J&K and Ladakh High Court: denying earned wages breaches Article 23
The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that denying pay for work a person has actually done breaches Article 23 of the Constitution. Article 23 bans begar and forced labour. The Court ordered a resident doctor at SKIMS, Srinagar, paid for the months she served. Her engagement had been cancelled ab initio after an adverse verification report.
Syllabus: GS2 · Constitution; Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · Executive & Judiciary
Why this matters for UPSC
GS2 Mains can ask whether a fundamental right such as Article 23 can be waived by contract. Prelims can ask what Article 23 prohibits, its compulsory-service exception and what Article 226 lets a High Court do.
Why it matters
A doctor, teacher or clerk hired on a temporary contract often signs whatever conditions come with the job, including a clause that pay may be forfeited if a verification report goes against them. This ruling says such a clause cannot take away wages for days already worked: the State may end the job, but it cannot keep the labour and refuse the pay. That matters for the many people in government hospitals, schools and offices who work on contract while paperwork is pending. It also shows a fundamental right limiting what an employer can make a worker agree to, because a right meant to stop exploitation cannot be signed away by an affidavit.
Prelims pointers
- Article 23(2): the State may impose compulsory service for public purposes, but may not discriminate on grounds only of religion, race, caste or class.
- Article 24: no child below fourteen years may be employed in any factory or mine or engaged in other hazardous employment.
- Article 35(a)(ii): Parliament, and not a State Legislature, makes laws prescribing punishment for acts declared offences under Part III.
- People's Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India (1982): compulsion from hunger and poverty is 'force'; pay below the minimum wage can be forced labour.
- Article 43, a Directive Principle: the State shall endeavour to secure all workers a living wage and decent conditions of work.
- Article 39(e): the State shall ensure citizens are not forced by economic necessity into avocations unsuited to their age or strength.
Practise a UPSC-style question
With reference to Article 23 of the Constitution of India, consider the following statements:
1. State Legislatures have the power to make laws prescribing punishment for contravention of Article 23.
2. Article 23 prohibits traffic in human beings, begar and other similar forms of forced labour.
3. Article 23 allows the State to impose compulsory service for public purposes.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. Article 23 bans forced labour and allows compulsory public service, but punishment is a Union power.
Statement 1: incorrect. Article 35(a)(ii) gives Parliament, and not a State Legislature, the power to prescribe punishment for acts declared offences under Part III.
Statement 2: correct. Article 23(1) prohibits traffic in human beings, begar and other similar forms of forced labour.
Statement 3: correct. Article 23(2) lets the State impose compulsory service for public purposes, without discrimination on grounds only of religion, race, caste or class.
Eliminate: Statement 1 is wrong, since Article 35 reserves this power to Parliament. Out: (a), (c), (d).
Trap: Swapped attribution. The power to punish Part III offences is pinned on State Legislatures, though Article 35 gives it to Parliament alone.
Remember: Article 35: Parliament, not the States, punishes offences under Part III.
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