KSLU Solved Question Papers
Labour Law I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2022 Oct Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Labour Law I 2022 Oct Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2022 Oct examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2022 Oct examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2022 Oct 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 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and one short note/problem is compulsory from each Unit. (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)What is Trade Union ? Explain its objects.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the definition of a trade union in section 2(h) of the Trade Unions Act 1926 and its elements (a combination, temporary or permanent, formed primarily to regulate relations, or to impose restrictive conditions on a trade or business; federations included; the proviso's exclusions); who can form one (Rangaswami); the objects of a trade union in three groups: the primary object of regulating relations through collective bargaining and the conduct of trade disputes, the welfare and mutual aid objects on which the general fund may be spent (section 15, clauses (a) to (k)), and the political objects through a separate fund (section 16; Osborne); how the law shapes the objects (rules must state them, section 6(b); funds limited to them; immunities tied to them, section 17); the constitutional base (Article 19(1)(c), All India Bank Employees' Association); the Industrial Relations Code 2020; a conclusion.
What a trade union is
Section 2(h) defines a trade union as "any combination, whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations between workmen and employers or between workmen and workmen, or between employers and employers". It also covers a combination formed "for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade or business". It "includes any federation of two or more Trade Unions".
The elements are these.
- A combination. Two or more persons act together. It may be permanent, or formed for one dispute.
- A primary purpose. Its main object must be regulating relations in employment, or imposing restrictive conditions on a trade or business. Other activities may be added, but cannot be the main purpose.
- Any of three relations. Workmen and employers, workmen among themselves, or employers among themselves. So employers' associations are trade unions too.
- Federations. Two or more unions may combine into a federation, which is itself a trade union.
The proviso keeps three kinds of agreement outside the definition. They are agreements between business partners, and agreements between an employer and his employees about their employment. The third is an agreement on the sale of goodwill or for instruction in a trade.
Who can form one
The definition assumes a trade, business or industry. So a combination of persons who work in no trade or business is not a trade union.
Rangaswami v. Registrar of Trade Unions, AIR 1962 Mad 231. The household staff of the Madras Raj Bhavan formed a union to improve their service conditions. The Registrar refused registration. The Madras High Court upheld him. The Raj Bhavan carries on no trade or business; its work belongs to the Governor's regal and household functions. So the combination, however genuine its objects, was not a trade union.
The objects of a trade union
Group 1: the primary object. A union exists to regulate the terms of employment. In practice that means three things.
- Collective bargaining. Negotiating wages, hours, leave, bonus and other conditions with the employer, and making settlements.
- Protecting members. Taking up grievances, and defending members against unfair dismissal or punishment.
- Conducting disputes. Raising industrial disputes, representing members in conciliation and adjudication, and, as a last resort, calling a strike.
Group 2: welfare and mutual aid. Section 15 lists the objects on which a registered union's general funds may be spent. They show what else a union may do.
- Salaries and expenses of office-bearers, and the costs of administration and audit (clauses (a) and (b)).
- Legal proceedings to protect the union's rights, or a member's rights arising from his employment (clause (c)).
- Conducting trade disputes, and compensating members for loss arising from them (clauses (d) and (e)).
- Allowances to members or dependants for death, old age, sickness, accident or unemployment, and insurance for members (clauses (f) and (g)).
- Educational, social or religious benefits for members and their dependants, including funeral expenses (clause (h)).
- A periodical discussing questions affecting employers or workmen (clause (i)).
- Contributions to causes benefiting workmen in general, limited to one-fourth of the year's income and opening balance (clause (j)).
- Any other object the Government notifies (clause (k)).
Group 3: political objects. A union may promote the civic and political interests of its members only through a separate political fund (section 16). Its purposes include paying election expenses of candidates and holding political meetings. No member may be compelled to contribute, and no non-contributor may be placed at a disadvantage.
Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants v. Osborne, [1910] AC 87. Walter Osborne, a branch secretary, challenged the union's compulsory levy to fund parliamentary candidates. The House of Lords held that spending union funds on political purposes was ultra vires. Parliament then permitted a separate political fund with a right to opt out. Section 16 of the Indian Act follows that model.
How the law shapes the objects
- The rules must state them. A union cannot be registered unless its rules state "the whole of the objects" for which it is formed (section 6(b)).
- Funds are tied to them. The general fund may be spent only on the section 15 objects. Spending on anything else is unlawful.
- Immunity is tied to them. Members are protected from a charge of criminal conspiracy only for agreements to further the union's section 15 objects (section 17).
The constitutional base
Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution guarantees the right "to form associations or unions".
All India Bank Employees' Association v. National Industrial Tribunal, AIR 1962 SC 171. A bank employees' union challenged a law that let banks withhold evidence of secret reserves from industrial tribunals. It argued that the law crippled its bargaining and so violated Article 19(1)(c). The Supreme Court disagreed. The right is to form a union, not a guarantee that the union will achieve its objects. Its activities remain subject to ordinary law.
Where the law stands now
The 1926 Act was repealed on 21 November 2025 by section 104 of the Industrial Relations Code 2020. Section 2(zl) of the Code defines a trade union in the same words, with the same proviso. Section 15 lets the Government prescribe the objects of the general fund, and keeps the separate political fund.
Conclusion. A trade union is a combination of workmen or employers formed primarily to regulate relations in employment. It may also be formed to impose conditions on a trade or business. Its primary object is collective bargaining and the protection of its members in disputes. Section 15 adds welfare objects, and section 16 permits political objects through a separate voluntary fund. The law ties the union's funds and its immunities to these objects, and it must work in a trade or business, as Rangaswami shows.
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