Compensation: Claim of – Award of 200% compensation – Justification of – On facts, non-payment of minimum wages to workmen – Order by the Specified Authority directing the employers to pay to each worker the difference in wages towards the claim plus compensation at the rate of 200% of the claim – High Court upheld the order – On appeal, held: In an identical case, the High Court awarded 100% compensation to similarly placed workers, thus, there was no justification to award compensation at the rate of 200% to the workers – Though it was the discretion of the Courts/Authority to award compensation with different percentage in every case but it was necessary to give reasons in support thereof – High Court failed to give reasons – Thus, each worker entitled to claim compensation at the rate of 100% in place of 200% – Labour Laws.
Allowing the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1.1 The High Court, in the instant case also should have awarded compensation at the rate of 100% to each respondent alike the one awarded in other case which had attained finality. There is no justification to award compensation at the rate of 200% to the respondents when in other identical case, the High Court awarded compensation at the rate of 100% to similarly placed workers. [Paras 16, 17] [580-D-E]
1.2 Though, it was the discretion of the Courts/Authority to award compensation with different percentage in every case but it was necessary to give reasons in support of award of such compensation. It was much more so when the High Court awarded compensation at the rate of 200% to some workers and awarded at the rate of 100% to other workers though similarly situated. This necessitated for giving of reasons as to why compensation was being awarded at the rate of 200% to one set of workers as against the other set of workers at the rate of 100% when all were similarly placed. The High Court failed to give any reason while awarding compensation at two rates. The impugned order is modified to the extent that each respondent-worker is held entitled to claim compensation amount at the rate of 100%, i.e., Rs.49,804/- in place of 200% which was awarded by the Courts below. Each respondent-worker is held entitled to receive a sum of Rs.49,804/- (100%) towards his claim plus Rs.49,804/- by way of compensation = total Rs.99,608/-. [Paras 18-20][580-F-H; 581-A-B]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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