9911796707
TMI Blog1989 (11) TMI 329X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Act and also regulating the service conditions of contract labour where abolition is not possible. Section 10 of the Act which is relevant is as under : Prohibition of employment of contract labour : (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the appropriate Government may, after consultation with the Central Board or, as the case may be, a State Board prohibit, by notification in the Official Gazette, employment of contract labour in any process, operation or other work in any establishment. (2) Before issuing any notification under Sub-section (1) in relation to an establishment, the appropriate Government shall have regard to the conditions of work and benefits provided for the contract labour in that establishment and other r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the Brick Department has been specifically excluded from the beneficial purview of the notification. The said action of the State Government has been challenged in this writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India by the affected workmen on the ground that the petitioners have been subjected to hostile discrimination so much so that the workmen doing the same job in other departments and allied jobs in the same department have been rescued from the archaic system of contract labour whereas the petitioners have been singled-out and left to be grinded under the pernicious effect of this primitive system. The action according to the petitioners is arbitrary, discriminatory and is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... India Ltd. v. its workmen (1960)IILLJ238SC and Catering cleaners of Southern Railway (1987)ILLJ345SC has disapproved the system of contract labour holding it to be 'archaic', 'primitive' and of 'baneful nature'. The system, which is nothing but an improved version of bonded-labour, is sought to be abolished by the Act. The Act is an important piece of social legislation for the welfare of labourers and has to be liberally construed. 7. It is not denied that the bricks handled by the Brick Department are used in furnaces of the company as refractory. Therefore the work done by the Brick Department including loading and unloading of bricks is incidental to the industry carried on by the company. It is also not denied t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... locally and/or imported from outside India. Such a costly material has to be handled by skilled workmen. The job of loading and unloading of such bricks and their stacking is done by skilled workmen and this work cannot be done by casual labour which may be engaged or disengaged as contract labour depending upon the sweet will of the management. It is submitted that loading and unloading and stacking of bricks are jobs which are supplementary to each other carried out by the same set of workmen and is essential for the day today production. The petitioners submit that it is not possible to engage one set of workmen for stacking and another set of workmen for loading and unloading of bricks. 9. In the counter affidavit on behalf of the comp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
