Appeals Nos 721 723 of 1962
Appeals by special leave from the judgment and order dated March 1 1961 of the Patna High Court in Misc
Judicial Cases Nos 1167 1122 and 1235 of 1960
N C Chatterjee Rai Behari Singh and Udai Pratap Singhfor the appellants in all the appeals
B P Singh N P Singh and I N Shroff for the respondent No 1 in all the appeals
C K Daphtary Attorney General N section Bindra V DMahajan and B R G K Achar for respondents Nos 2 and 3
February 26 1964
The short question which arises in these appeals by special leave is whether section 13 of the No 34 of 1948 hereinafter called the Act is invalid
By their writ petitions filed before the Patna High Court the appellants who are the workmen of the three respondent concerns the Eagle Rolling Mills Ltd the Kumardhubi Engineering Works Ltd and Kumardhubi Fire Clay and Silica Works Ltd respectively alleged that the impugned section has contravened article 14 of the Constitution and suffers from the vice of excessive delegation and as such is invalid
These employers were impleaded as respondent No 1 respectively in the three writ petitions
The High Court has rejected the plea and the writ petitions filed by 915 the appellants have accordingly been dismissed
It is against this decision of the High Court that the appellants have come to this Court and have impleaded the three employers respectively
The three appeals proceed on similar facts and raise an identical question of law and have therefore been heard together
It appears that respondents No 1 in all the three appeals are under the management of Ms Bird Co Ltd through a General Manager and the appellants are their workmen
As such workmen the appellants were getting satisfactory medical benefits of a very high order free of any charge
Respondent No 1 in each appeal maintained a wellfurnished hospital with provision for 60 permanent beds for the workmen their families and their dependents
The main grievance made by the appellants is that as a result of section 13 of the Act the appellants have now to be content with medical benefits of a less satisfactory nature
That is why they challenged the validity of the impugned section and contest the propriety and legality of the notification issued under it
To these writ petitions as well as to the appeals the Employees  State Insurance Corporation and the Union of India have been impleaded as respondents 2 and 3 respectively
On the 22nd August 1960 respondent No 3 issued a notification under section 1 sub section 3 appointing the 28th August 1960 as the date on which some provisions of the Act should come into force in certain areas of the State of Bihar
By this notification the area in which the appellants are working came within the scope of the Act
In pursuance of the said notification the Chief Executive Officer of respondent No 1 informed the appellants on the 25th August 1960 that the medical benefits including indoor and outdoor treatment upto the extent admissible under the Act will cease to be provided to insurable person  from the appointed day
A notice in that behalf was duly issued and published by the said Officer
Similar notices were issued indicating to the appellants that medical benefits would thereafter be governed by the relevant provisions of the Act and not by the arrangements which had been made 916 earlier by respondent No 1 in that behalf
That in brief is the genesis of the present writ petitions and the nature of the dispute between the parties
The first point which Mr Chatterjee has raised before us is that section 13 of the Act suffers from excessive delega tion and is therefore invalid
In order to consider the validity _of this argument it is necessary to read section 1 sub section 3 The Act shall come into force on such date or dates as the Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette appoint and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and for different States or for different parts thereof 
The argument is that the power given to the Central Government to apply the provisions of the Act by notifica tion confers on the Central Government absolute discretion the exercise of which is not guided by any legislative provision and is therefore invalid
The Act does not prescribe any considerations in the light of which the Central Government can proceed to act under section 13 and such uncanalised power conferred on the Central Government must be treated as invalid
We are not impressed by this argument
Section 13 is really not an illustration of delegated legislation at all it is what can be properly described as conditional legislation
The Act has prescribed a self contained code in regard to the insurance of the employees covered by it several remedial measures which the Legislature thought it necessary to enforce in regard to such workmen have been specifically dealt with and appropriate provisions have been made to carry out the policy of the Act as laid down in its relevant sections
Section 31 of the Act purports to authorise the Central Government to establish a Corporation for the administration of the scheme of Employees  State Insurance by a notification
In other words when the notification should be issued and in respect of what factories it should be issued has been left to the discretion of the Central Government and that is precisely what is usually done by conditional legislation
