Kavya was retrenched on 5 June, Meera resigned with effect from 20 June, and Tara was dismissed on 25 June. Under section 17 of the Code on Wages, 2019, by what date should each employee's wages be paid?

Section 17(2) provides that where an employee has been removed or dismissed from service, retrenched, or has resigned, or has become unemployed due to closure, the wages payable to him shall be paid 'within two working days' of that event. The provision therefore fixes one uniform, event-linked window for all the cessations it covers, overriding the general payment timelines of section 17(1) - including the seventh day of the succeeding month for monthly-rated employees - and drawing no distinction between retrenchment and resignation. Hence all three employees are covered by the same two-working-day rule. Options (b) and (e) carve out distinctions that the statute does not make; (c) and (d) apply the wrong timelines.