WORKING JOURNALISTS AND OTHER NEWSPAPER EMPLOYEES
(CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS ACT, 1955
CONTAINS
THE WORKING JOURNALISTS AND OTHER NEWSPAPER EMPLOYEES
(CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS ACT, 1955
(45 of 1955)
16. Effect of laws and agreements Inconsistent
with this Act. –
(1) The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding
anything, inconsistent therewith contained in any other law or in
the terms of any award, agreement or contract of service, whether
made before or after the commencement of this Act:
Provided that where under any such award, agreement, contract of
service or otherwise a newspaper employee is entitled to benefits
in respect 'of any matter which are more favourable to him than those
to which he would be entitled under this Act, the newspaper employee
shall continue to be entitled to the more favourable benefits in respect
of that matter, notwithstanding
that he receives benefits in respect of other matters under this Act.
(2)Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to preclude
any newspaper employee from entering into a agreement with an employer
for granting him rights or privileges in respect of any matter which
are more favourable to him that those to which fie would be entitled
under this Act.
1[16-A. Employer not to dismiss,
discharge, etc., newspaper employees. -No employer in relation to i newspaper establishment shall, by
reason of his liability for payment of wages to newspaper employees
at the rates specified in an order of the Central Government under Sec.
12, or under Sec. 12 read with Sec. 13-AA or Sec. 13-DD, dismiss, discharge
or retrench any newspaper employee.
1.Ins. by Act 36 of 1981.
1[17. Recovery of money due from
an employer. -
(1) Where any amount is due under this Act to
a newspaper employee from an employer, the newspaper employee himself,
or any person authorized by him in writing in this behalf or in case
of the death of the employee, any member of his family may, without
prejudice to any other mode of recovery, make an application to the
State Government for the recovery of the amount due to him and if
the State Government or such authority as the State Government may
specify in this behalf, is satisfied that any amount is so die, it
shall issue a certificate for that amount to the Collector, and the
Collector or shall proceed to recover that amount in the same manner
as an arrear of land revenue.
(2) If any question arises as to the amount due
under this Act to a newspaper employee from his employer, the State
Government may, on its own motion or upon application made to it,
refer the question to any Labour Court constituted by it under the
Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947), or under any corresponding
law relating to investigation and settlement of Industrial disputes
in force in the State and the said Act or law shall have effect in
relation to the Labour Court as if question so referred were a matter
referred to the Labour Court for the adjudication under that Act or
law.
(3) The decision of the Labour Court shall be
forwarded by it to the State Government which made the reference and
any amount found due by the Labour Court may be recovered in the manner
provided in sub-section (1).
1. Subs. by Act 65 of 1962, Sec. 5 for See.
17 (w.e.f. 15th, January, 1962.
17-A. Maintenance of registers, records and muster-rolls.
- Every employer in relation to a newspaper establishment shall
prepare and maintain such registers, records and muster-rolls and in
such manner as may be prescribed
17-B. Inspectors. –
(1) The State Government
may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint such persons
as it thinks fit to be inspectors for the purposes of this Act and
may define the local limits within which they shall exercise their
functions.
(2) Any Inspector
appointed under subsection (1) may for the purpose of ascertaining
whether any of the provisions of this Act or of the Working Journalists
(Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958 (29 of 1958), have been complied
with in respect of a newspaper establishment, -
(a) Require an
employer to furnish such information, as he may consider necessary;
(b) At any reasonable
time enter any newspaper establishment or any premises connected
therewith and require any one found in charge thereof to produce
before him for examination any accounts, books, registers and other
documents relating to the employment of persons or the payment of
wages in the establishment:
(c) Examine with
respect to, or any matter relevant to, any of the purposes aforesaid,
the employer, his agent or servant or any other person found in
charge of the newspaper establishment or any premises connected
therewith or any person whom the Inspector has reasonable cause
to believe to be or to have been an employee in the establishment:
(d) Make copies
of or take extracts from any book, register or other documents maintained
in relation to the newspaper establishment;
(e) Exercise such
other powers as may be prescribed.
(3) Every Inspector
shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Indian
Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860).
(4) Any person required
to produce any documents or thing or to give information by an Inspector
under sub-section (2) shall be legally bound to do so.
