The Supreme Court will give its verdict on Friday on writ petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the notifications the Centre issued, directing the newspaper managements to implement the Justice G.R. Majithia Wage Board’s recommendations on a new pay structure for journalists and non-journalists.
A Bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Shivakirti Singh reserved orders on January 9 on the petitions filed by ABP Ltd., Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd., publishers of The Times of India , and other newspapers; and the Indian Newspaper Society after a marathon hearing over four months since September. They had challenged the Wage Board’s report submitted in December 2010, and the notification issued by the Centre in November 2011.
The Centre justified the report and the notification for its implementation and said the wage structure was based on the employer’s capacity to pay.
