KSLU Solved Question Papers
Labour Law I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2017 Jun Examination
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Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Labour Law I 2017 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 2017 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 2017 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.
Q1Explain the impact of Industrial jurisprudence on Labour Welfare Legislations.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: what industrial jurisprudence is (the principles built by industrial adjudication and the courts, guided by social justice rather than freedom of contract alone; Karnal Leather); its sources (the Directive Principles in Articles 38, 39, 41, 42, 43 and 43A, the fundamental rights in Articles 14, 19(1)(c), 21 and 23, the ILO, tribunal awards); its impact on legislation, shown in dated steps where a decision led Parliament to act: closure and transfer compensation after Hariprasad (1956 to 1957), individual disputes after Newspapers Ltd. (section 2A, 1965), review of punishment (section 11A, 1971), closure permission after Excel Wear (section 25-O, 1982), minimum wages upheld and filled out (Bijay Cotton Mills, Reptakos Brett), forced labour and the principal employer (People's Union for Democratic Rights), workers' health (Consumer Education and Research Centre), the meaning of "industry" (Bangalore Water Supply, Jai Bir Singh, and the Industrial Relations Code); an assessment; the four Labour Codes; a conclusion.
What industrial jurisprudence is
Industrial jurisprudence is the body of principles that industrial tribunals and the higher courts have built while deciding disputes between employers and workers. The ordinary law of contract treats employment as a bargain between equals. Industrial jurisprudence starts from the opposite fact: the single worker has little bargaining power. So it decides disputes by social justice, fairness and industrial peace, not by the bare terms of the contract.
Karnal Leather Karamchari Sanghatan v. Liberty Footwear Company, (1989) 4 SCC 448. Dealing with an arbitration award in a dispute over terminations, the Supreme Court described collective bargaining as settling disputes "by agreement rather than coercion". It added: "The Act seeks to achieve social justice on the basis of collective bargaining." That sentence states the aim industrial jurisprudence serves.
Its sources
- The Constitution. The Directive Principles call for securing a just social order (Article 38) and adequate means of livelihood and equal pay (Article 39). They also call for the right to work and public assistance (Article 41), and humane conditions and maternity relief (Article 42). A living wage (Article 43) and workers' participation in management (Article 43A) complete the list. Fundamental rights add equality (Article 14) and freedom to form unions (Article 19(1)(c)). They also add the right to life (Article 21) and the ban on forced labour (Article 23).
- The International Labour Organisation. India was a founder member in 1919, and its conventions and recommendations shape Indian standards.
- Awards and judgments. Tribunals' awards and the decisions of the High Courts and the Supreme Court fill the gaps the statutes leave.
Its impact on legislation: decision, then statute
1. Closure and transfer.
Hariprasad Shivshankar Shukla v. A.D. Divelkar, AIR 1957 SC 121. The Barsi Light Railway and Shri Dinesh Mills were closed or transferred, and their workmen were discharged. On 27 November 1956 the Supreme Court held that termination on a genuine closure, or on a transfer of ownership, was not "retrenchment" as then defined. So the workmen got no retrenchment compensation. Parliament responded at once. Act 18 of 1957 recast section 25FF, with effect from 28 November 1956, the very next day. Workmen on a transfer of an undertaking became entitled to compensation as if retrenched. Section 25FFF gives the same on a closure.
2. Individual disputes. In Newspapers Ltd. v. State Industrial Tribunal, U.P., AIR 1957 SC 532, a dismissed lino typist's dispute was held not to be an industrial dispute, because no body of his fellow workmen had espoused it. A dismissed worker without union support had no remedy under the Act. Section 2A, inserted from 1 December 1965, made any discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination of an individual workman an industrial dispute. In 2010 Parliament went further and let him apply directly to the Labour Court or Tribunal (section 2A(2) and (3)).
