Supreme Court agrees to examine trade union plea against new labour law's industry definition

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition challenging the definition of 'industry' under the Industrial Relations Code of 2020. The petition was filed by the All India Trade Union Congress Tamil Nadu. During the court session, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Aarthi Rajan represented the trade union before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. The union's counsel argued that the definition in the new code is vague. He stated that it fails to meet the requirements of the established 'triple test' and leaves out many institutions like charities and government sovereign functions from legal protections. Chief Justice Kant responded that the court will read through the petition and schedule the case for an early hearing. The Industrial Relations Code came into force in November 2025. An earlier nine-judge Bench had reviewed an older 1978 legal interpretation of the term in August 2026, ruling that the new code's definition is not bound by that past judgment.

Context

Labour laws and the definition of an industry dictate which workers can access legal protections, dispute resolution mechanisms, and union rights. Legal challenges of this nature often shape how broadly or narrowly workplace rights apply across different sectors of the economy.