On 6 November 1996, a three-judge bench held that once the appropriate Government issues a Section 10 notification under the Contract Labour Act prohibiting contract labour in a process, the displaced workers stand automatically absorbed into the principal employer's establishment. The doctrine lived for five years before a Constitution Bench overruled it in SAIL.
On 16 December 1983, a three-judge bench held that Article 21 derives its life-breath from the Directive Principles and laid the foundation for continuing-mandamus supervision of bonded-labour rehabilitation.
On 21 February 1978, a seven-judge Constitution Bench laid down the triple test for 'industry' under s.2(j) of the Industrial Disputes Act, sweeping hospitals, clubs, and charities into its coverage.
The first of the four labour Codes consolidates the Payment of Wages Act 1936, the Minimum Wages Act 1948, the Payment of Bonus Act 1965 and the Equal Remuneration Act 1976 into a single instrument. Partially commenced in December 2020; the substantive chapters await further Section 1(3) notifications. A practitioner's read on the architecture, the open compliance questions, and the old-law judgments that continue to govern.
The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 consolidates the Trade Unions Act 1926, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946 and the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 into a single instrument. Three substantive shifts — fixed-term employment recognition, the universal 60-day strike notice, and the 300-worker layoff threshold — redraw India's labour-flexibility map. A practitioner's read on the architecture, the open Rules questions, and the old-law jurisprudence that continues to govern.
On 18 September 1982, a two-judge bench held that payment below minimum wage is 'forced labour' under Article 23, opening Article 32 to construction workers at the Delhi Asian Games sites.
On 30 August 2001, a five-judge Constitution Bench unanimously held that no automatic absorption flows from a Section 10 notification under the Contract Labour Act. Air India Statutory Corporation was prospectively overruled. The remedy for displaced contract workers is industrial adjudication — not direct constitutional absorption.