In Garment and Textile Workers Union (R) v. State of Karnataka and Others, the Karnataka High Court addressed the legality of minimum wage notifications issued by the State Government for the garment, textile, cloth dyeing, and spinning mill sectors. The dispute arose after the Government issued revised wage notifications in January 2023 following years of litigation concerning wage revisions that had originally been notified in 2017 and 2018. Worker unions challenged the 2023 notifications on the ground that the State had failed to follow the mandatory consultation and publication requirements prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, thereby depriving stakeholders of their statutory right to submit objections and suggestions.

A significant issue before the Court was the effect of the repeal of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 by the Code on Wages, 2019 during the pendency of the proceedings. The State argued that the earlier statutory framework no longer survived after the new Code came into force. Rejecting this contention, the Court held that workers’ rights relating to lawful wage revision had already crystallized through earlier judicial orders and therefore survived the repeal by virtue of Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 and Section 69 of the Code on Wages, 2019.

The Court found that the State had acted in violation of mandatory procedural safeguards by issuing revised wage notifications without properly publishing the proposals in the Official Gazette and inviting stakeholder participation. Consequently, the impugned notifications dated 17 January 2023 were quashed. The Court restored the earlier wage notifications applicable to the cloth dyeing, textile, and spinning mill industries, directed payment of arrears with 6% annual interest, and ordered the State to complete a fresh wage-fixation exercise for the garment sector within six months. The judgment reinforces the principle that accrued labour rights cannot be defeated merely because the underlying legislation has been repealed and replaced.

ISSUES OF LAW

The primary legal issues revolved around whether the State Government violated the mandatory procedural safeguards outlined in Section 5(1)(b) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, by failing to gazette its wage revision proposals for stakeholder feedback post-revival. The case also examined whether the state acted arbitrarily and discriminatorily by fixing textile and garment sector wages substantially lower than comparable manufacturing sectors. Crucially, the court had to determine the survival of the litigation under Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, and Section 69 of the Code on Wages, 2019, given that the 1948 Act was entirely repealed on November 21, 2025, while these writ petitions were still pending. Finally, the court addressed the workers' entitlement to interest on delayed back wages.

FACTS OF THE CASE

Minimum wages for the affected sectors were last successfully updated in 2014. On December 30, 2017, the Government issued final notifications revising minimum wages for the Cloth Dyeing, Textile (Silk), and Spinning Mills industries, followed by a February 22, 2018 draft notification for the garment sector. However, on March 22, 2018, the Government abruptly withdrew all four notifications before implementation to initiate a fresh review under a tripartite committee. A High Court Division Bench struck down this withdrawal as ultra vires on April 13, 2020, restoring the 2017 final notifications and the 2018 draft proposal, while invalidating an interim alternative benchmark from October 31, 2019. A Co-ordinate Bench later reinforced this on February 9, 2021, ordering the state to address employer grievances while preserving the workers' right to back interest. The dispute reached its climax when the Government issued new final notifications on January 17, 2023, implementing a 14?lculation hike based on the forbidden 2019 baseline, leading the petitioner union to approach the High Court to quash the 2023 updates.

JUDGMENT

The High Court allowed the writ petitions in part, completely quashing the contested minimum wage notifications dated January 17, 2023. The Court ruled that the state's failure to publish its revision proposals in the Official Gazette denied stakeholders their statutory right to object, rendering the final decision procedurally invalid. On the issue of repeal, the Court held that the workers' rights to a lawful wage revision had fully crystallized under prior judicial orders before the November 21, 2025 transition date to the new Code on Wages, 2019; therefore, these accrued rights safely survived the legislative repeal under the General Clauses Act.

Consequently, the Court ordered that until legally compliant updates are published, workers in the Cloth Dyeing, Textile, and Spinning Mills sectors must be paid under the restored December 30, 2017 notifications, plus 6% interest per annum on all unpaid amounts from their original due dates. The state was directed to conclude a fresh wage-fixation exercise for the garment sector within six months by advancing the February 22, 2018 draft notification to its legal conclusion. The final effective date for the garment sector's revision must be retroactively set to a point within five years of its 2014 baseline, carrying 6% interest per annum on any upward difference. If the final fresh calculations result in lower rates than what is currently being paid, the excess will be adjusted as a staggered advance against future earnings. No costs were awarded.

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COURT NAME

High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru

CASE NAME

Garment and Textile Workers Union (R) v. State of Karnataka and Others (with connected matters)

CASE NO.

Writ Petition No. 18020 of 2023 connected with Writ Petition No. 14466 of 2023, Writ Petition No. 17959 of 2023, and Writ Petition No. 17984 of 2023

DATE OF JUDGMENT

June 3, 2026

PRESIDING JUDGE

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde