Srinagar, Oct. 6 -- The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh on Monday ruled that a principal employer cannot escape ultimate financial liability for wages owed to contract security guards deployed at its project site merely because a contractor was made responsible for disbursing salaries.

Justice Sanjay Parihar delivered the common judgment in two connected writ petitions involving security personnel supplied by Parmar Security & Placement Services to AFCONS Infrastructure Limited for its Jammu-Udhampur highway project.

The dispute began when a Labour Enforcement Officer found that guards were not paid revised statutory minimum wages or weekly rest day wages, and that overtime had not been paid at the applicable rate.

An award of...