917 What Lord Selborne said about the powers conferred on the Lieutenant Governor by virtue of the relevant provisions of Act 22 of 1869 in Queen vs Burah1 can be said with equal justification about the powers conferred on the Central Government by section 13
Said Lord Selborne in that case Their Lordships think that it is a fallacy to speak of the powers thus conferred upon the Lieutenant Governor large as they undoubtedly are as if when they were exercised the efficacy of the acts done under them would be due to arty other legislative authority than that of the Governor General in Council
Their whole operation is directly and immediately under and by virtue of this Act XXII of 1869 itself
The proper Legislature has exercised its judgment as to place person laws powers and the result of that judgment has been to legislate conditionally as to all these things
The Conditions having been fulfilled the legislation is now absolute
That is the first answer to the plea raised by Mr Chatterjee
Assuming that there is an element of delegation the plea is equally unsustainable because there is enough guidance given by the relevant provisions of the Act and the very scheme of the Act itself
The preamble to the Act shows that it was passed because the legislature thought it expedient to provide for certain benefits to employees in case of sickness maternity and employment injury and
to make provision for certain other matters in relation thereto
So the policy of the Act is unambiguous and clear
The material  definitions of benefit period employee factoryinjured person  sickness wages and other terms contained in section 2 give a clear idea as to the nature of the factories to which the Act is intended to be applied the class of persons for whose benefit it has  been passed and the nature of the benefit which is intended to be conferred on them
Chapter II of the Act deals with the 1 5 IA 178 at p 195
918 Corporation Standing Committee and Medical Benefit Council and their constitution Chapter III deals with the problem of finance and audit Chapter IV makes provisions for contribution both by the employees and the employer and Chapter V prescribes the benefits which have to be conferred on the workmen it also gives general provisions in respect of those benefits
Chapter V A deals with transitory provisions Chapter VI deals with the adjudication of disputes and claims and Chapter VII prescribes penalties
Chapter VIII which is the last Chapter deals with mis cellaneous matters
In the very nature of things it would have been impossible for the legislature to decide in what areas and in respect of which factories the Employees  State Insurance Corporation should be established
It is obvious that a scheme of this kind though very beneficient could not be introduced in the whole of the country all at once
Such beneficial measures which need careful experimentation have sometimes to be adopted by stages and in different phases and so inevitably the question of extending the statutory benefits contemplated by the Act has to be left to the discretion of the appropriate Government
Appropriate Government under section 21 means in respect of establishments under the control of the Central Government or a railway administration or a major port or a mine or oilfield the Central Government and in all other cases the State Government
Thus it is clear that when extending the Act to different establishments the relevant Government is given the power to constitute a Corporation for the administration of the scheme of Employees  State Insurance
The course adopted by modern legislatures in dealing with welfare schemes has uniformly conformed to the same pattern
The legislature evolves a scheme of socioeconomic welfare makes elaborate provisions in respect of it and leaves it to the Government concerned to decide when how and in what manner the scheme should be introduced
That in our opinion cannot amount to excessive delegation
The question of excessive delegation has been frequently considered by this Court and the approach to be adopted in dealing with it is no longer in doubt
In the Edward Mills Co Ltd Beawar and Others vs The State of Ajmer 919 and Another1 this Court repelled the challenge to the validity of section 27 of the No XI of 1948 whereby power had been given to the appropriate Government to add to either part of the schedule any employment in respect of which it was of opinion that minimum wages shall be fixed by giving notification in a particular manner and it was provided that on the issue of the notification the scheme shall in its application to the State be deemed to be amended accordingly
In dealing with this problem this Court observed that there was an element of delegation implied in the provisions of section 27 for the legislature in a sense authorised another body specified by it to do something which it might do itself but it was held that such delegation was not unwarranted and unconstitutional and it did not exceed the limits of permissible delegation
To the same effect are the recent decisions of this Court in Ms Bhikusa Yamasa Kshatriya and Another vs Sangamner Akola Taluka Bidi Kamgar Union and Others2 and Bhikusa Yamasa Kshatriya P Ltd vs Union of India and Another3
