Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has issued notices to the state government regarding the appointment of individuals affiliated with trade unions, rather than independent persons, as the Chairman and members of the Minimum Wages Board.
The court has directed the government to file detailed counter-affidavits concerning the appointments of Janak Prasad as Chairman and S Narasimha Reddy as a member.
PIL challenges GO 443 and 21
The public interest litigation (PIL) challenging Government Orders (GOs) 443 and 21, which appointed B Janak Prasad as Chairman and S Narasimha Reddy as a member of the Minimum Wages Board, was filed by trade union activist G Srinivas.
Despite objections raised by the registry on the petition, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice P Shyam Koshy heard the matter on Thursday, July 24.
Advocate Chikkudu Prabhakar, representing the petitioner, argued that the appointments of the Chairman and members were in violation of Section 8, read with Section 9 of the Minimum Wages Act. He contended that the Minimum Wages Advisory Board requires the appointment of independent individuals as Chairman and members, and the current appointments contradict this provision.
After hearing the arguments, the bench rejected the registry’s objections and ordered the allocation of a number to the petition. Notices were subsequently issued to the respondents, including the Chief Secretary to the Government, the Principal Secretary of the Labour and Employment Department, the Commissioner of Labour, as well as B Janak Prasad and S Narasimha Reddy in their personal capacities.
The High Court has directed the respondents to file detailed counter-affidavits and adjourned the hearing.
