KSLU Solved Question Papers
Labour Law I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2012 Dec Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Labour Law I 2012 Dec Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2012 Dec examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2012 Dec examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2012 Dec examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all questions. (2) One essay type and one short note question or problem from each Unit have to be attempted, which is referred as Part (a) and (b) in all the Units. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English or in Kannada completely.
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit I
(a)Elucidate the Labour Policy of India.[15]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what "labour policy" means and who makes it (the Constitution, Parliament, tripartite bodies, commissions, courts); its constitutional base (Articles 23, 24, 38, 39, 41 to 43A); its growth in four phases: (1) before 1947 (Factories Acts from 1881, the ILO, the Royal Commission on Labour 1929 to 1931, the Trade Unions Act 1926); (2) the planned welfare state, 1947 to 1990 (the laws of 1947 to 1952, tripartism through the Indian Labour Conference, the Code of Discipline 1958, the need-based minimum wage of 1957, workers' participation, the First National Commission on Labour 1969); (3) liberalisation and the Second National Commission on Labour 2002; (4) the four Labour Codes; its main strands: industrial relations by bargaining and adjudication (Karnal Leather), wages (Reptakos Brett), protection of the weakest (People's Union for Democratic Rights), and the balance with the right to run a business (Excel Wear); a critical appraisal; a table; a conclusion.
What labour policy means
Labour policy is the State's settled approach to work and workers. It covers employment, wages, industrial relations, working conditions, welfare and social security. In India it is not found in one document. It is built from the Constitution, Acts of Parliament, decisions of tripartite bodies, reports of commissions, and judgments of the courts.
Its aim has been stated many ways, but the core is constant. It seeks to protect the worker, keep industrial peace and raise production, all at once.
The constitutional base
- Rights. Article 23 bans forced labour. Article 24 bars children below fourteen from factories, mines and hazardous work.
- Directive Principles. The State must secure a social order based on justice (Article 38). It must aim at adequate livelihood, equal pay for equal work, and protection of the health of workers and of children (Article 39). It must provide for work and public assistance (Article 41). Just and humane conditions and maternity relief (Article 42), a living wage (Article 43) and workers' participation in management (Article 43A) complete the list.
- Legislative power. Labour subjects are in the Concurrent List, so both Parliament and the States make labour law.
Phase 1: before 1947
Early policy was mostly laissez faire, with a few protective laws. The Indian Factories Act 1881 dealt with child labour, and later Acts extended protection. India joined the International Labour Organisation as a founder member in 1919. The Royal Commission on Labour, chaired by J.H. Whitley, was set up in 1929 and reported in 1931. Its report shaped the laws of the 1930s, such as the Payment of Wages Act 1936. The Trade Unions Act 1926 had already given unions legal standing.
Phase 2: the planned welfare state, 1947 to 1990
A body of protective law. Independent India passed the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 and three Acts of 1948: the Factories Act, the Minimum Wages Act and the ESI Act. The EPF Act followed in 1952.
Tripartism. Policy was made by agreement among Government, employers and unions. The Indian Labour Conference first met in 1942, and the Standing Labour Committee worked with it. Their decisions guided wages, discipline and recognition of unions, though most were not law.
The Code of Discipline 1958. Employers and unions agreed, through the Indian Labour Conference, to settle disputes by negotiation, conciliation and arbitration. They agreed to avoid strikes and lock-outs without notice. The Code was voluntary, but it shaped industrial practice.
Wage policy. The fifteenth session of the Indian Labour Conference, in 1957, set norms for a need-based minimum wage.
Workmen v. Reptakos Brett and Co. Ltd., (1992) 1 SCC 290. A Madras pharmaceutical factory's dearness allowance system was abolished by a Tribunal award, and the High Court upheld it. The Supreme Court allowed the workmen's appeal. It explained the three levels of wage: minimum, fair and living. It accepted the 1957 norms, and added a sixth component of 25 per cent for children's education, medical needs, recreation and old age. A minimum-level wage cannot be cut even for financial stringency.
