Law: Payment of Wages Act (IV of 1936)

Section: 17(1)

(a) Payment of Wages Act (IV of 1936) Ss. 17(1) do 15 Expression "on which direction was made" in S. 17-Word "direction"-Includes refusal to make a direction-Appeal lies against an order whereby -claim of employee has been rejected in toto. The argument was that under section 17 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 an appeal is competent only against a direction to pay made under subsections (3) and (4) of section 15 of the Act and not against refusal to make a direc tion. In other words where an application of the employee under section 15 has been rejected it must be taken that there was no direction no hence no appeal lay against rejection of the application. Held: The word "direction" in section 17 should be taken to include a refusal to make a direction. An appeal lies against an order whereby the claim of the employee has been rejected in toto. Subsection (3) of section 15 empowers the Authority-to issue direction to pay wages, deducted or delayed, with or without compensation. The power to refuse to issue directions is implicit in the power to issue such directions. It is, there fore, open to an Authority to refuse to exercise the power given to it and this refusal to issue a direction amounts to a direction not to pay. Section 17 does not make only the direc tion to pay as appealable, but by clause (b) of its subsection (1) authorises an employed person to file appeal even against the refusal to issue direction and the insertion of this clause (b) shows that the intention of the Legislature was not to confine the right of appeal to a direction or order by the Authority to do something but was also to extend it a direction or order not to do something. There is nothing in clause (b) to justify the interpretation that the direction not to pay must be only of a part of the claim. The words of clause (b) are quite general and will cover a case even of a direction not to pay any part of the amount claimed provided that the total amount of wages claimed to have been withheld from the employed person or from the unpaid group to which he belonged, exceeds fifty rupees. By the insertion of clause (b) the scope of section 17 has been…