Under the Constitution, Parliament is entrusted with the responsibility of making laws. At times an easier route to change the legal jurisprudence to sail with the interests of the establishment seems to be through the judiciary. https://countercurrents.org/2024/03/changing-face-of-law-the-judicial-route/
The Covid epidemic and the draconian powers under the Disaster Management Act were opportunistically used to repeal 29 legislations providing protection to workers like the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Factories Act and Minimum Wages Act. However, the judiciary had been changing the very face of industrial jurisprudence over the past thirty years. The courts had been quietly jettisoning well established principles like reinstatement with back wages in cases of wrongful dismissal of workers. The judges moved the law towards “hire and fire policy” being the prerogative of the employers, eroding protections and security of service of workers and employees and refused to interfere in cases of disproportionate punishments like dismissal for trivial acts of misconduct. The principles of ‘Equal work for equal work’ and abolition of contract labor for permanent work were steadily diluted by the courts.
by Rakesh Shukla
08/03/2024