Motor workers doubly protected

The Supreme Court has ruled that transport workers are covered by both the Motor Transport Workers Act and the Shops and Establishments Act.

They are entitled to "the best of both", the court said while upholding the judgment of the Gujarat High Court, which held this view. But the Patna and Bombay High Courts had held an opposite view. The Supreme Court said those two high courts had taken a wrong stand.

In this case, the employer appealed against the Gujarat High Court order, which held that notwithstanding the enactment of the Motor Transport Workers Act in 1961, the obligations to comply with the requirements of the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act did not get wiped out.

He had cited the Patna and Bombay High Courts' orders, which had held that the Motor Workers Act did away with the requirements of the Shops and Establishments Act. Since the two legislations operated in the same field, the general law passed by Parliament should prevail over the state laws.

The state government countered these and said the two laws operated in different fields and there was no repugnancy as was held by the Gujarat High Court. The Supreme Court judgment accepted the contention of the state and said the responsibilities of the management under both the Acts could not be avoided altogether.

In substance, if at all, it could only at best be claimed that the operation of the law as contained in the Establishments Act would stand curtailed if there was a contrary rule in the central law, the Supreme Court clarified.