The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought the response of the Arvind Kejriwal government on a plea alleging advertisement of job vacancies below the prescribed or fixed minimum wage on the government portal.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the counsel appearing for the Delhi Government to obtain instructions in the matter and slated it for May 23, 2023.
The instant public interest litigation has been filed by one Md Imran Ahmad, a law student, seeking protection of fundamental rights of workers or labourers, enforcement of labour laws and termination of bonded labour in the city inasmuch as various job opportunities below the fixed minimum wage prescribed by law are being posted on the government portal.
The plea alleged that non-payment of minimum wage has subjected the workers or labourers who are getting jobs through the official government portal to inequality and is thereby violative of the fundamental rights of the workers as guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution.
The plea further alleged that a person who does not have the minimum amount of money as decided by the government may not be in a position to buy and eat healthy food and avail other basic necessities such as clothes, accommodation and internet, which is in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution and thus, irrational, illegal and arbitrary.
Claiming that bonded labour is being practised under the watch of the city government on its official portal in gross violation of labour laws, the plea sought a direction to immediately stop allowing any individual, company, organization and establishment from advertising job vacancies below minimum wage on the official portal of the government.
In addition, the plea also sought monitoring by the authorities concerned of payment made to all employees under their jurisdiction, with the assistance of modern technology and to ensure that all employees get the prescribed minimum wage.