CHAPTER VII
MISCELLANEOUS
21. Inter-State migrant workmen to be deemed to be in employment from date of recruitment for the purposes of certain enactments.
—For the purposes of the enactments specified in the Schedule, an inter-State migrant workman shall, on and from the date of his recruitment, be deemed to be employed and actually worked in the establishment or, as the case may be, the first establishment in connection with the work of which he is employed.
22. Provisions regarding industrial disputes in relation to inter-State migrant workmen.
—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Industrial Disputes Act. 1947 (14 of 1947), any dispute or difference in connection with the employment or non-employment or the terms of employment or the conditions of labour, of an inter-State migrant workman (hereafter in this section referred to as the industrial dispute), may,—
(a) if the industrial dispute is relatable to an establishment referred to in sub-clause (i) of clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 2, be referred under the provisions of the said Act, by the Central Government to any of the authorities referred to in Chapter II of that Act (hereafter in this section referred to as the said authorities),—
(i) in the State wherein the establishment is situated;
(ii) in the State wherein the recruitment of such workman was made if he makes an application in that behalf to that Government on the ground that he has returned to that State after the completion of his employment;
(b) if the industrial dispute is relatable to an establishment referred to in sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 2,—
(i) be referred under the provisions of the said Act, by the Government of the State wherein the establishment is situated, to any of the said authorities in that State; or recruitment of such workman was made to any of the said authorities in that State, if he makes an application in that behalf to that Government on the ground that he has returned to that State after the completion of his employment:
Provided that—
(a) no application referred to in sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) or sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) shall be entertained after the expiry of a period of six months from the date of his return to the State wherein the recruitment was made after the completion of his employment, unless the Government concerned is satisfied that the applicant was prevented by sufficient cause from making the application within that period;
(b) no reference under the said sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) shall be made except after obtaining the concurrence of the Government of the State wherein the establishment concerned is situated.
(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 33B of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947), where during the pendency of any proceeding in respect of an industrial dispute under that Act before any of the said authorities in the State wherein the establishment is situated, an application is made to that authority by an inter-State migrant workman for the transfer of such proceeding to a corresponding authority in the State wherein his recruitment was made on the ground that he has returned to that State after the completion of his employment, that authority shall forward the application to the Central Government, or, as the case may be, to the Government of the State wherein such recruitment was made and transfer such proceeding in the prescribed manner to such authority as may be specified in this behalf by that Government:
Provided that in a case where no authority has been specified by the Government concerned within the prescribed period, the authority before which the proceeding is pending shall, on a request being made by the inter-State migrant workman and after obtaining the previous approval of the Government which referred the dispute to that authority, forward such proceeding to the Government concerned for reference of such dispute to an authority in the State wherein such recruitment was made.
(3) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (2), if the Central Government is satisfied that it is expedient in the interests of justice so to do, it may, by order in writing and for reasons to be stated therein, withdraw any proceeding in respect of any industrial dispute relating to an inter-State migrant workman pending before an authority in the State in which the establishment concerned is situated and transfer the same to such authority in the State wherein the recruitment of such workman was made as may be specified in the order.
(4) The authority to which any proceeding is transferred under this section may proceed either de novo or from the stage at which it was so transferred.
23. Registers and other records to be maintained.
—(1) Every principal employer and every contractor shall maintain such registers and records giving such particulars of the inter-State migrant workmen employed, the nature of work performed by such workmen, the rates of wages paid to the workmen and such other particulars in such form as may be prescribed.
(2) Every principal employer and every contractor shall keep exhibited in such manner as may be prescribed within the premises of the establishment where the inter-State migrant workmen are employed, notices in the prescribed form containing particulars about the hours of work, nature of duty and such other information as may be prescribed.
24. Obstructions.
—(1) Whoever obstructs an inspector or a person appointed under sub-section (3) of section 20 (hereinafter referred to as unauthorised person) in the discharge of his duties under this Act or refuses or wilfully neglects to afford the inspector or authorised person any reasonable facility for making any inspection, examination, inquiry or investigation authorised by or under this Act in relation to an establishment to which, or a contractor to whom, this Act applies, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both.
(2) Whoever wilfully refuses to produce on the demand of any inspector or authorised person any register or other document kept in pursuance of this Act or prevents or attempts to prevent or does anything which he has reason to believe is likely to prevent any person from appearing before or being examined by any inspector or authorised person acting in pursuance of his duties under this Act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both.
25. Contravention of provisions regarding employment of inter-State migrant workmen.
Whoever contravenes any provisions of this Act or of any rules made thereunder regulating the employment of inter-State migrant workmen, or contravenes any condition of a licence granted under this Act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both, and in the case of a continuing contravention, with an additional fine which may extend to one hundred rupees for every day during which such contravention continues after conviction for the first such contravention.
