KSLU Solved Question Papers
Labour Law I
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.Com. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2022 Apr (70 marks) Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.Com. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Labour Law I 2022 Apr (70 marks) Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 2 November 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2022 Apr (70 marks) examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2022 Apr (70 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 2022 Apr (70 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.
Total marks 70 · 12 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 the term 'workman' as provided under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 with the help of decided cases.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the definition of workman in section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 and its elements (any person including an apprentice; employed in an industry; to do a named kind of work; for hire or reward; express or implied terms); dismissed, discharged and retrenched persons included; the four exclusions; the tests the courts use: contract of service and control (Dharangadhara), substantial duties (Ved Prakash Gupta), the named kinds of work (H.R. Adyanthaya, overruling S.K. Verma), the real employer behind a contractor (Hussainbhai); why the definition matters (Dimakuchi); the Industrial Relations Code 2020; a conclusion.
The definition
Section 2(s) defines a workman as "any person (including an apprentice) employed in any industry to do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied".
The elements
- Any person, including an apprentice.
- Employed. There must be a relationship of employer and employee, not an independent contract for services.
- In an industry. The employer must carry on an industry under section 2(j).
- To do a named kind of work. Manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work.
- For hire or reward. Unpaid voluntary work is not enough.
- Express or implied terms. No written contract is needed.
Who is included
For any proceeding about an industrial dispute, the definition includes a person dismissed, discharged or retrenched in connection with or because of that dispute. It also includes one whose dismissal, discharge or retrenchment led to the dispute. So a dismissed person can still be a workman for challenging his dismissal.
Who is excluded
- Persons subject to the Air Force Act 1950, the Army Act 1950 or the Navy Act 1957.
- Persons employed in the police service or as officers or employees of a prison.
- A person "employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity".
- A supervisor who draws wages above ten thousand rupees a month, or who mainly does managerial work.
The tests the courts use
Is there a contract of service?
Dharangadhara Chemical Works Ltd. v. State of Saurashtra, AIR 1957 SC 264. Agarias made salt on plots of the company's leased land, and the company argued they were independent contractors. The Supreme Court held them workmen. The prima facie test is whether the employer has the right "not merely to direct what work is to be done but also to control the manner in which it is to be done". The nature of the control varies with the industry, and the question is one of fact.
What are his substantial duties?
Ved Prakash Gupta v. Delton Cable India (P) Ltd., (1984) 2 SCC 569. A Security Inspector at a factory gate deputed watchmen and kept registers. He could not appoint or dismiss anyone or order an inquiry. The Supreme Court held his substantial duty neither managerial nor supervisory in the industrial-law sense. He was a workman.
Is his work one of the named kinds?
S.K. Verma v. Mahesh Chandra, (1983) 4 SCC 214. The Supreme Court had held Development Officers of the LIC to be workmen.
H.R. Adyanthaya v. Sandoz (India) Ltd., (1994) 5 SCC 737. Medical representatives claimed to be workmen. A five-Judge Bench held that a person is a workman only if employed to do one of the kinds of work the definition names. Sales promotion work was not one of them. The Bench declared S.K. Verma per incuriam, so it is no longer good law.
Who is the real employer?
Hussainbhai v. Alath Factory Thozhilali Union, (1978) 4 SCC 257. Rope makers worked in a factory but were engaged through contractors. The Supreme Court held the factory owner their employer. Where workers produce goods or services for another's business, that other has "economic control over the workers' subsistence, skill, and continued employment". So he is in fact the employer, behind the contractor.
Why the definition matters
Only a workman can claim the Act's protections. They include retrenchment and lay-off compensation, the bar on changes without notice, and adjudication of his dismissal.
Workmen of Dimakuchi Tea Estate v. Management of Dimakuchi Tea Estate, AIR 1958 SC 353. Workmen raised a dispute over the dismissal of an Assistant Medical Officer. The Supreme Court held that he was not a workman. So the workmen had no direct or substantial interest in his employment, and the dispute was not an industrial dispute.
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(zr) of the Code defines "worker" in nearly the same words. It drops apprentices under the Apprentices Act 1961, and expressly includes working journalists and sales promotion employees. The supervisory wage limit is now eighteen thousand rupees a month, or a figure the Central Government notifies.
Conclusion. A workman is a person employed in an industry for hire or reward to do one of the named kinds of work. Persons in the armed forces, police and prisons, managers and well-paid supervisors are excluded. The courts look at control (Dharangadhara), substantial duties (Ved Prakash Gupta), the named kinds of work (H.R. Adyanthaya) and the real employer (Hussainbhai). The definition decides who can use the Act at all, as Dimakuchi shows.
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