18. Penalty.
–
1[(1)
If any employer contravenes any of the provisions of this Act
or any rule or order made thereunder, he shall be punishable with
fine which may extend to two hundred rupees.
(I-A) Whoever, having
been convicted of any offence under this Act, is again convicted of
an offence involving the contravention of the same provision, shall
be punishable with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees.
(I-B) Where an offence
has been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the
offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the
company for the conduct of the business of the company as well as
the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall
be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Provided that nothing contained in this subsection shall render any
such person liable to any punishment provided in this section, if
he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or
that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such
offence.
(I-C) Notwithstanding anything contained in subsection
(I -B), where an offence under this section has been committed by
a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with
the consent or connivance of, or that the commission of the offence
is attributable to, any gross negligence on the part of any director,
manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director,
manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty
of such offence shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished
accordingly.
(I-D) For the purposes of this section, -
(a) “Company”
means any body
corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals;
and
(b) “Director”
in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm.]
(2) No Court inferior
to that of a Presidency Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class
shall try any offence punishable under this section.
(3) No Court shall
take cognizance of an offence under this section, unless the complaint
thereof was made within six months of the date on which the offence
is alleged to have been committed.
1. Subs. by Act 65 of 1962, Sec, 6, for sub-
section (1) (w.e.f 15, January 1963)
19.
Indemnity. -No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against
the Chairman or any other member of the Board 1[or the person constituting the Tribunal] 2[or
an Inspector appointed under this Act] for anything which is in good
faith done or intended to be done.
1.Ins. by Act 6 of 1979, Sec. 5 (w.e.f. 31st January, 1979).
2.Ins. by Act 65 of 1962, Sec. 7.
1[19-A.
Defects in appointment not to invalidate acts. -No act or proceeding
of the Board shall be questioned on the ground merely of the existence
of any vacancy in, or defect in the constitution of, the Board.
1.Ins. by Act 65 of 1962, Sec. 8 (w.e.f. 15th January, 1963).
19-B. Saving. -Nothing in his Act or the Working
Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958 (211 of 1958), shall
apply to 1[any newspaper employee] who is an employee of the
Government to whom the fundamental and supplementary rules, Civil Services
(Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, Civil Service (Temporary
service) Rules, Revised Leave Rules, Civil Service Regulations, Civilians
in defence Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, or the
Indian Railway establishment Code or any other rules or regulations
that may be notified in this un half by the Central Government in the
official Gazette, apply.
1. Subs. by Act 60 of 1974,
Sec. 5.
20. Power to make rules. -
(l) The Central
Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules
to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular
and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such
rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely
(a) Payment of
gratuity to working journalists-,
(b) Hours of
work of working journalists.
(c)
Holidays, earned leave, leave on medical certificate, casual
leave or any other kind of leave admissible to working journalist
1[(d)
The procedure to be followed by the Board 2[or, as the case may be, the Tribunal] in
the discharge of its functions under this Act;
(e) The form of
nominations, and the manner in which nominations may be
made;
(f) The manner
in which an person may be appointed for the purposes of subsection
(3) of Sec. 5-A;
(b) The variation
or cancellation of nominations;
(h) The manner
of giving notice under Cl. (a) of subsection (2) of Sec. 12;
(i) The registers,
records and muster-rolls to be prepared and maintained by newspaper
establishments, the forms in which they should be prepared and n
maintained, and the particulars to be entered therein;
(j) The powers
that m y be exercised by an Inspector;
(k) Any other
matter which has to be, or may be, prescribed.]
3[(3)
Every rule made under his section shall be laid as soon as
may be after it is made before each House of Parliament while it is
in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised
in one session 4[or
in two or more successive sessions,] and if before the expiry of the
Session 4[immediately] following the session or
the successive sessions aforesaid), both Houses agree in making any
modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should
not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified
form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any
such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity
of any thing, previously done under that rule.
1.Subs. by Act 65 of 1962, sec. 9, for Cls. (d), (e), and (n (w.e.f.
15th January, 1963).
2.Savitri v. Govind Singh Rawat, 1986 (1) Cr. L.C. 62 at. P. (S.C.).
3.Subs. by Act 65 of 1962, Sec. 9 (w.e.f. 15th January,
1963)
4. Subs. by Act 60 of 1974, Sec.6.