged in the dissemination of ideas are, to be sure, subject to ordinary forms of taxation in like manner as other persons. With respect to license or privilege taxes, however, they stand on a different footing. Their privilege is granted by the Constitution and cannot be withheld by either State or Federal Government. .................................. "The application to newspapers of the Anti-Trust Laws, the National Labour Relations Act, or the Fair Labour Standards Act, does not abridge the freedom of the press." The Laws regulating payment of wages have similarly been held as not abridging the freedom of speech and expression and the following observations in the same publication (at p. 988) in regard to the Minimum Wage Laws are apposite : "MINIMUM WAGE LAWS : The theory that a law prescribing minimum wages for women and children violates due process by impairing freedom of contract was finally discarded ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ll agree that "liberty of the press" is not to be confused with its "licentiousness". But the Constitution itself has prescribed certain limits and this Court is only called upon to see whether a particular case comes within those limits." Unless, therefore, a law enacted by the Legislature comes squarely within the provisions of Art. 19(2) it would not be saved and would be struck down as unconstitutional on the score of its violating the fundamental right of the petitioners under Art. 19(1)(a). In the present case it is obvious that the only justification for the enactment of the impugned Act is that it imposes reasonable restrictions in the interests of a section of the general public, viz., the working journalists and other persons employed in the newspaper establishments. It does not fall within any of the categories specified in Art. 19(2), viz., "In the interests of the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence." Article 19(2) being thus out of the question the only point that falls to be determined by us is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f these subjects, but as a result of the operation of other legislation, for instance, for punitive or preventive detention, his right under any of these sub-clauses is abridged, the question of the application of article 19 does not arise. The true approach is only to consider the directness of the legislation and not what will be the result of the detention otherwise valid, on the mode of the detenu's life. On that short ground, in my opinion, this argument about the infringement of the rights mentioned in article 19(1) generally must fail. Any other construction put on the article, it seems to me, will be unreasonable." This opinion was expressed by Kania C.J. alone, the other learned judges forming the Bench not expressing themselves on this question. This passage was, however, cited, with approval by a Bench of this Court in Ram Singh & Ors. v. The State of Delhi ([1951] S.C.R. 451, 455). It was held by the Full Court in that case that though personal liberty is sufficiently comprehensive to include the freedoms enumerated in Art. 19(1) and its deprivation would result in the extinction of these freedoms, the Constitution has treated these constitutional liberties as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at the true nature and character of the legislation and judge its substance and not its form, or in other words, its effect and operation. It was pointed out that the impugned Act viewed as a whole was one to regulate the employment of the necessary organs of newspaper publications and therefore related to the freedom of the press and as such came within the prohibition. Reliance was place in this behalf on the following passage in Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson : ([1930] 283 U.S. 697, 708; 75 L.Ed. 1357, 1363). "With respect to these contentions it is enough to say that in passing upon constitutional questions the Court has regard to substance and not to mere matters of form, and that, in accordance with familiar, principles, the statute must be tested by its operation and effect." The following observations of Mahajan J. (as he then was) in Dwarkadas Shrinivas of Bombay v. The Sholapur Spinning and Weaving Co., Ltd. ([1954] S.C.R. 674, 683) were also relied upon : "In order to decide these issues it is necessary to examine with some strictness the substance of the legislation for the purpose of determining what it is that the legislature has really done; the Court, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o them no exception could have been taken to this measure. It was, however, urged that apart from the application of these general laws to the working journalists, there are provisions enacted in the impugned Act in relation to payment of gratuity, hours of work, leave and fixation of the rates of wages which are absolutely special to the press industry qua the working journalists and they have the effect of singling out the press industry by creating a class of privileged workers with benefits and rights which have not be conferred upon other employees and the provisions contained therein have the effect of laying a direct and preferential burden on the press, have a tendency to curtail the circulation and thereby narrow the scope of dissemination of information, fetter the petitioners; freedom to choose the means of exercising their right and are likely to undermine the independence of the press by having to seek Government aid. It is obvious that the enactment of this measure is for the amelioration of the conditions of the workmen in the newspaper industry. It would not be possible for the State to take up all the industries together and even as a matter of policy it would be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y be the consequence which could be in the contemplation of the legislature while enacting a measure of this type for the benefit of the workmen concerned. Even though the impugned Act enacts measures for the benefit of the working journalists who are employed in newspaper establishments, the working journalists are but the vocal organs and the necessary agencies for the exercise of the right of free speech and expression, and any legislation directed towards the amelioration of their conditions of service must necessarily affect the newspaper establishments and have its repercussions on the freedom of Press. The impugned Act can therefore be legitimately characterized as a measure which affects the press, and if the intention or the proximate effect and operation of the Act was such as to bring it within the mischief of Art. 19(1)(a) it would certainly be liable to be struck down. The real difficulty, however, in the way of the petitioners is that whatever be the measures enacted for the benefit of the working journalists neither the intention nor the effect and operation of the impugned Act is to take away or abridge the right of freedom of speech and expression enjoyed by the p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itrary procedure violating the principle of audi alteram partem. The restrictions enumerated above in so far as they affect the destruction of the petitioners' business exceed the bounds of permissible legislation under Art. 19(1)(g). The unreasonableness of the restriction is further sought to be emphasized by pointing out that under s. 12 of the impugned Act, the decision of the Board is declared binding on all employers, though the working journalists are not bound by the same and are entitled, if they are dissatisfied with it, to agitate for further revision by raising industrial disputes between themselves and their employers and having them adjudicated under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The test of reasonable restrictions which can be imposed on the fundamental right enshrined in Art. 19(1)(g) has been laid down by this Court in two decisions : In Chintaman Rao v. The State of Madhya Pradesh ([1950] S.C.R. 759, 763) Mahajan J. (as he then was) observed at p. 763 :- "The phrase "reasonable restriction" connotes that the limitation imposed on a person in enjoyment of the right should not be arbitrary or of an excessive nature, beyond what is requ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ctive operation may also be properly taken into consideration in determining the reasonableness of the restriction imposed in the interest of the general public [see also a recent decision of this Court in Virendra v. State of Punjab ([1958] S.C.R. 308)]. The appointment of a wage board for the purposes of fixing rates of wages could not be and was not challenged as such because the constitution of such wages boards has been considered one of the appropriate modes for the fixation of rates of wages. The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, can only apply when an industrial dispute actually arises or is apprehended to arise between the employers and the employees in a particular industrial establishment. Though under the amendment of that Act by the Industrial Disputes (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1956, (36 of 1956), there is a provision for the appointment of a National Tribunal by the Central Government for the adjudication of industrial disputes which in the opinion of the Central Government involve questions of national importance or are of such a nature that industrial establishments situated in more than one State are likely to be interested in, or affected by, suc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the expression "fixing rates of wages" to look into the Statement of Objects and Reasons attached to the Bill No. 13 of 1955 as introduced in the Rajya Sabha or the circumstances under which the word "minimum" came to be deleted from the provisions of the Bill relating to rates of wages and the Wage Board and the fact of such deletion when the Act came to be passed in its present form. There is a consensus of opinion that these are not aids to the construction of the terms of the Statute which have of course to be given their plain and grammatical meaning [See : Ashvini Kumar Ghosh & Anr. v. Arabinda Bose & Anr. ([1953] S.C.R. 1) and Provat Kumar Kar and others v. William Trevelyan Curtiez Parkar . It is only when the terms of the statute are ambiguous or vague that resort may be had to them for the purpose of arriving at the true intention of the legislature. No such reference is, however, necessary in the case before us, even though perchance, the expression "fixing rates of wages" be considered ambiguous in so far as it does not specify whether the "wages" there are meant to be "living wages", "fair wages", or "min ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... had no relation whatever to minimum wages. Reference may be made in this connection to a decision of the Industrial Court in the case of Nellimarla Jute Mills ([1953] 1 L.L.J. 666), where it was held that the comparison with rates of wages in other concerns, could be undertaken for determining fair wage and the upper limit of wages but not for determining the minimum or floor level of wages which should depend on the minimum requirements of the workers' family consisting of three consumption units. This criterion was no doubt taken into consideration by the members of the Committee on Fair Wages as also by the Press Commission and even though the Press Commission considered that to be an essential ingredient of the minimum wage as contemplated by it, we are not inclined to stress that circumstance so much and come to the conclusion that what was contemplated in s. 9(1) was merely a minimum wage and no other. If, therefore, the criterion of the prevalent rates of wages for comparable employments can on a true construction of s. 9(1) be considered consistent only with the fixation of rates of wages which are higher than the bare subsistence or minimum wage whether they be statut ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... his circumstance as comprised within the category of circumstances relating to the newspaper industry in different regions of the country, the court should not strike down the provisions as in any manner whatever unreasonable and violative of the fundamental right of the petitioners. We are therefore of opinion that s. 