HIND MAZDOOR SABHA Vs. DISTRICT COLLECTOR RAJKOT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Slavery has been outlawed in all civilized countries and the Constitution of India does not countenance it. And yet it appears that the plight of unemployed workers seeking an honourable means of livelihood is made miserable by unscrupulous contractors who exploit the helpless workers. It virtually amounts to compelling them to work as slaves. This fact was brought to light by a vigilant Union namely Hind Mazdoor Sabha acting through its alert General Secretary Shri P. Chidambaram by instituting the present petition Having regard to the averments regarding serious exploitation of the workers at the hands of the unscrupulous contractors and having regard to the allegations made in the petition that officers of the Labour Department were not taking necessary steps to prevent the exploitation of the workers we issued an interim order on 7/04/1982 in the following terms:

(2.) Pursuant to the directions issued by us the Commissioner appointed by us proceeded to Upleta and made appropriate investigation and inquiry. The exhaustive report dated 13/04/1982 submitted by him shall be made a part of the record. The following passages from the report require to be quoted inasmuch as we propose to issue certain directions on the basis of the said report:

(3.) We must place on record our appreciation for the initiative taken by the petitioner in order to bring to our notice the flagrant exploitation which was taking place openly in disregard of the relevant provisions of law. We also must place on record our high appreciation for the investigation made by the Commissioner who appear to have taken immense pains and appears to have handled the situation with great ability and tact. But for him possibly the true situation could not have been discovered.