NE LEGAL BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, NEW DELHI, OCT 1
The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the notifications issued by Gujarat government which exempted factories from observing certain obligations, including payment of overtime, towards workers as unconstitutional and anti-labour. Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha had challenged the Gujarat government’s notification before the SC.
The amendments to the constitutional provisions on emergency that sought to prevent their abuse were the product of experiences gained from the excesses of the emergency which showed that “uncontrolled power and unbridled discretion” provided “fertile conditions” for the destruction of liberty, said the Supreme Court.
The apex court also said pursuant to the Forty-fourth Amendment to the Constitution in 1978 that sought to limit recourse to emergency powers under Article 352, the expression “internal disturbance” was replaced with “armed rebellion”.
It said now proclamation of emergency cannot be issued on a mere internal disturbance and must reach the threshold of an armed rebellion threatening the security of India.
“The Parliamentary amendments to Article 352 are the product of experience: experiences gained from the excesses of the emergency, experiences about the violation of human rights and above all, experiential learning that the amalgam of uncontrolled power and unbridled discretion provide fertile conditions for the destruction of liberty,” said the bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and K M Joseph.
“The sobering lessons learnt from our not-too-distant history should warn us against endowing a statute with similar terms of a content which is susceptible of grave misuse,” it said adding that the forty-fourth amendment “sought to limit recourse to emergency powers under Article 352 to prevent their abuse.”
It said economic slowdown created by COVID-19 pandemic does not qualify as “internal disturbance” threatening the security of the state.
The apex court said that economic hardships caused by the pandemic certainly “pose unprecedented challenges” to governance but these are to be resolved by the state governments in coordination with the Centre.
The bench noted in its verdict that powers under Article 352 have been invoked thrice by the President to declare an emergency in the country – for the first time in 1962 due to Chinese aggression on Indian territory and the emergency was revoked in 1968.
“In 1971, when hostilities broke out with Pakistan, an emergency was proclaimed by the President on the ground that the security of India was threatened by external aggression. While this proclamation was in force, another proclamation was issued by the President on June 25, 1975, declaring that a “grave emergency exists whereby the security of India is threatened by ‘internal disturbance’.” Both these proclamations were revoked in March 1977,” the bench noted.
Workers to get overtime wages, says Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha secretary Amrish Patel
Commenting on the SC verdict, Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha secretary Amrish Patel said, “The Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha had challenged the notification issued by the Gujarat government declaring COVID-19 a public emergency under section 4 of the Factory Regulation and forcing workers to work without paying 12 hours of overtime instead of 8 hours before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. A full bench of 3 judges of the Hon’ble Supreme Court declared the notification of the Government of Gujarat dated April 17, 2020, as unconstitutional and declared anti-labour. In addition, the Supreme Court ruled that it was not appropriate to exploit a worker in this situation and sections 51, 54, 55, 56 which mention the provision of working hours, overtime, etc., were deferred by notification and declared as unconstitutional.”
“The Supreme Court has declared the Covid-19 to be a public emergency following Section 5 of the Factory Regulation which is not an internal dispute. It ordered to pay double wages for overtime to workers who have been working for more than 8 hours in accordance with Article 141. The Supreme Court also pointed out that such policies of injustice to the workers should not be applied at this time. This victory of Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha working for the workers will be beneficial to the workers in lockdown, subsequent inadequate pay, and every worker will get the benefit of the work done by him,” Patel added.