9(1) did not eschew the consideration of this essential circumstance, viz., the capacity of the industry to pay and it was not only open but incumbent upon the Wage Board to consider that essential circumstance in order to arrive at the fixation of the rates of wages of the working journalists. The last criterion enumerated in s. 9(1) of the Act was "any other circumstance which to the Board may seem relevant" and it was urged that this was left merely to the subjective determination of the Board and the Board was at liberty to consider the circumstances, if any, falling within this category in its own absolute discretion which could not be controlled by any higher authority. If the matters were left to be objectively determined then it would certainly be enquired into and the existence or otherwise of such circumstances would be properly scrutinized in a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ose which were specifically enumerated in the section. It was, however, contended that the procedure to be followed by the Board for fixing the rates of wages was not laid down and it was open to the Board to follow any arbitrary procedure violating the principle of audi alteram partem and as such this also was unreasonable. Section 20(2)(d) of the impugned Act gave power to the Central Government to make rules inter alia in regard to the procedure to be followed by the Board in fixing rates of wages and s. 11 provided that subject to any rules which might be prescribed the Board may, for the purpose of fixing rates of wages, exercise the same powers and follow the same procedure as an Industrial Tribunal constituted under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, exercises or follows for the purpose of adjudicating an industrial dispute referred to it. This was, however, an enabling provision which vested in the Board the discretion whether to exercise the same powers and follow the same procedure as an Industrial Tribunal. The Board was at liberty not to do so and follow its own procedure which may be arbitrary or violative of the principle of audi alteram partem. It has to be remembe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n and the decision of the Board is to be published in the same manner as awards of industrial courts under the Industrial Disputes Act. Then follows s. 11 which talks of the powers and procedure of the Board and there also, subject to any rules of procedure which may be prescribed by the Central Government, the Board is empowered to exercise the same powers and follow the same procedure as an Industrial Tribunal constituted under the Industrial Disputes Act. If regard be had to this provision it is abundantly clear that the intention of the legislature was to assimilate the Wage Board thus constituted as much as possible to an Industrial Tribunal constituted under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and it was contemplated that the Board may for fixing rates of wages exercise the same powers and follow the same procedure. The Decision of the Board was to be binding on all the employers, though the working journalists were at liberty to further agitate the question under the Industrial Disputes Act if they were not satisfied with the decision of the Wage Board and wanted a further increase in their rates of wages, thus determined. All these circumstances point to the conclusion that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 955 introduced in the Rajya Sabha on September 28, 1955, and the only reference that was made there was to Clause 19 of the Bill which empowered the Central Government to make rules in respect of certain matters specified therein and it was stated that these were purely procedural matters of a routine character an related inter alia to prescribing hours of work, payment of gratuity, holidays, earned leave or other kinds of leave and the procedure to be followed by the Minimum Wages Board in fixing minimum wages and the manner in which its decisions may be published. Clause 19(3) of the Bill further provided that all rules made under this section shall as soon as practicable after they are made, be laid before both Houses of Parliament. These clauses were ultimately passed as s. 20 of the Impugned Act but they were the only piece of delegated legislation contemplated by the Legislature and were covered by the memorandum regarding the same which was appended to the Bill. The decision of the Wage Board was not to be laid before both the Houses of Parliament which would have been the case if the fixation of rates of wages was a piece of delegated legislation. It was only to be publishe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... v. State of U.P. & Ors. and after considering the various cases which were cited by both sides, this Court observed : "Be that as it may, although in our opinion the normal use of the word "restriction" seems to be in the sense of "limitation" and not "extinction", we would on this occasion prefer not to express any final opinion on this matter" and the Court ultimately wound up by saying that "whether the restrictions are reasonable or not would depend to a large extent on the nature of the trade and the conditions prevalent in it." Even if the provisions of the impugned Act would not necessarily have the effect of destroying the business of the petitioners but of crippling it and making it impossible for the petitioners to continue the same except under onerous conditions, they would have the effect of curtailing their circulation and drive them to seek government aid and thereby impose an unreasonable burden on their right to carry on business and would come within the ban of Art. 19(1)(g) read with Art. 13(2) of the Constitution. Several provisions of the impugned Act were referred to in this context. Section 2(f) of the Ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... finition of working journalists, but it has to be remembered that proof-readers occupy a very important position in the editorial staff of a newspaper establishment. B. Sen Gupta in his "Journalism as a Career" (1955) talks of the position of the proof-reader as follows : "The proof-reader is another important link in the production of a newspaper. On him depends, not to a small extent, the reputation of a paper. He has to be very careful in correcting mistakes and pointing out any error of fact or grammar that has crept into any news item or article through oversight or hurry on the part of the sub-editor. He has not only to correct mistakes but also to see that corrections are carried out", and the Kemsley Manual of Journalism has the following passage at p. 337 : "Having thus seen the proof-reader in action, let us consider in detail what proof-reading denotes. It is primarily the art and practice of finding mistakes in printed matter before publication and of indicating the needed corrections. It includes the detection of variations between the type and the copy from which it was set, mis-statements of facts, figures or dates, errors in grammar, ina ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 234). Foreign correspondent to The Times, six months period (Lowe v. Walter, (1892) 8 T.L.R. 358). The Press Commission also recommended that the period of notice for the termination of services should be based on the length of the service rendered and the nature of the appointment. There could be no hard and fast rule as to what the notice period should be. The practice upheld by law or by collective bargaining varies from country to country. In England the practice established by some judicial decisions is that the editor is entitled to a year's notice and an assistant editor to six months' notice. After examining the provisions in regard to notice which are in vogue in England, the Commission also noticed a decision in Bombay (Suit No. 735 of 1951 in the City Civil Court) where the judge concerned held that in the circumstances of the particular case the plaintiff, an assistant editor was entitled to a notice of four months although in normal times, he said, the rule adopted in England of six months should be the correct rule to adopt in India and a longer period of notice was suggested for editors because it was comparatively much more difficult to secure another ass ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rvice. Similar considerations were imported in the case of the Indian Oxygen & Acetylene Co., Ltd. ([1956] 1 L.L.J. 435), where it was observed : "It is now well-settled by a series of decisions of the Appellate Tribunal that where an employer company has the financial capacity the workmen would be entitled to the benefit of gratuity in addition to be benefits of the Provident Fund. In considering the financial capacity of the concern what has to be seen is the general financial stability of the concern. The factors to be considered before granting a scheme of gratuity are the broad aspects of the financial condition of the concern, its profit earning capacity, the profit earned in the past, its reserves and the possibility of replenishing the reserves, the claim of capital put having regard to the risk involved, in short the financial stability of the concern. There also the court awarded gratuity under ground No. 2, viz., on retirement or resignation of an employee after 15 years of continuous service and 15 months' salary or wage. It will be noticed from the above that even in those cases where gratuity was awarded on the employee's resignation from service, it ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r a journalist to cancel his contract without warning; (a) the exertion of pressure by an employer upon a journalist to induce him to perform an immoral action; (b) a fundamental change in the political outlook of the journal, proclaimed by public declaration or otherwise made manifest, if the journalist's employment would thereafter be contrary to his political opinions or the dictates of his conscience." A similar clause is to be found in Switzerland, in the collective agreement signed on April 1, 1948, between the Geneva Press Association and the Geneva Union of Newspaper Publishers : "If a marked change takes place in the character or fundamental policy of the newspaper, if the concern no longer has the same moral, political or religious character that it had at the moment when an editorial employee was engaged and if this change is such as to prejudice his honour, his reputation or, in a general way, his moral interests, he may demand his instant release. In these circumstances he shall be entitled to an indemnity.... This indemnity is payable in the same manner as was the salary." The other exception is where the employee has been in continuous service ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n infringes the fundamental right of the petitioners to carry on business under Art. 19(1)(g). This attack of the petitioners on the constitutionality of the impugned Act under Art. 19(1)(g), viz., that it violates the petitioners' fundamental right to carry on business, therefore, fails except in regard to s. 5(1)(a)(iii) thereof which being clearly severable from the rest of the provisions, can be struck down as unconstitutional without invalidating the other parts of the impugned Act. Re. Article 14. The question as formulated is that the impugned Act selected the working journalists for favoured treatment by giving them a statutory guarantee of gratuity, hours of work and leave which other persons in similar or comparable employment had not got and in providing for the fixation of their salaries without following the normal procedure envisaged in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The following propositions are advanced :- In selecting the Press industry employers from all industrial employers governed by the ordinary law regulating industrial relations under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and Act I of 1955, the impugned Act subjects the Press industry employers to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ions must be fulfilled, namely, (i) that the classification must be founded on an intelligible differentia which distinguishes persons or things that are grouped together from others left out of the group and (ii) that that differentia must have