Workers' participation. Article 43A was added in 1976. It directs the State to secure workers' participation in the management of undertakings.
The First National Commission on Labour. Set up in December 1966 under Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar, it reported in August 1969. It reviewed wages, industrial relations, social security and working conditions in both organised and unorganised sectors.
Phase 3: liberalisation and the Second Commission
From 1991 the economy was opened up. Employers asked for flexibility in hiring and closing, and unions asked for security. The Second National Commission on Labour, chaired by Ravindra Varma, reported on 29 June 2002. It recommended grouping the many labour laws into a few broad codes. It also urged umbrella protection for unorganised workers. The Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act 2008 followed.
Phase 4: the Labour Codes
Twenty-nine central labour laws were consolidated into four codes. The Code on Wages came in 2019. The Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code came in 2020. All four are in force from 21 November 2025.
The main strands of the policy
1. Industrial relations: bargaining backed by adjudication. Policy prefers agreement, but provides conciliation, arbitration and adjudication when agreement fails.
Karnal Leather Karamchari Sanghatan v. Liberty Footwear Company, (1989) 4 SCC 448. A footwear firm and its workers referred a dispute over terminated workers to a voluntary arbitration committee. The High Court quashed the awards because the arbitration agreement had not been published. The Supreme Court held publication mandatory, and sent the dispute to the Industrial Tribunal. It said the Act "seeks to achieve social justice on the basis of collective bargaining".
2. Protection of the weakest. Labour laws must reach the worker who cannot help himself.
People's Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India, AIR 1982 SC 1473. Contractors on the Asiad 1982 projects paid workers below the minimum wage. The Supreme Court held that such payment, where poverty leaves no choice, is forced labour under Article 23. The labour laws bind the principal employer as well as the contractor.
3. Balance with the right to run a business. Policy protects jobs, but cannot make it impossible to close a business.
Excel Wear v. Union of India, AIR 1979 SC 25. A Bombay garment exporter applied to close its factory of about 400 workmen, and the Government refused. A Constitution Bench struck down section 25-O of the Industrial Disputes Act. Refusal needed no reasons, had no time limit and allowed no appeal, so the restriction was unreasonable. Parliament re-enacted the section in 1982 with those safeguards.
A critical appraisal
- Strengths. A wide body of protective law, a working system of tripartism, and courts that read labour laws in the workers' favour.
- Weaknesses. Most laws reached only the organised sector, while most Indian workers are unorganised. Enforcement has been weak. Too many overlapping laws, with different definitions, confused employers and workers alike.
- The Codes' answer. Fewer laws and common definitions, with social security extended to gig and platform workers. Critics say some Codes give employers more freedom, for example in lay-off and closure.
At a glance
| Phase | Key steps | Main idea |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1947 | Factories Acts from 1881; ILO 1919; Royal Commission 1929 to 1931 | limited protection |
| 1947 to 1990 | Acts of 1947 to 1952; Indian Labour Conference; Code of Discipline 1958; 1957 wage norms; Article 43A; First Commission 1969 | welfare state and tripartism |
| From 1991 | Second Commission 2002; unorganised workers' law 2008 | flexibility and wider coverage |
| Now | four Labour Codes, in force 21 November 2025 | consolidation |
Where the law stands now
The old Acts named above are repealed from 21 November 2025. The repealing sections are section 104 of the Industrial Relations Code and section 69 of the Code on Wages. They are also section 164 of the Code on Social Security and section 143 of the OSH Code. The policy now speaks through these four Codes.
Conclusion. India's labour policy rests on the Directive Principles, and has grown through protective laws, tripartism, wage norms and two National Commissions on Labour. It prefers collective bargaining, with adjudication behind it, as Karnal Leather explains. It aims at a need-based wage, as Reptakos Brett holds, and protection for the weakest, as People's Union for Democratic Rights shows. It must still respect the right to run a business, as Excel Wear holds. The four Labour Codes, in force since 21 November 2025, are its latest form.
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