Summary
By a notification of 23/24.05.2016 under Section 4(1)(i) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, after inviting objections and consulting the Advisory Board, the State of Goa revised minimum wages as a basic rate plus a special (variable dearness) allowance. By an 'errata' notification of 14.07.2016 it substituted 'clause (iii)' for 'clause (i)', converting the wage into an all-inclusive rate without the allowance. The Bombay High Court at Goa accepted the State's plea of a clerical mistake. The Supreme Court allowed the union's appeal: the choice of clause (i) was a conscious decision taken after the union's representations, not a clerical or arithmetical mistake correctable under Section 10, and even the power under Section 21 of the General Clauses Act to amend a notification must follow the procedure of Sections 4 and 5; the errata was quashed and the original notification restored.
Issues
- Whether a State Government may, by an 'errata' notification invoking Section 10 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, alter a minimum-wage notification consciously issued under Section 4(1)(i) (basic rate plus special allowance) into one under Section 4(1)(iii) (all-inclusive rate), on the plea that the reference to clause (i) was a clerical mistake.
Provisions considered
- Sections 4(1)(i) and (iii), 5 and 10, Minimum Wages Act, 1948Section 4(1) allows minimum wages to be fixed as a basic rate plus a special allowance (clause (i)) or as an all-inclusive rate (clause (iii)); Section 5 prescribes publication of proposals, consideration of representations and consultation with the Advisory Board. Section 10 permits correction only of clerical or arithmetical mistakes or errors from accidental slips (Master Construction). The original notification reflected a conscious decision under clause (i) reached after the Labour Union pressed for a variable dearness allowance, as the State's counter-affidavit admitted, so there was no mistake to correct and the errata, presumed to be under Section 10, was beyond it. (¶¶ 2, 2.1, 2.2, 6, 7, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 8, 8.1)
- Section 21 (power to amend, vary or rescind notifications), General Clauses Act, 1897Even assuming power to amend, vary or rescind the notification, Section 21 requires that it be exercised in the like manner and subject to the like conditions as the original, so the procedure under Sections 4 and 5 of the Minimum Wages Act followed for the original notification had to be followed for any modification; an errata notification could not achieve it. (¶ 9)
Held
- Once minimum wages were revised and determined under Section 4(1)(i), comprising basic rates plus a special allowance, after the procedure under Section 5 including consultation with the Advisory Board, the mention of clause (i) cannot be termed a clerical or arithmetical mistake; Section 10 permits correction only of such mistakes or of errors arising from accidental slips or omissions, and a conscious decision cannot be reversed under it. (¶¶ 7, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4)
- The State's counter-affidavit shows that the draft notification proposed an all-inclusive rate under clause (iii), that the Labour Union objected and sought a variable dearness allowance, and that after prolonged deliberation the final notification raised the rates and introduced the allowance; the subsequent plea of a clerical error in mentioning clause (i) therefore cannot be accepted. (¶¶ 8, 8.1)
- Applying Section 21 of the General Clauses Act, any power to amend, vary or rescind the notification had to be exercised in the like manner as the original, i.e., after following the procedure in Sections 4 and 5; the errata notification of 14.07.2016 was therefore wholly without jurisdiction and contrary to the Minimum Wages Act, and the High Court erred in upholding it. (¶¶ 9, 10)
Result
Appeal allowed; the Bombay High Court at Goa's judgment of 01.08.2016 in Writ Petition No. 710 of 2016 set aside; the Errata Notification dated 14.07.2016 quashed and the notification dated 23/24.05.2016 revising minimum wages as basic rates plus special allowance under Section 4(1)(i) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 restored. No order as to costs.