Supreme Court Upholds Labour Act, Grants Relief to Government Employees

There is news of relief for the employees of government departments, school-hospital employees across the country. They have got relief from the Supreme Court. They will remain under the purview of the Labour Act. 6 out of 9 judges have agreed that this case was worthy of hearing. The triple test given in the 1978 decision for the identification of the industry has stood the test of time. Still some parts of it need to be clarified. The triple test is being explained in a new way in the detailed decision. The court said that the cases in which the final decision has come will not be reopened. The cases which are still pending in the court, tribunal or labour authority under the Industrial Disputes Act can also be decided on the basis of the 1978 decision. In 1978, the Supreme Court had set such a broad definition of industry that almost every place, including schools, hospitals and government departments, was considered an'industry'where the employer and employee are related. Due to this decision, there was no demand for this change in the law from the government departments, including schools, hospitals and many employees of the state governments.