3. Review of punishment. Section 11A, inserted from 15 December 1971, empowered Labour Courts and Tribunals to set aside an unjustified dismissal and to substitute a lesser punishment. In Workmen of Firestone Tyre and Rubber Co. of India (P) Ltd. v. Management, (1973) 1 SCC 813, the Supreme Court held that it lets them reappraise the evidence of a domestic inquiry.
4. Closure permission.
Excel Wear v. Union of India, AIR 1979 SC 25. A Bombay garment firm applied in 1977 to close, citing labour unrest, and the Government refused. A Constitution Bench struck down section 25-O, because a refusal needed no reasons and had no time limit or review. Parliament re-enacted section 25-O in 1982. The new section requires reasons, deems permission granted if no order is made within sixty days, and allows review or reference to a Tribunal.
5. Minimum wages.
Bijay Cotton Mills Ltd. v. State of Ajmer, AIR 1955 SC 33. Textile employers challenged minimum wages fixed for their workers as prohibitive. A Constitution Bench upheld the Minimum Wages Act as a reasonable restriction furthering Article 43. The employer's inability to pay was held irrelevant. In Workmen v. Reptakos Brett and Co. Ltd., AIR 1992 SC 504, the Court added a component for children's education, medical needs, recreation and old age to the minimum wage norms. The Code on Wages 2019 now adds a national floor wage (section 9).
6. Forced labour and the principal employer.
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 labour laws bind the principal employer as well as the contractor. It held that paying less than the minimum wage, where the worker has no choice, is forced labour under Article 23. The OSH Code now makes the principal employer pay contract workers' wages if the contractor fails to (section 55).
7. Workers' health.
Consumer Education and Research Centre v. Union of India, (1995) 3 SCC 42. Asbestos workers were suffering from asbestosis. The Supreme Court held that a worker's right to health and medical care is a fundamental right under Article 21. It ordered health records, insurance and compensation. The OSH Code 2020 now requires employers to maintain prescribed health standards (section 23). It also requires free annual health examinations for prescribed classes of employees (section 6).
8. The meaning of "industry".
Bangalore Water-Supply and Sewerage Board v. R. Rajappa, AIR 1978 SC 548. A seven-Judge Bench held a statutory water board to be an industry. It laid down the triple test: systematic activity, organised by cooperation between employer and employees, producing goods or services for human wants. Profit motive was irrelevant. Parliament's 1982 substitute definition was to take effect only on notification, and was never brought into force. A reference to reconsider the test was decided by nine Judges on 20 August 2026, in State of U.P. v. Jai Bir Singh. Pending disputes under the 1947 Act stay on the triple test. The Industrial Relations Code now defines "industry" itself, in section 2(p), with express exclusions.
An assessment
- Strengths. Adjudication responded quickly to injustice that statutes had not foreseen. Parliament then turned the best of it into law, as the steps above show.
- Weaknesses. Judge-made rules could be uncertain and changing, as the long debate over "industry" shows. Some decisions favoured employers, and some were reversed by Parliament within days. The workers' remedies depended on long litigation.
- The Codes. The four Labour Codes, in force from 21 November 2025, consolidate many earlier labour laws. They codify many judge-made principles, such as individual disputes as industrial disputes (Industrial Relations Code section 2(q)).
Where the law stands now
The Industrial Disputes Act, the Minimum Wages Act and the other Acts discussed above were repealed on 21 November 2025 by the four Labour Codes. The principles of industrial jurisprudence continue to guide their reading, but cases decided under the old Acts must be cited as such.
Conclusion. Industrial jurisprudence is the law of social justice built by tribunals and courts on the Constitution and ILO standards. It looks beyond the bare contract of employment, as Karnal Leather explains. Its impact on legislation is visible in dated steps. Hariprasad led to compensation on closure and transfer within a day, and Newspapers Ltd. to section 2A. Excel Wear reshaped section 25-O. Bijay Cotton Mills, People's Union for Democratic Rights and Consumer Education and Research Centre gave wages and health constitutional force. The Labour Codes now carry much of this judge-made law into statute.
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