IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.14238 of 2011 1. Panna Lal S/O Late Dev Charan Sao C/O M/S Krishna Sweets Veer Shivaji Path, Distt.- Patna Versus 1. The State Of Bihar Through The Principal Secretary, Department Of Labour Govt. Of Bihar, Patna 2. The Labour Commissioner-Cum-Appellate Authority, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 Govt. Of Bihar, New Secretariat, Patna 3. The Assistant Labour Commissioner-Cum-Authority, Department Of Labour, Opposite Electricity Department Building, Bailey Road, Patna 4. The Labour Superintendent, Patna Divison, Department Of Labour, Opposited Electricity Department Building, Bailey Road, Patna ____ For the Petitioner : Mr. Amaresh Kumar Sinha, Advocate Mr. Prashant Kumar, Advocate For the State : Mr. R.N.Choubey, SC 8 Mr. Rakesh Kumar, AC to SC 8 2 9.9.2011 The petitioner prays for quashing of the order dated 23.2.2011 passed by the Labour Commissioner, Bihar cum Appellate Authority, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 in Minimum Wages Appeal No.13/2010 whereby the learned Appellate Court affirmed the order passed by the Assistant Labour Commissioner, Patna directing the petitioner to deposit a sum of Rs.1,02,300/- before the Authority within a period of one month from the date of the order. The petitioner is running a sweets corner in the name of M/s Krishna Sweets, Veer Shivaji path, Patna with the aid of his four unemployed sons. It is stated that the Labour Superintendent, Patna filed a complaint before the Assistant Labour Commissioner stating therein that the petitioner has violated the provisions of section 12(1) of the Minimum Wages Act. In the complaint it was stated that the petitioner has employed a young boy for cleaning of plate and cup and 2 attending the hotel work on a small wage in violation of statutory provisions. The Assistant Labour Commissioner issued notice to the petitioner and in response thereof the petitioner has filed his reply alongwith an affidavit duly sworn by Mithilesh Kumar, father of employee concerned. However, without considering the aforesaid aspect the Assistant Labour Commissioner assessed the unpaid wages at Rs.9300/- and imposed maximum penalty of Rs.93000/- by multiplying the alleged unpaid wages by ten times. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid order, the petitioner preferred an appeal before the Labour Commissioner, Bihar cum- Appellate Authority, who dismissed the appeal without considering the affidavit filed by the father of the alleged employee that his son never worked in the petitioner’s concern and he does not have any grievance with the petitioner. I too find that there was no specific material for the Assistant Labour Commissioner to arrive at a finding that Rs.9300/- remained unpaid to the employee concerned. I, accordingly, set aside the both the order dated 23.2.2011 passed by the Labour Commissioner, Bihar cum Appellate Authority, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 in Minimum Wages Appeal No.13/2010 as well as the order dated 18.6.2010 passed by the Assistant Labour Commissioner in Minimum Wage Case No.142 of 2008. As the remittance of the matter would further draw the alleged small employee Binod Kumar into legal jugglery, I direct the petitioner, in order to meets the ends of justice, to handover a sum of Rs.4000/- to Binod Kumar or his father Mithilesh Kumar in presence 3 KHAN of the Assistant Labour Commissioner. It is made clear, that this order would not cause any prejudice to the petitioner in any proceedings arising out of the instant case. With the aforesaid observations and directions, this writ petition stands disposed of. (S.P.Singh,J)