SC orders re-evaluation of minimum wage in Sindh

Bench orders payment of minimum wage of Rs19,000 as proposed by the Sindh Wage Board.

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered payment of the minimum wage of Rs19,000 as proposed by the Sindh Wage Board, with direction to the Sindh government and the board to fix the new wages with mutual consultation.

A three-member bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, heard the appeals against fixing the minimum wage of Rs25,000 in Sindh. During the hearing, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked about the minimum wage fixed by the federation.

Abid Zuberi, the lawyer for the industry, responded that the federation had fixed the minimum wage at Rs20,000. Justice Shah also asked how the minimum wage had been increased in Sindh. Zuberi said the provincial cabinet had approved the minimum wage.

Justice Bandial said that what was the authority of the government to fix the minimum wage? Additional advocate general of Sindh informed the bench that the Sindh Wage Board made the recommendation about minimum wage in the province.

Read: "Sindh notification on minimum wage in limbo"

However, he added, it was up to the provincial government whether to accept the board’s recommendation or not. Zuberi added that according to the law, the provincial government was bound to follow the board’s recommendation.

The law stipulated that if the provincial government had any objection to the board’s recommendations, it would return the matter within 30 days, Zuberi said, adding that the Sindh government took the decision on its own.

Justice Shah asked would the matter be put on hold, if there was no consensus between the Sindh government and the Wage Board? He also said that the minimum wage was fixed at 20,000 across the country but the Sindh Wage Board recommended Rs19,000.

Justice Bandial said that when the issue was to be resolved by the Sindh Wage Board, the court did not want to drag it anymore. Later, the court said in its order that all industrial and commercial employees in Sindh should be paid the minimum wage of 19,000 and the matter should be re-evaluated in two months.

The court separated the inter-provincial organisation’s application from the case. The court ruled that the application about implementation of federal law on provincial industries would be reviewed separately.