New DelhiA bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant on Thursday refused to hear a plea seeking declaration that domestic workers or domestic helpers have a fundamental right to get minimum wages. Hearing the case of Pen Thojilalargal Sangam and Others vs Union of India and Others, the top court said that policy decisions like imposing minimum wages for domestic workers fall within the jurisdiction of state governments and the judiciary’s interference on it is limited. A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi feared that if a mandatory minimum wage was fixed for domestic workers, it could have adverse consequences. The CJI said, “If this happens, every household will be embroiled in litigation.” Further, the Chief Justice said, “As soon as the minimum wage is fixed, every household will get trapped in litigation. People will stop hiring domestic workers. Trade unions will drag every household to court.” Along with this, CJI gave an example and said that after the intervention of trade unions in many industries, employment opportunities have decreased and the same can happen in the case of domestic workers also.
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Court expressed concern over the argument of fundamental rights
However, during the hearing, the bench acknowledged that the argument that without a minimum wage violates the rights of domestic workers to equality, non-discrimination and fair employment (Articles 14, 15, 16) is attractive, but cautioned that over-active trade unions could leave these workers in worse conditions. The CJI said, “Please consider the consequences of this. The trade unions will eventually abandon them and they will be left with nowhere to go.”
Questions on exploitation of agencies also
According to Bar & Bench, the Supreme Court also expressed concern over the role of agencies that employ domestic workers. The Chief Justice said that earlier workers were hired through agencies in the Supreme Court complex also. “We used to pay Rs 40,000 per employee to the agencies, but those poor girls got only Rs 19,000. That’s why the trust breaks down,” he said. He said that many criminal incidents also come to light when domestic workers are hired through agencies and not on the basis of direct human contact. Upper castes are getting converted for reservation; CJI Surya Kant said – This is a new fraud. Court’s stand on the petition. The court said that for the kind of order that the petitioners want, amendment in the law will be necessary and giving such instructions is beyond the jurisdiction of the judiciary. In its order, the court said, “Unless the legislature is asked to make a law, no effective order can be passed. It is not appropriate for this court to give such a direction.” However, the Court also said that states should seriously consider the situation of domestic workers and develop appropriate mechanisms to prevent exploitation.
what was the petition
The petition demanded that domestic workers be declared a fundamental right to minimum wages and their exclusion from the Minimum Wage Act or the Wage Code, 2019, be declared unconstitutional. Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, appearing for the petitioners, cited international examples and said leave and other rights are mandatory for domestic workers in countries like Singapore. On this, Justice Bagchi said that it is not correct to say that there are no welfare laws for domestic workers. Referring to the Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, he said that the court remains very cautious in matters of economic policies.