KSLU Solved Question Papers
Labour Law I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2021 Mar (100 marks) Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Labour Law I 2021 Mar (100 marks) 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 2021 Mar (100 marks) examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2021 Mar (100 marks) 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 · 15 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.
Q1What is Industrial Dispute ? Explain the essential requisites of Industrial Disputes.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: why the definition is the gateway to the Industrial Disputes Act 1947; the words of section 2(k); six essential requisites, each with its authority: (1) a real dispute or difference, raised with the employer (Sindhu Resettlement, Avon Services); (2) the right parties, acting collectively (Newspapers Ltd., section 2A); (3) a subject matter within the section, not every claim between employer and workmen (Rohtas Industries); (4) "of any person", read down to persons in whom the disputants have a direct interest (Dimakuchi); (5) arising in an "industry" (Bangalore Water Supply); (6) a relationship of employer and workman (Dharangadhara); a summary table; the position under the Industrial Relations Code 2020; a conclusion.
Why the definition matters
The machinery of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 works only on an "industrial dispute". Conciliation, reference to a Labour Court or Tribunal, awards, and the rules on strikes and lock-outs all depend on it. If a quarrel is not an industrial dispute, the Government cannot refer it and a Tribunal cannot decide it. So the definition is the gateway to the whole Act.
The definition: section 2(k)
An industrial dispute is "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".
The courts have drawn six essential requisites out of these words.
Requisite 1: a real dispute or difference
There must be an actual dispute or difference, existing or apprehended. A dispute normally arises when a demand is made on the employer and the employer refuses it. A grievance never put to the employer is not yet a dispute.
Sindhu Resettlement Corporation Ltd. v. Industrial Tribunal of Gujarat, [1968] 1 SCR 515. Retrenched workmen had asked the employer only for retrenchment compensation. The Government then referred a dispute about reinstatement. The Supreme Court held that the reference could only cover retrenchment compensation, the one matter actually in dispute. To the extent it covered reinstatement, it was incompetent.
Avon Services (Production Agencies) Pvt. Ltd. v. Industrial Tribunal, Haryana, (1979) 1 SCC 1. The union demanded reinstatement of two retrenched workmen, and the Government later referred their retrenchment. The employer argued that the referred dispute was a different one. The Supreme Court rejected the argument. The form in which a demand is worded is not decisive. What matters is the substance of the grievance raised. Sindhu Resettlement was held to turn on its own facts.
Requisite 2: the right parties, acting collectively
The dispute must be between employers and employers, employers and workmen, or workmen and workmen. The plural words show that the Act deals with collective disputes.
Newspapers Ltd. v. State Industrial Tribunal, U.P., AIR 1957 SC 532. A lino typist was dismissed, and only an outside journalists' union took up his case. The Supreme Court held this an individual dispute, so the reference was bad. A single workman's dispute becomes an industrial dispute only when a body of fellow workmen, or their union, makes it their own.
Section 2A, added in 1965, makes one exception. A dispute over the discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination of an individual workman is deemed an industrial dispute, without any espousal.
Requisite 3: the subject matter
The dispute must be "connected with" one of four things: employment, non-employment, the terms of employment, or the conditions of labour. Employment and non-employment cover hiring, refusal to hire, dismissal and reinstatement. Terms and conditions cover wages, hours, leave, bonus and the like. Not every money claim between the parties qualifies.
Rohtas Industries Ltd. v. Rohtas Industries Staff Union, AIR 1976 SC 425. After an illegal strike in 1948, the employers claimed compensation from the workmen for their loss of business. The claim went to arbitration under section 10A, and the arbitrators awarded it. The Supreme Court held that the employers' claim for loss of business was not an industrial dispute within section 2(k). So the arbitrators had no jurisdiction, and consent of the parties could not create it.
Requisite 4: "of any person", read down
Read literally, "any person" would let workmen raise a dispute about anyone at all. The Supreme Court refused that reading.
Workmen of Dimakuchi Tea Estate v. Management of Dimakuchi Tea Estate, AIR 1958 SC 353. An Assistant Medical Officer was dismissed, and the estate's workmen took up his cause. The Supreme Court laid down two tests. The dispute must be capable of settlement by one party giving relief to the other. And the disputants must have a direct or substantial interest in the employment of the person concerned. The doctor was not a workman, so the workmen lacked that interest, and there was no industrial dispute.
The words still reach some non-workmen. Workmen may raise a dispute about the terms of persons whose employment directly affects their own, such as a class of workers to be employed.
Requisite 5: arising in an industry
The dispute must arise in an "industry" as defined in section 2(j).
Bangalore Water-Supply and Sewerage Board v. R. Rajappa, AIR 1978 SC 548. The Board argued that, as a statutory body supplying water, it was not an industry. A seven-Judge Bench held that it was. It laid down the triple test. There must be a systematic activity, organised by co-operation between employer and employee. It must produce or distribute goods and services to satisfy human wants. A profit motive is irrelevant. Only sovereign functions and small exceptions fall outside.
Requisite 6: an employer and workman relationship
The workmen in a dispute must stand in a relationship of employment. A dispute with independent contractors is not covered.
Dharangadhara Chemical Works Ltd. v. State of Saurashtra, AIR 1957 SC 264. Agarias made salt on plots of the company's leased land, paid by the maund and free to engage helpers. The company said they were independent contractors. The Supreme Court held them workmen. The test is whether the employer may control not only what work is done but the manner of doing it. That is a question of fact.
Applying the requisites: an example
Suppose the workmen of a sugar factory demand a higher wage for seasonal cane cutters engaged by the factory itself. The employer refuses. Every requisite is met. There is a demand and a refusal, and a body of workmen faces the employer. Wages are a term of employment, and the workmen have a direct interest in the cutters' pay. The factory is an industry, and the cutters are its employees. Now suppose the cane cutters were engaged and controlled by independent growers. Requisite 6 fails, and the claim is not an industrial dispute with the factory.
The requisites at a glance
| Requisite | Words of section 2(k) | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Real dispute, raised with the employer | "dispute or difference" | Sindhu Resettlement; Avon Services |
| Collective parties | "employers and workmen" (plural) | Newspapers Ltd.; section 2A |
| Subject matter within the section | "employment or non-employment", "terms", "conditions of labour" | Rohtas Industries |
| Direct interest in the person | "of any person" | Dimakuchi |
| Requisite | Words of section 2(k) | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| An industry | section 2(j) | Bangalore Water Supply |
| Employer and workman | section 2(s) | Dharangadhara |
An assessment
The requisites keep the Act's machinery for genuine collective disputes in industry. But they were made by the courts, so each became a point of litigation. Employers often challenged a reference on the ground that one requisite was missing. Section 2A answered the hardest case, the dismissed workman without support. The width of "industry" after Bangalore Water Supply remained contested for decades.
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 an industrial dispute in the same words. It folds section 2A into the definition, so an individual worker's dispute over discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination is an industrial dispute by itself. Section 2(p) codifies the triple test, but now excludes charitable institutions and domestic service.
Conclusion. An industrial dispute under section 2(k) is a real, collective dispute between employers and workmen, or among either, in an industry. It must concern employment, non-employment, terms of employment or conditions of labour of a person in whom the disputants have a direct interest. Each requisite was settled by a leading case: Dimakuchi on "any person", Bangalore Water Supply on industry and Rohtas Industries on subject matter. The Code keeps the requisites and adds the individual termination dispute to the definition itself.
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