Therefore we must hold that the impugned section 1 3 of the Act is not shown to be constitutionally invalid
Before we part with these appeals there is one more point to which reference must be made
We have already mentioned that after the notification was issued under section 13 by respondent No 3 appointing August 28 1960 as the date on which some of the provisions of the Act should come into force in certain areas of the State of Bihar the Chief Executive Officer of respondent No 1 issued notices giving effect to the State Government s notification and intimating to the appellants that by reason of the said notification the medical benefits which were being given to them in the past would be received by then under the relevant provisions of the Act
It was urged by the appellants before the High Court that these notices were invalid and should be struck down
The argument which was urged in support of this contention was that respondent 11955 1 SCR 735
2 1963 Supp 1 SCR 524
3  920 No 1 in all the three appeals were not entitled to curtail the benefits provided to the appellants by them and that the said benefits were not similar either qualitatively or quan titatively to the benefits under the Scheme which had been brought into force under the Act
The High Court has held that the question as to whether the notices and circulars issued by respondent No 1 were invalid could not be considered under article 226 of the Constitution that is a matter which can be appropriately raised in the form of a dispute by the appellants under section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act
It is true that the powers conferred on the High Courts under article 226 are very wide but it is not suggested by Mr Chatterjee that even these powers can take in within their sweep industrial disputes of the kind which this contention seeks to raise
Therefore without expressing any opinion on the merits of the contention we would confirm the finding of the High Court that the proper remedy which is available to the appellants to ventilate their grievances in respect of the said notices and circulars is to take recourse to section 10 of the Industrial Disputes Act or seek relief if possible under sections 74 and 75 of the Act
The result is the appeals fail and are dismissed
There would be no order as to costs
Appeals dismissed


Summary:
The appellants as workmen of respondent No 1 in all the three respondent concerns were getting free medical benefits of a very high order in a well furnished hospital maintained by respondent No 1
Respondent No 3
the Union of India issued a notification under section 13 of the Employees State Insurance Act appointing 28th August 1960 as the date on which some provisions of the Act should come into force in certain areas of the State of Bihar and the area in which the appellants were working came within the scope of the Act
In pursuance of the said notification the Chief Executive Officer of Respondent No 1 issued notices to the appellants that the medical benefits upto the extent admissible under the Act will cease to be provided to insurable persons from the appointed day and the medical benefits would thereafter be governed by the relevant provisions of the Act
The appellants in a writ petition to the High Court challenged the validity of section 13 of the Act and legality of the notifications issued under it inter alia on the ground that it contravened article 14 of the Constitution and suffers from the vice of excessive delegation
The High Court rejected the plea and dismissed the writ petitions
On appeal by special leave the appellants contended that section 13 of the Act suffers from excessive delegation and is therefore invalid
Held i section 13 of the Act is not an illustration of delegated legislation at all it can be described as conditional legislation
It purports to authorise the Central Government to establish a corporation for the administration of the scheme of Employees  State Insurance by a notification
As to when the notification should be issued and in respect of what factories it should be issued has been left to the discretion of the Central Government and that is precisely what is usually done by conditional legislation
Queen vs Burah 5
IA 178 relied on
ii Assuming there is an element of delegation the plea is equally unsustainable because there is enough guidance given by the relevant provisions of the Act and the very scheme of the Act itself
In the very nature of things it would have been impossible for the legislature to decide in what areas and in respect of which factories the Employees  State Insurance Corporation should be established
It is obvious that a scheme of this kind though very beneficent could not be introduced 34 159 SC 58 914 in the whole of the country all at once
Such beneficial measures which need careful experimentation have sometimes to be adopted by stages and in different phases and so inevitably the question of extending the statutory benefits contemplated by the Act has to be left to the discretion of the appropriate Government
That cannot amount to excessive delegation
Edward Mills Co Ltd Beawar vs The State of Ajmer   Ms Bhikusa Yamasa Kshatriya vs Sangamner Akola Taluka Bidi Kamgar Union 1963 Supp
1 SCR 524 and Bhikusa Yamasa Kahtriva vs Union of India  followed