Karnataka HC stays circulars deferring revised minimum wages for outsourced, contract workers

The Karnataka High Court on Friday stayed the operation of circulars that direct various authorities to withhold the implementation of revised minimum wages for outsourced and contract employees [All India Trade Union Congress & others v. State of Karnataka & others].

Justice H T Narendra Prasad passed the order while issuing a notice to the State on three petitions challenging circulars issued by the Karnataka State Audit and Accounts Department, the Directorate of Municipal Administration and the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department (RDPR).

The petitions have been filed by the All India Trade Union Congress, Karnataka Rajya Sarkari Khayametharara Noukarara Okkuta, the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) and others.

The unions have challenged circulars dated July 29, August 10 and August 28, 2026, which direct government departments and local authorities to suspend or defer implementation of revised minimum wage rates notified by the Karnataka government on May 22.

The petitioners contend that the May 22 notification continues to remain operative and that the pendency of challenges to the revised wage rates cannot justify withholding their implementation, particularly in the absence of any court order staying the notification.

They have also questioned the authority and jurisdiction of the concerned departments to suspend the implementation of statutory minimum wages through administrative circulars.

According to the petitions, the Karnataka government issued a final notification on May 22, revising minimum wage rates for 83 scheduled employments across the State.

The notification followed a draft notification dated April 11, 2025 and consideration of objections by the Karnataka State Minimum Wages Advisory Board at meetings held on July 29 and August 28, 2025.

The unions contend that the revised notification came into force upon publication and had already been implemented by several government departments.

The petitioners argue that the notification has been kept in abeyance based on purported verbal instructions from the Finance Department.

It has been submitted that administrative instructions cannot suspend or override a statutory notification issued under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The unions also contend that withholding of revised wages deprives outsourced workers of their statutory entitlements and violates constitutional protections available to them.

A separate challenge has been raised against the Directorate of Municipal Administration's August 10 circular, which directs municipal corporations, urban local bodies and district urban development cells to continue paying outsourced employees under the earlier July 28, 2022 notification.

Advocates Clifton D’Rozario, Maitreyi Krishnan, Raghupathi S, Prathusha M S, Srujana K, Mahesh Hiremani, KB Narayana Swamy and L Muralidhar Peshwa appeared for the petitioners.