Holding

Daily‑rated vaccinators/immunisers are entitled to regularisation and to be paid wages at the minimum rate of the regular pay‑scale, with dearness allowance, and the corporation must devise a scheme for their absorption.

Summary

The Delhi Municipal Corporation employed certain vaccinators/immunisers on a daily‑wage basis for more than eight years while regular employees performing the same duties received higher salaries. The daily‑rated workers sought regularisation and payment at the minimum rate of the regular pay‑scale, invoking Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. The Industrial Tribunal dismissed their claim, prompting a special leave appeal to the Supreme Court. The Court held that there was no justification for paying the daily‑rated workers lower wages for identical work and ordered their regularisation, payment of wages at the minimum scale with dearness allowance, and a scheme for their absorption as regular staff. The appeal was allowed, and the Tribunal’s award was set aside.

Issues considered

Whether daily‑rated workers performing the same work as regular employees are entitled to regularisation and equal pay under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
Whether the Delhi Municipal Corporation can continue to pay lower daily wages to such workers despite the wage disparity.
Whether the award of the Industrial Tribunal denying regularisation is legally valid.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. Article 14, s. Article 16

Subjects

equal pay for equal workregularisation of daily‑rated workersArticles 14 and 16wage discriminationDelhi Municipal Corporationindustrial dispute

Judgment

A DELHI MUNICIPAL KARAMCHARI EKTA UNION (REGO.)
v.
P.L. SINGH & ORS.
' A

DECEMBER 7, 1987

B [E.S. VENKATARAMIAH AND K.N. SINGH, JJ.]

Constitution of India, Articles 14 & 16: Equal pay for equal
work-Daily rated workmen working for a number of years at wages
lower than minimum salary of regular incumbents-Held entitled to
wages at minimum of pay scale. ~-
c Labour Law: Daily rated workers working as such for eight (
years-Regularisation/absorption of-Whether permissible. )_

The daily rated Vaccinators/Iinmunisors working under the ...
Delhi Municipal Corporation for more than eight years sought regu-
D larisation of their services and payment of wages at par with regularly
appointed incumbents doing the same kind of work. On a reference
the Industrial Tribunal took the view that the workmen concerned
were not entitled to be regularised.

Allowing the appeal by special leave,
E {
HELD: The Vaccinators/lmmunisors involved in the appeal are
entitled to be regularised. I176G I
i -
There was no justification for the respondent Corporation
extracting the same amount of work from the workmen concerned on
1~
F payment of daily wages at rates lower than the minimum salary which
was being paid to other workmen who have been recruited regularly
even though the workmen involved in the case have been working for a
i
numberofyears. [176C-D]

The respondent Corporation to pay them wages at the rate
G equivalent to the minimum pay in the pay scale of regularly employed ,.. "'
Vaccinators/lmmunisors without any increments with effect from the
date of reference. They are also entitled to the corresponding dearness
allowance. [!76F]
. -t

The respondent Corporation to prepare a scheme on a rational
H basis for absorbing as far as possible the workmen involved in the case
174
MUNICIPAL KARAMCHARI UNION v. P.L. SINGH 175

as regular Vaccinators/lmmunisors within six months. Process of A
absorption to be completed within eight months. Arrears of salary and
allowance to be paid within four months. I !76G-H]
Daily Rated Casual Labour employed under P & T Department
I through Bhartiya Dak Tar Mazdoor Manch v. Union of India & Ors.,
' [1987] 2 SCALE, 844 and U.P. Income-tax Department Contingent B
Paid Staff Welfare Association v. Union of Imiia &-Or.,,·(W.P. No.
1870 of 1986), followed.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 3921
(NL) of 1987.
~~ From the Award dated 15.5. 1987 of the Industrial Tribunal
No. III, Delhi in Industrial Dispute No. 157 of 1981/312 of 1987. c
-l '1
'·~
P.N. Gupta for the Appellants.

R.B. Datar and Ranjit Kumar for the Respondents.
D
The following Order of the Court was delivered:

ORDER
Special leave granted. The appeal is heard. The appellant is the
union of employees in the Delhi Municipal Corporation. Some of the
members of the appellant union have been working as Vaccinators/ E
Immunisors on daily wages under the Delhi Municipal Corporation
for more than eight years whereas many others who have been
regularly appointed and are doing same kind of work are being paid
higher salary and allowances every month. Even though the Vacci-
nators/lmmunisors who have been working on daily wages have been
working for a long number of years no action has been taken by the F
Delhi Municipal Corporation for regularising their services. In view
of the disparity in the payment of wages and the neglect on the part
of the Corporation regarding the regularisation of the services of the
daily rated workmen there arose an industrial dispute and the dispute
was referred by the competent authority for adjudication to the
,. " Industrial Tribunal No. 3, Delhi under a notification dated G
23. 11.1981. The question which was referred to the Tribunal was:

"Whether the workmen mentioned in Annexure 'A'
need to be regularised as Vaccinators/lmmunisors in the
scale of Rs.260-430 and if so, from what date and what
directions are necessary in this matter?" H
176 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] 2 S.C.R.

A After hearing the matter the Tribunal agreed with all the
contentions of the appellants but it held that no relief could be
granted to them and that they should approach either the High Court
or the Supreme Court for that purpose. Accordingly the Tribunal
passed an award nearly six years after the date of the reference that
the workmen concerned were not entitled to be regularised as
B Vaccinators/lmmunisors in the scale of Rs.260-430. Aggrieved by the
award of the Tribunal the appellant has filed this appeal by special
leave.

After hearing the learned counsel for the parties we find that
the Delhi Municipal Corporation has practically no tenable defence
C to the claim made by the workmen. There is no justification for the
Corporation extracting the same amount of work from the workmen
concerned on payment of daily wages at rates lower than the
minimum salary which is being paid to other workmen who have been
recruited regularly even though the workmen involved in this case
have been working for a number of years. Nearly six years have
D elapsed from the date of the reference but without any change in the
attitude of the Corporation.

Following the decision of this Court in Daily Rated Casual
Labour employed under P & T Department through Bhartiya Dak Tar
Mazdoor Manch v. Union of India & Ors., [ 1987] 2 SCALE, page 844
E and our decision in U. P. Income-tax Department Contingent Paid
Staff Welfare Association v. Union of India & Ors., (Writ Petition
11
No. 1870 of 1986 decided on December 4, 1987 we direct the
(
respondent Delhi Municipal Corporation to pay the Vaccinators/
Immunisors involved in this appeal wages at the rate equivalent to
the minimum pay in the pay-scale of regularly employed Vaccinators/
F Immunisors without any increments with effect from the date of the
r
reference i.e. 23. 11. 1981. The workmen concerned are also entitled
to the corresponding dearness allowance. We also direct the Delhi
Municipal Corporation to prepare a scheme on a rational basis for
absorbing as far as possible the workman involved in this case as
regular Vaccinators/Immunisors. This order is made in substitution of
G the award passed by the Tribunal. The arrears of salary and allow-
ance payable under this order shall be paid within four months. The
scheme for absorption shall be prepared within six months and the
process of absorption shall be completed within eight months from
today. The appeal is accordingly allowed with no order as to costs.

H P.S.S. Appeal allowed.