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Section 65: Power of appropriate Government to make rules

The Code on Wages, 2019 (Act No. 29 of 2019) • Official Statutory Text & Plain English Practice Guide

Statutory Mandate
Chapter IX: Miscellaneous
Competent Labour Forum
Act No. 29 of 2019
Section 64 All 67 Sections of Code on Wages, 2019 Section 66

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 65

Section 65 of the Code on Wages, 2019 empowers the Central Government to issue binding administrative and operational directions to State Governments to ensure the effective, coordinated, and uniform execution of the Code across the Union, establishing a framework of cooperative federalism grounded in Articles 256 and 257 of the Constitution.

  • Statutory Basis of Inter-Governmental Directives: The Central Government may issue executive directions to State Governments regarding the administration, inspection mechanisms, floor wage alignment, and enforcement of the Code. The section explicitly mandates that State Governments 'shall comply' with such directions.
  • Constitutional Anchor in the Concurrent List: Labor is Entry 24 of List III (Concurrent List) of the Seventh Schedule. Section 65 operationalizes the constitutional command of Article 256, ensuring that state executive power is exercised to secure compliance with central parliamentary labor enactments.
  • Harmonization and Prevention of Regional Wage Arbitrage: The primary objective of central directions is to prevent race-to-the-bottom regional wage disparities, synchronize digital web-based inspection portals, and enforce national floor wage baselines across state jurisdictions.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • State of Rajasthan v. Union of India (1977) 3 SCC 592: The Supreme Court examined the scope of Article 256 and central executive directions to states, holding that the Union possesses constitutional authority to ensure parliamentary statutes are effectively implemented nationwide.
  • State of Karnataka v. Union of India (1977) 4 SCC 608: The Supreme Court affirmed that cooperative federalism requires state compliance with valid federal directives enacted to achieve national socioeconomic objectives.
  • S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994) 3 SCC 1: The Supreme Court held that directions issued by the Union to States must be exercised within constitutional boundaries and for the bona fide furtherance of statutory goals.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

When handling inter-state industrial operations or multi-location manufacturing units, corporate legal teams must track central policy advisories and Section 65 directions issued by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Where a State Government's local wage notification conflicts with a binding Central floor wage directive issued under Section 65, the Central directive provides strong grounds to challenge the state order before the High Court.

Section 64 All 67 Sections of Code on Wages, 2019 Section 66