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8. The effect of the prohibition notification under Section 10(1) of the CLRA Act issued by the appropriate Government at the later stage, came to be examined by the Constitution Bench of this Court in Steel Authority of India Ltd. and Others (supra) wherein it was held that there is no provision under CLRA Act whether expressly or necessary implication which provides for automatic absorption of contract labour on issuance of a notification by the appropriate Government under Section 10(1), prohibiting employment of contract labour in any process, operation or other work in any other establishment and overruled the judgment in Air India Statutory Corporation and Others (supra) making it clear that neither Section 10 nor any other provision in the CLRA Act provides for automatic absorption of contact labour on issuance of a notification by the appropriate Government under Section 10(1) of the CLRA Act and consequently the principal employer is not required by operation of law to absorb the contract labour working in the establishment. The exposition of law will be discussed at the later stage.

32. Before we may advert to examine the question in the instant appeals any further, it will be apposite to take note of the legal effect of the prohibition notification issued by the appropriate Government in exercise of power under Section 10(1) of the CLRA Act and its exposition by the Constitution Bench of this Court in Steel Authority of India Ltd. and Others (supra) overruling the judgment in Air India Statutory Corporation and Others (supra). The legal consequence of Section 10(1) of the CLRA Act, has been noticed in paragraph 68, 88, 105 and 125 as follows:­ “68. We have extracted above Section 10 of the CLRA Act which empowers the appropriate Government to prohibit employment of contract labour in any process, operation or other work in any establishment, lays down the procedure and specifies the relevant factors which shall be taken into consideration for issuing notification under sub­section (1) of Section 10. It is a common ground that the consequence of prohibition notification under Section 10(1) of the CLRA Act, prohibiting employment of contract labour, is neither spelt out in Section 10 nor indicated anywhere in the Act. In our view, the following consequences follow on issuing a notification under Section 10(1) of the CLRA Act:

105. The principle that a beneficial legislation needs to be construed liberally in favour of the class for whose benefit it is intended, does not extend to reading in the provisions of the Act what the legislature has not provided whether expressly or by necessary implication, or substituting remedy or benefits for that provided by the legislature. We have already noticed above the intendment of the CLRA Act that it regulates the conditions of service of the contract labour and authorizes in Section 10(1) prohibition of contract labour system by the appropriate Government on consideration of factors enumerated in sub­section (2) of Section 10 of the Act among other relevant factors. But, the presence of some or all those factors, in our view, provides no ground for absorption of contract labour on issuing notification under sub­section (1) of Section 10. Admittedly, when the concept of automatic absorption of contract labour as a consequence of issuing notification under Section 10(1) by the appropriate Government, is not alluded to either in Section 10 or at any other place in the Act and the consequence of violation of Sections 7 and 12 of the CLRA Act is explicitly provided in Sections 23 and 25 of the CLRA Act, it is not for the High Courts or this Court to read in some unspecified remedy in Section 10 or substitute for penal consequences specified in Sections 23 and 25 a different sequel, be it absorption of contract labour in the establishment of principal employer or a lesser or a harsher punishment. Such an interpretation of the provisions of the statute will be far beyond the principle of ironing out the creases and the scope of interpretative legislation and as such, clearly impermissible. We have already held above, on consideration of various aspects, that it is difficult to accept that Parliament intended absorption of contract labour on issue of abolition notification under Section 10(1) of the CLRA Act.

41. It was further observed that the contractors had full control over the skilled and professional work and the SAIL had right to reject the limestone, if it was not within the specified approved grade as per terms and conditions of the agreement and after extensive appreciation of the oral/documentary evidence on record, CGIT recorded a finding of fact holding that the contract was not sham and bogus at least up to the date of issuance of the prohibition notification dated 17th March, 1993. Although in paragraph 85 of the award the Tribunal has recorded a finding that after the issuance of prohibition notification dated 17 th March, 1993 by operation of law, it became sham and bogus but in our considered view, such a finding recorded in para 85 of the Award dated 16th September, 2009 is not sustainable in law for the simple reason that mere issuance of the prohibition notification under CLRA Act will not make the contract/agreement to be void ab initio or bad in law and if the employees are allowed to continue in terms of the earlier agreement after the prohibition notification under CLRA Act has come into force, it may be illegal and continuance of service in the absence of any contract which stands extinguished by virtue of prohibition notification has to face the penal consequences as embedded under the scheme of CLRA Act.