a rational relation to the object sought to be achieved by the statute in question. The classification may be founded on different bases; namely, geographical, or according to objects or occupations or the like. What is necessary is that there must be a nexus between the basis of classification and the object of the Act under consideration. It is also well-established by the decisions of this Court that article 14 condemns discrimination not only by a substantive law but also by a law of procedure." It is the light of these observations that we shall now proceed to consider whether the impugned Act violates the fundamental right of the petitioners guaranteed under Art. 14 of the Constitution. We have already set out what the Press Commission had to say in regard to the position of the working journalists in our country. A further passage from the Report may also be quoted in this context : "It is essential to realise in this c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... public opinion, a change in the proprietorship or in the editorial policy of the paper may result and in some cases has resulted in a wholesale change of the staff on the editorial side. These circumstances, which are peculiar to journalism must be borne in mind in framing any scheme for improvement of the conditions of working journalists." (para. 512). These were the considerations which weighed with the Press Commission in recommending the working journalists for special treatment as compared with the other employees of newspaper establishments in the matter of amelioration of their conditions of service. We may also in this connection refer to the following passage from the Legislation for Press, Film and Radio in the world to-day (a series of studies published by UNESCO in 1951) (supra) at p. 403 :- "Under certain systems, special advantages more extensive than those enjoyed by ordinary employees are conferred upon journalists. These may be sanctioned by the law itself. For instance, certain Latin American countries have enacted legislation in favour of journalists which is in some cases very detailed and far-reaching and offers special benefits, more particularly ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... could also be enacted without any such disability and the machinery for fixing their rates of wages by way of constituting a wage board for the purpose could be similarly devised. There was no industrial dispute as such which had arisen or was apprehended to arise as between the employers and the working journalists in general, though it could have possibly arisen as between the employers in a particular newspaper establishment and its own working journalists. What was contemplated by the provisions of the impugned Act however, was a general fixation of rates of wages of working journalists which would ameliorate the conditions of their service and the constitution of a wage board for this purpose was one of the established modes of achieving that object. If, therefore, such a machinery was devised for their benefit, there was nothing objectionable in it and there was no discrimination as between the working journalists and the other employees of newspaper establishments in that behalf. The capacity of the industry to pay was certainly to be taken into consideration by the Wage Board, as we have already seen before, and the procedure of the Board also was assimilated to that adopte ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... came about that the employers did not implement the measures which had been enacted for the benefit of the employees and the employees were thus hard put to realise and cash those benefits. Even the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, contained a like provision in s. 33C thereof (vide the amendment incorporated therein by Act 36 of 1956) which in its turn was a reproduction of the old s. 25-I which had been inserted therein by Act 43 of 1953. It may be remembered that if the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, which was a general Act, had been made applicable to the working journalists there would have been no quarrel with the same. Much less there could be any quarrel with the introduction of s. 17 into the impugned Act when the aim and object of such provision was to provide the working journalists who were a group by themselves from amongst employees employed in the newspaper establishments with a remedy for the recovery of the monies due to them in the same manner as the workmen under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. We do not see anything discriminatory in making such a provision for the recovery of monies due by the employers to these working journalists. Similar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... any legislation which attempted to restrict or defeat this right was an infraction of Art. 32 and was as such void. It is further contended that a writ of certiorari could effectively be directed only against a speaking order, i.e., an order disclosing reasons, and if a statute enabled the passing of an order that need give no reasons such statute attempted to sterilize the powers of this Court from investigating the validity of the order and was therefore violative of Art. 32. Learned Counsel for the petitioners has relied upon a decision of the English Court in Rex v. Northumberland Compensation Appeal Tribunal, Ex parte Shaw ([1951] 1 K.B. 711, 718) where Lord Goddard C.J. observed at p. 718 :- "Similarly anything that is stated in the order which an inferior court has made and which has been brought up into this court can be examined by the court, if it be a speaking order, that is to say, an order which sets out the grounds of the decision. If the order is merely a statement of conviction that there shall be a fine of 40s., or an order of removal or quashing a poor rate, there is an end of it, this court cannot examine further. If the inferior court tells this court w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d of proving his innocence. In order that this Court may be able to safeguard this fundamental right and to grant him relief it is absolutely