The Karnataka High Court, while ruling upon a petition, issued a notice to the State Government against a Government notification, which relaxed the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 in Karnataka until August 21, 2020. The working hours for factory workers were increased from 9 hours to 10 hours per day, and from 48 hours to 60 hours per week by the notification. The petition was filed by Maruthi H and it presents that although a notification was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on March 29 which directed the employers to pay full wages to the workers, a subsequent interim order was passed by the Supreme Court which instructed the Union Government not to take any "coercive action".
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum heard the petition and also directed the State Government to give an explanation as to how the provisions of Factory Act could have been relaxed in a blanket manner for the factories. It observed as under:
"The State will have to explain how the power under Section 5 of the Factories Act, 1948 could be exercised in a blanket manner by granting exemption to all the factories. Section 5 of the said Act of 1948 contemplates exercise of the power to grant exemption in respect of any factory or class or description of factories."
The Bench also instructed the State to justify whether there exists a public emergency as mentioned under Section 5 of the Factories Act, 1948. The Court also critically assessed that no direction had been given to factories to ensure that proper safety standards were met such as the importance of using masks, sanitizers, gloves, maintaining social distancing and the like. The petition further mentions that because of this turn of events, huge numbers of the factory owners neglected to pay full wages for their laborers, placing the laborers in an unsafe and vulnerable position.
Hence, the lockdown pronounced by the Central Government has hugely affected the laborers, not just in the informal sector but also in the formal one, prompting lay-offs and refusal in the payment of wages. Further, numerous migrant laborers were abandoned in Karnataka with no lodging arrangements, food along with wages, the petitioner contended.