Inspection by labour inspector - court gave us notice regarding inspection report reply

One day, a labor inspector came to our company and identified several faults in the inspection report regarding HR compliance. However, our HR personnel did not respond. After a few months, the court issued a notice regarding the inspection report reply. What should we do in this situation? Please help me.

Dear Punam,

If the Labour Inspector gave notice for HR non-compliance, then why did HR not reply? Why was he/she sitting on that? Moreover, why did the senior management not follow up with HR to correct the anomalies and provide a reply? Now, what you have received from the court is "summons" and not "notice". The cause of these summons is the non-communication from your company.

Non-communication, or rather nonchalance, has aggravated the problem. This speaks of your management's lethargic attitude. Now, at this stage, the "occupier" of the company needs to appear in person on the day of the hearing. For this, you need to hire a lawyer as well. If possible, work on each point of objection and submit the reply to the court. If it is not possible to submit a proper reply, then ask for a little more time from the court.

The Indian judiciary moves at the slowest pace in the world. There is now a possibility of the case being dragged on and on, and for each hearing, you will need to pay the lawyer's charges. It appears that your company is too rich to get into avoidable litigation.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Since you have received a summons from the court, at this stage, there is no other alternative but to appear and defend your case in court.

Please understand the process of court summons first. The inspecting authorities, in general, whether it is an inspector, officer, or even commissioner, convey the shortcomings through written communication for rectifications within a stipulated time period. If the authorities concerned are satisfied with your compliance/submissions, the matter ends; otherwise, it is referred to the Honorable Court with the sanction of authorities so empowered.

In your case, since the matter is already referred to the court, nothing can be done except either contesting or admitting the guilt and requesting for compounding by way of paying fines according to the provisions laid down in different Labor Acts. In the case of the Factories Act, even the presence of the occupier can be insisted.

P K Sharma

Dear Punam,

From the foregoing replies of our learned friends, you will understand that what you are facing now is a prosecution before a competent court of law for non-compliance with the provisions of some labor law applicable to your establishment. If you ignore the summons, the employer would be served with a non-bailable warrant through the police. So, the person who is summoned should personally appear before the court on the date specified without fail. The employer may admit the charges or contest the case. He can avail the services of a counsel and file a petition under section 205 Cr.PC to dispense with personal appearance subject to the approval of the court. This is the possible course of action at your end.

Better, be vigilant in the future about inspections conducted by any statutory authorities. Generally, the purpose of inspections is to ensure compliance by immediate rectification of the defects if any pointed out and not to prosecute. Even after the receipt of inspection orders, if you don't care, it only means you take legal matters very lightly.