essential that the detenu is not prohibited under penalty of punishment to disclose the grounds to the Court and no injunction by law can be issued to this Court disabling it from having a look at the grounds. Section 14 creates a substantive offence if the grounds are disclosed and it also lays a duty on the Court not to permit the disclosure of such grounds. It virtually amounts to a suspension of a guaranteed right provided by the Constitution inasmuch as it indirectly by a stringent provision makes administration of the law by this Court impossible and at the same time it deprives a detained person from obtaining justice from this Court. In my opinion, therefore, this section when it prohibits the disclosure of the grounds contravenes or abridges the rights given by Part III to a citizen and is ultra vires the powers of Parliament to that extent." It is no doubt true that if there was any provision to be found in the impugned Act which prevented the Wage Board from giving reasons for its decision, it might be construed to mean that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... refore ultra vires. (3) The procedure followed by the Board offended the principles of natural justice and was therefore invalid; (4) The decision was invalid, because (a) no reasons were given, (b) nor did it disclose what considerations prevailed with the Board in arriving at its decision; (5) Classification on the basis of gross revenue was illegal and unauthorised by the Act. (6) Grouping into chains or multiple units was unauthorised by the Act. (7) The Board was not authorised by the Act to fix the salaries of journalists except in relation to a particular industrial establishment and not on an All-India basis of all newspapers taken together; (8) The decision was bad as it did not disclose that the capacity to pay of any particular establishment was ever taken into consideration. (9) The Board had no authority to render a decision which was retrospective in operation. (10) The Board had no authority to fix scales of pay for a period of 3 years (subject to review by the Govt. by appointing another Wage Board at the end of these 3 years) and (11) The Board was handicapped for want of Cost of Living Index. The position in law is that the decision would be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... power is conferred then, unless a different intention appears that power may be exercised from time to time as occasion arises. If this is the true position there was nothing objectionable in the Central Government re-constituting the Board on the resignation of Shri K. P. Kesava Menon being accepted by it. The Wage Board can in any event be deemed to have been constituted as on that date, viz., July 14, 1956, when all the 5 members within the contemplation of s. 8(2) of the Act were in a position to function. Shri K. P. Kesava Menon had not attended the preliminary meeting of the Board which had been held on May 26, 1956, and the real work of the Wage Board was done after the appointment of Shri K. M. Cherian in his place and stead and it was only after July 14, 1956, that the Wage Board as a whole constituted as it was on that date really functioned as such. The objection urged by the petitioners in this behalf is too technical to make any substantial difference in regard to the constitution of the Wage Board and its functioning. Re. 2. This ground ignores the fact that the Working Journalists Wage Board Rules, 1956, which were published on July 31, 1956, were made by the Cent ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ir replies as soon as possible, inviting their attention to the fact that the Board had powers of an Industrial Tribunal under the Act and if newspapers failed to send their replies, the Board would be compelled to take further steps in the matter. This is clearly indicative of the fact that the Wage Board did seek to exercise the powers under the terms of s. 11 of the Act. Even though, the exercise of such powers was discretionary with the Board, the Board itself assumed these powers and assimilated its position to that of an Industrial Tribunal constituted under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. If, then, it assumed those powers, it only followed that it was also bound to follow the procedure which an Industrial Tribunal so constituted was bound to follow. It is further urged that in the whole of the questionnaire which was addressed by the Wage Board to the newspaper establishments, there was no concrete proposal which was submitted by the Wage Board to them for their consideration. The only question which was addressed in this behalf was Question No. 4 in Part "A" which asked the newspaper establishments whether the basic minimum wage, dearness allowance and metropo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Wage Board to give any reasons for its decision. The Act made no provision in this behalf and the Board was perfectly within its rights if it chose not to give any reasons for its decision. Prudence should, however, have dictated that it gave reasons for the decision which it ultimately reached because if it had done so, we would have been spared the necessity of trying to probe into its mind and find out whether any particular circumstance received due consideration at its hands in arriving at its decision. The fact that no reasons are thus given, however, would not vitiate the decision in any manner and we may at once say that even though no reasons are given in the form of a regular judgment, we have sufficient indication of the Chairman's mind in the note which he made on April 30, 1956, which is a contemporaneous record explaining the reasons for the decision of the majority. This note of the chairman is very revealing and throws considerable light on the question whether particular circumstances were at all taken into consideration by the Wage Board before it arrived at its decision. Re. 5. This ground concerns the classification of newspaper establishments on the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... "B" Class - Papers with (1) a circulation below 10,000 but above 5,000 copies or (2) an