26. Other offences.
If any person contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or of any rules made thereunder for which no other penalty is elsewhere provided, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both.
27. Offences by companies.
(1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where any offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,—
(a) “company” means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
(b) “director”, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm
28. Cognizance of offences.
—No court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act except on a complaint made by, or with the previous sanction in writing of, an inspector or authorised person and no court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence punishable under this Act.
29. Limitation of prosecutions.
No court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under this Act unless the complaint thereof is made within three months from the date on which the alleged commission of the offence came to the knowledge of the inspector or authorised person concerned:
Provided that where the offence consists of disobeying a written order made by an inspector or authorised person, complaint thereof may be made within six months of the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed.
30. Effect of laws and agreements inconsistent with the Act.
(1) The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law or in the terms of any agreement or contract of service, or in any standing orders applicable to the establishment whether made before or after the commencement of this Act:
Provided that where under any such law, agreement, contract of service or standing orders, the inter-State migrant workmen employed in the establishment are entitled to benefits in respect of any matter which are more favourable to them than those to which they would be entitled under this Act, the inter-State migrant workmen shall continue to be entitled to the more favourable benefits in respect of that matter, notwithstanding that they receive benefits in respect of other matters under this Act.
(2) Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed as precluding any inter-State migrant workmen from entering into an agreement with the principal employer or the contractor, as the case may be, for granting them rights or privileges in respect of any matter which are more favourable to them than those to which they would be entitled under this Act.
- Power to exempt in special cases.
The appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette and subject to such conditions and restrictions, if any, and for such period or periods as may be specified in the notification, direct that all or any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder shall not apply to or in relation to any establishment or class of establishments or any contractor or class of contractors or any inter-State migrant workmen in such establishment or class of such workmen, if that Government is satisfied that it is just and proper so to do having regard to the methods of recruitment and the conditions of employment in such establishment or class of establishments and all other relevant circumstances.
32. Protection of action taken under the Act.
(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against any registering officer, licensing officer or any other employee of the Government for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule or order made
thereunder.
(2) No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Government for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule or notification or order made or issued thereunder.
33. Power to give directions.
The Central Government may give directions to the Government of any State as to the carrying into execution in the State of the provisions contained in this Act.
34. Power to remove difficulties.
(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as appears to it to be necessary or expedient for removing
the difficulty:
Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of two years from the date on which this Act comes into force.
(2) Every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before each House of Parliament.
35. Power to make rules.
(1) The appropriate Government may, subject to the condition of previous publication, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the form and mariner in which an application for the registration of an establishment may be made under section 4, the fees payable thereon and the form of a certificate of registration issued under that section;
(b) the form in which an application for the grant or renewal of a licence may be made under section 9 and the particulars it may contain;
(c) the manner in which an investigation is to be made in respect of an application for the grant of a licence and the matters to be taken into account in granting or refusing a licence;
(d) the form of a licence which may be granted or renewed under this Act, the conditions subject to which the licence may be granted or renewed, the fees payable for the grant or renewal of a licence and the security, if any, required to be furnished for the due performance of the conditions of the licence;
(e) the circumstances under which licences may be varied or amended under section 10;
(f) the form and the manner in which appeals may be filed under section 11 and the procedure to be followed by appellate officers in disposing of the appeals;
(g) the wage rates, holidays, hours of work and other conditions of service which an inter-State migrant workman is entitled under section 13;
(h) the period within which wages payable to inter-State migrant workmen should be paid by the contractor under sub-section (1) of section 17 and the manner of certification of such payment under sub-section (2) thereof;
(i) the time within which allowances or facilities required by this Act to be provided and maintained may be so provided by the contractor and in case of default on the part of the contractor, by the principal employer under section 18;
(j) the powers that may be exercised by inspectors under section 20;
(k) the form of registers and records to be maintained, and the particulars and information to be contained in notices to be exhibited, by the principal employers and contractors under section 23;
(l) the manner of submission of returns, and the forms in which, and the authorities to which, such returns may be submitted;
(m) legal aid to inter-State migrant workmen;
(n) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed under this Act.
(3) Every rule made by the Central Government under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.
36. Repeals and saving.
(1) The Orissa Dadan Labour (Control and Regulation) Act, 1975 (Orissa Act 42 of 1975) and any law corresponding to this Act, in force in any State, shall stand repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the provisions of the Act or law so repeated shall, in so far as such thing or action is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been done or taken under the provisions of this Act as if the said provisions were in force when such thing was done or such action was taken and shall continue to be in force accordingly until superseded by anything done or any action taken under this Act.
