Law: Payment of Wages Act, 1936

Section: 2(d)

Law: Industrial Relations Ordinance, (XXIII of 1969)

Section: 51(1)

Law: Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees (Procedure and Function) Rules, 1977

Section: 16(2), 17

Law: Limitation Act, 1908

Section: 181

Summary

The writ petitions concerned newspaper employees of “Daily Khabrain” and other newspaper establishments who approached the Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees (ITNE Tribunal) for recovery of salary arrears payable under the 7th Wage Board Award.

The employers challenged the Tribunal's orders on three principal grounds: jurisdiction, maintainability of claims by former/contract/part-time employees, and limitation.

The High Court held that the Tribunal did have jurisdiction to implement the Wage Board Award and recover unpaid wages. It further held that a person who was employed by a newspaper during the relevant period does not lose his status as a “newspaper employee” merely because he subsequently left employment, and the statutory definition is sufficiently broad to include persons working under contractual arrangements.