invested capital between rupees one lakh and 3 lakhs or (3) an annual income between rupees one lakh and 3 lakhs; "C" Class - Papers with (1) a circulation below 5000 copies or (2) an invested capital below rupees one lakh or (3) an annual income below rupees one lakh. The classification on the basis of gross revenue was attacked by the petitioners on the ground that in the gross revenue which is earned by the newspaper establishments, advertisement revenue ordinarily forms a large bulk of such revenue and the revenue earned by circulation of newspapers forms more often than not a small part of the same, though in regard to language newspapers the position may be somewhat different. Unless, therefore, the proportion of advertisement revenue in the gross revenue of newspaper establishments were taken into consideration, it would not be possible to form a correct estimate of the financial status of that newspaper establishment with a view to its classification. The petitioners on the other hand suggested that the profit and loss of the newspaper establishments should be adop ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... opt such grouping. It was up to the Wage Board to consider whether such grouping was justified under the circumstances or not and unless we find something in the Act which prohibits the Wage Board from doing so, we would not deem any such grouping as unauthorised. The real difficulty, however, in the matter of grouping into chains or multiple units arises in connection with the capacity of the industry to pay, a topic which we shall discuss hereafter while discussing the ground in connection therewith. Re. 7. This ground is based on the definition of "newspaper establishment" found in Section 2(d) of the Act. "Newspaper establishment" is there defined as "an establishment under the control of any person or body of persons, whether incorporated or not, for the production or publication of one or more newspapers or for conducting any news agency or syndicate." So, the contention put forward is that "an establishment" can only mean "an establishment" and not a group of them, even though such an individual establishment may produce or publish one or more newspapers. The definition may comprise within its scope chains or multiple units ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt but should be treated as separate newspaper establishments for the purpose of working out the relations between themselves and their employees. There would be no justification for including these different newspaper establishments into one chain or multiple unit and treating them, as if they were one newspaper establishment. Here again, the petitioners are faced with this difficulty that there is nothing in the Act to prohibit such a grouping. If a classification on the basis of gross revenue could be legitimately adopted by the Wage Board then the grouping into chains or multiple units could also be made by it. There is nothing in the Act to prohibit the treating of several newspaper establishments producing or publishing one or more newspapers though in different parts of the country as one newspaper establishment for the purpose of fixing the rates of wages. It would not be illegitimate to expect the same standard of employment and conditions of service in several newspaper establishments under the control of any person or body of persons, whether incorporated or not; for an employer to think of employing one set of persons on higher scales of wages and another set of workers ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... terion was Question No. 7 in Part "A" under the heading "Special circumstances" and that question was : "Are there in your regions any special conditions in respect of the newspaper industry which affect the fixing of rates of wages of working journalists ? If so, specify the conditions and indicate how they affect the question of wages." But here also it is difficult to find that the capacity of the industry to pay was really sought to be included in these special conditions. The Wage Board no doubt asked for detailed accounts of newspaper establishments and also required information which would help it in the proper evaluation of the nature and quality of work of various categories of working journalists, but the capacity of the industry to pay which was one of the essential considerations was nowhere prominently brought in issue and information on that point was sought from the various newspaper establishments to whom the questionnaire was going to be addressed. The answers to Question No. 7 as summarized by the Wage Board no doubt referred in some cases to the capacity of the industry to pay but that was brought in by the newspaper establishment ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t, groped in the dark in the absence of sufficient data and information which would enable it to come to a proper conclusion in regard to the wage structure which it was to determine. In the absence of such data and materials the Board was not in a position to work out what would be the impact of its proposals on the capacity of the industry to pay as a whole or even region-wise and the chairman in his note stated that it was difficult for the Board at that stage to work out with any degree of precision, the economic and other effects of its decision on the newspaper industry as a whole. Even with regard to the impact of these proposals on individual newspaper establishments the chairman stated that the future of the Indian language newspapers was bright, having regard to increasing literacy and the growth of political consciousness of the reading public, and by rational management there was great scope for increasing the income of newspapers and even though there was no possibility of any adjustment which might satisfy all persons interested, it was hoped that no newspaper would be forced to close down as a result of its decision; but that if there was a good paper and it deserved ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssion itself had merely suggested a basic minimum wage for the consideration of the parties concerned but had