Express Newspapers (Pvt.) Ltd. v. Union of India

Facts

• Working Journalists (Conditions of Service) Act established a statutory Wage Board
• Wage Board fixed minimum wages for working journalists in the newspaper industry
• Express Newspapers and other newspaper employers challenged:
• The Act itself as violating Article 19(1)(g) (freedom of trade)
• The Wage Board recommendations as unreasonable (would force smaller newspapers to close)
• Argued that wage fixation without considering the financial capacity of individual newspapers was unconstitutional

Issues

1. Whether a statutory wage fixation that does not consider the industry's capacity to pay violates Article 19(1)(g)
2. Whether the distinction between minimum wage and fair wage affects the constitutional analysis

Held

• Fair wage (above bare minimum) must consider the industry's and employer's capacity to pay
• A wage fixation that forces closure is an unreasonable restriction on freedom of trade
• However, minimum wage (bare subsistence) is inviolable: capacity to pay is irrelevant at the minimum level
• The Act is constitutionally valid in principle but the Wage Board must consider capacity when fixing wages above the minimum

Ratio Decidendi

Fair wage fixation must consider the industry's capacity to pay; a wage that destroys the industry is an unreasonable restriction on Article 19(1)(g). But minimum wage is non-negotiable and cannot be subjected to a capacity test. The distinction between minimum and fair wage is constitutionally significant.