KSLU Solved Question Papers
Labour Law I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2016 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Labour Law I 2016 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2016 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2016 Jun 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 · 13 questions answered
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.
Q1Define industrial dispute under the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 and when an individual dispute will become Industrial Dispute ?[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the definition of "industrial dispute" in section 2(k) of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 and its four parts (parties, a dispute or difference, subject matter, "any person": Dimakuchi Tea Estate); what an individual dispute is and why it mattered; when an individual dispute becomes an industrial dispute: route 1, espousal by a union or a body of workmen (Newspapers Ltd.; J.H. Jadhav: a minority union may espouse, no set form; Bombay Union of Journalists, an espoused retrenchment); route 2, section 2A (1965): discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination of one workman is deemed an industrial dispute; route 3, direct access to the Labour Court or Tribunal after forty-five days, within three years (section 2A(2) and (3), 2010); what still needs espousal; a table; the Industrial Relations Code 2020 (section 2(q)); a conclusion.
Part A: the definition
Section 2(k) defines an industrial dispute as "any dispute or difference between employers and employers, or between employers and workmen, or between workmen and workmen, which is connected with the employment or non-employment or the terms of employment or with the conditions of labour, of any person".
Its parts are four.
- Parties. Employers and employers, employers and workmen, or workmen and workmen. The plural forms show that the Act has collective disputes in view.
- A dispute or difference. There must be a real dispute: a demand made by one side and refused by the other.
- Subject matter. It must concern employment or non-employment, terms of employment, or conditions of labour.
- Of any person. The person whose employment is in question need not be a party.
Workmen of Dimakuchi Tea Estate v. Management of Dimakuchi Tea Estate, AIR 1958 SC 353. An Assistant Medical Officer of a tea estate was dismissed, and the workmen took up his cause. The Supreme Court held that "any person" cannot be read in its widest sense. The dispute must be a real one, capable of settlement by one party giving relief to the other. And the parties must have a direct or substantial interest in the employment of the person concerned. The doctor was not a workman, so the workmen had no such interest. The dispute was not an industrial dispute.
Part B: the individual dispute
An individual dispute is one between an employer and a single workman, about that workman alone. A worker dismissed or denied promotion has such a dispute. The question is whether it can be taken to the Act's machinery of conciliation and adjudication. That machinery is open only to an "industrial dispute". If an individual dispute is not one, the worker is left to a civil suit, which can award damages but does not usually order reinstatement.
Part C: when it becomes an industrial dispute
Route 1: espousal
Before 1965, the courts held that a dispute about one workman was an industrial dispute only if other workmen made it their own.
Newspapers Ltd. v. State Industrial Tribunal, U.P., AIR 1957 SC 532. A lino typist was dismissed for incompetence. No union of the company's workmen, and no group of his fellow workers, took up his case. Only an outside union of journalists did. The Supreme Court held that it remained an individual dispute, and the reference was bad. It becomes an industrial dispute only if the workmen as a body, or a considerable section of them, make common cause with the individual.
J.H. Jadhav v. Forbes Gokak Ltd., (2005) 3 SCC 202. A clerk's claim to promotion was taken up by the staff union, and the employer said the union was too small to espouse it. The Supreme Court held that a dispute is espoused if a union of workmen, or a number of workmen, sponsor it. Even a union of a minority of the workmen may espouse it. No particular form is needed. A resolution is usual, but espousal may be proved by other evidence.
Bombay Union of Journalists v. State of Bombay, AIR 1964 SC 1617. Two journalists were retrenched with three months' salary in lieu of notice. Their union, the Bombay Union of Journalists, pursued the dispute, and after conciliation failed the Government refused a reference. The Supreme Court held that the Government may consider the merits prima facie, but must not decide disputed questions finally. The case shows an espoused individual retrenchment dealt with as an industrial dispute.
The tests for espousal, drawn from these cases:
- The espousing body must be a union of the employer's workmen, or a substantial number of them. An outside union with no members there is not enough.
- A minority union may espouse the dispute.
- No set form is required, though a resolution is the usual proof.
- The workmen must have a real interest in the dispute, as Dimakuchi requires.
Route 2: section 2A (1965)
Espousal left a dismissed worker at the mercy of his union. So section 2A was inserted from 1 December 1965. Where an employer "discharges, dismisses, retrenches, or otherwise terminates the services of an individual workman", the dispute arising from it "shall be deemed to be an industrial dispute". This applies "notwithstanding that no other workman nor any union of workmen is a party to the dispute".
So a single workman's dispute about losing his job is an industrial dispute in its own right. He may seek conciliation, and the Government may refer the dispute, without any espousal.
Route 3: direct access (2010)
Even under section 2A, the worker still depended on the Government's decision to refer. Amendments in force from 15 September 2010 removed that dependence.
- After forty-five days (section 2A(2)). A worker who applied to the conciliation officer may, after forty-five days from that application, apply directly to the Labour Court or Tribunal. It then decides the dispute as if it had been referred by the Government.
- Within three years (section 2A(3)). The direct application must be made within three years from the date of the discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination.
What still needs espousal
Section 2A covers only discharge, dismissal, retrenchment and other termination. A single worker's dispute about anything else still needs espousal to become an industrial dispute. Examples are promotion, as in J.H. Jadhav, wages, transfer or a punishment short of dismissal.
An example
A worker in a textile mill is dismissed for alleged misconduct, and another is passed over for promotion. Neither has the union's support. The dismissed worker's dispute is an industrial dispute by section 2A(1). He applies to the conciliation officer. If nothing is settled in forty-five days, he may file his claim directly before the Labour Court, within three years of his dismissal. The other worker's promotion dispute is not covered by section 2A. Unless the union, or a body of his fellow workers, takes it up, it stays an individual dispute outside the Act.
At a glance
| Kind of individual dispute | How it becomes an industrial dispute | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Discharge, dismissal, retrenchment, termination | automatically, by section 2A(1) | 1965 amendment |
| The same, if the Government will not refer | direct application after 45 days, within 3 years | section 2A(2), (3), 2010 |
| Promotion, wages, transfer, other punishments | only if espoused by a union or a body of workmen | Newspapers Ltd., J.H. Jadhav |
| Dispute about a non-workman | not an industrial dispute, even if espoused | Dimakuchi Tea Estate |
Where the law stands now
The 1947 Act was repealed on 21 November 2025 by section 104 of the Industrial Relations Code 2020. Section 2(q) of the Code defines industrial dispute in the same words. It now builds section 2A into the definition itself, by including "any dispute or difference between an individual worker and an employer connected with, or arising out of discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination of such worker". A party may apply to the Tribunal directly within ninety days of the conciliation officer's failure report (section 53(6)).
Conclusion. An industrial dispute is a real dispute between employers and workmen, or among either, about the employment or conditions of any person. The parties must have a substantial interest in that person, as Dimakuchi holds. At first, a dispute about one workman became an industrial dispute only when others espoused it. A union or a body of workmen had to take it up, as Newspapers Ltd. and J.H. Jadhav hold. Since 1965, section 2A makes a dispute about discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination an industrial dispute without espousal. Since 2010, the worker may go directly to the Labour Court or Tribunal. Other individual grievances still need espousal.
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