In Brief
A conductor employed by Punjab Roadways filed an application under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, seeking refund of wages withheld as disciplinary punishment. The prescribed authority accepted the application and set aside the disciplinary withholding orders. The Supreme Court held that the prescribed authority has no jurisdiction to interfere with wages withheld as disciplinary punishment. The appropriate remedy is to file a statutory appeal within the disciplinary process, not to invoke the Payment of Wages Act. The Court set aside the High Court's judgment and dismissed the employee's application.
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