suggested that so far as the scales of wages were concerned they were to be settled by collective bargaining or by adjudication. Even though the Wage Board took upon itself the burden of fixing scales of wages as really comprised within the terms of their reference, it was incumbent upon it to consider what the impact of the scales of wages fixed by it would be on the capacity of the industry to pay. There is nothing on the record to suggest that both as regards the rates of wages and the scales of wages which it determined the Wage Board ever took into account as to what the impact of its decision would be on the capacity of the industry to pay either as a whole or region-wise. There is, however, a further difficulty in upholding the decision of the Wage Board in this behalf and it is this that even as regards the fixation of the rates of wages of working journalists the Wage Board does not seem to have taken into account the other provisions of the Act which conferred upon the working journalists the benefits of retrenchment compensation, payment of gratuity, hours of wo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the course of the hearing before us. These statements showed that the wage bill of these newspaper establishments was going to be considerably increased, that the retrospective operation of the decision was going to knock off a considerable sum from their reserves and that the burden imposed upon the newspaper establishments by the joint impact of the provisions of the Act in regard to retrenchment compensation, payment of gratuity, hours of work and leave as well as the decision of the Wage Board in regard to the fixing of rates of wages and the scales of wages would be such a could principle the resources of the newspaper establishments, if not necessarily lead to their complete extinction. The statements also showed what extra burden was imposed upon the newspaper establishments, if they wanted to discharge the working journalists from their employ which burden was all the grater, if per chance, the newspaper establishments, even though reluctantly came to a decision that it was worth their while to close down their business rather than continue the same with all these financial burdens imposed upon them. These figures have been given by us in the earlier part of our judgment a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he capacity of the industry to pay either as a whole or region-wise. We are supported in this conclusion by the observations of the chairman himself in the note which he made simultaneously with the publication of the decision on April 30, 1957, that it was difficult for the Wage Board at that stage to work out with any degree of precision, the economic and other effects of the decision on the newspaper industry as a whole. An attempt was made on behalf of the respondents in the course of the hearing before us to shew that by the conversion of the currency into naye pyse and the newspapers chargeing to the public higher price by reason of such conversion, the income of several newspapers had appreciably increased. These figures were, however, controverted on behalf of the petitioners and it was pointed out that whatever increase in the revenue was brought about by reason of this conversion of price into naye pyse was more than offset by the fall in circulation, ever rising price of newsprint and the higher commission, etc., which was payable by the newspaper establishments to their commission agents. The figure as worked out need not be described here in detail; but we are satisfi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssary to consider the capacity of the respective classes to bear the burden imposed on them. A cross-section of these respective classes may have to be taken for careful examination and all relevant factors may have to be borne in mind in deciding what burden the class considered as a whole can bear. If possible, an attempt can also be made, and is often made, to project the burden of the wage structure into two or three succeeding years and determine how it affects the financial position of the employer. The whole of the record before the Board including the chairman's note gives no indication at all that an attempt was made by the Board to consider the capacity of the industry to pay in this manner. Indeed, the proceedings show that the demand made by the representatives of the employees and the concessions made by the employers' representatives were taken as rival contentions and the Chairman did his best to arrive at his final decision on the usual basis of give and take. In adopting this course, all the members of the Board seem to have lost sight of the fact that the essential pre-requisite of deciding the wage structure was to consider the capacity of the industry to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ard itself referred in Clause 24 thereof to the all India cost of living index number published by the Labour Bureau of the Government of India O Base 1944 : 100 and fixed the dearness allowance in relation to the same. These statistics were available to the Wage Board and it cannot be said that the Wage Board was in any manner whatever handicapped in that respect. On a consideration of all the grounds of attack thus leveled against the validity and the binding nature of the decision of the Wage Board, we have, therefore, come to the conclusion that the said decision cannot be sustained and must be set aside. The petitions will, therefore, be allowed and the petitioners will be entitled to an order declaring that s. 5(1)(a)(iii) of the Working Journalists (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955, is ultra vires the Constitution of India and that the decision of the Wage Board dated April 30, 1957, is illegal and void. As regards the costs, in view of the fact that the petitioners have failed in most of their contentions in regard to the constitutionality of the Act, the fairest order would be that each party should bear and pay its own costs of these petiti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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