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Section 52: Welfare facilities for contract labour

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act No. 37 of 2020) • Official Statutory Text & Plain English Practice Guide

Statutory Mandate
Chapter IX: Contract Labour & Inter-State Migrant Workers
Competent Labour Forum
Act No. 37 of 2020
Section 51 All 143 Sections of OSH Code, 2020 Section 53

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 52

Section 52 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 establishes a comprehensive statutory right of appeal for any person or contractor aggrieved by an order of the Designated Authority refusing, revoking, suspending, or amending a license under Chapter XI, subject to a thirty-day limitation period.

  • Statutory Thirty-Day Limitation Benchmark: Confers a statutory right of appeal upon any aggrieved contractor or establishment, requiring the appeal to be filed before the designated Appellate Authority within thirty days from the date the impugned order is communicated.
  • Appellate Powers to Stay & Modify Impugned Orders: Vests the Appellate Authority with comprehensive quasi-judicial powers to call for the lower authority's record, grant interim stay on license cancellation, hear parties, and confirm, modify, or set aside the order.
  • Condonation of Delay on Bona Fide Cause: Empowers the Appellate Authority to entertain an appeal preferred after the thirty-day limitation window if the appellant demonstrates bona fide and sufficient cause for the delay.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Collector, Land Acquisition, Anantnag v. Mst. Katiji (1987) 2 SCC 107: Supreme Court held that condonation of delay in statutory appeals must be applied generously to advance substantial justice when commercial livelihoods and worker employments are at stake.
  • Whirlpool Corporation v. Registrar of Trade Marks (1998) 8 SCC 1: Supreme Court affirmed that the availability of an alternative statutory appeal does not operate as an absolute bar to High Court writ jurisdiction where the impugned administrative order violates natural justice or is without jurisdiction.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

If a contractor's license is cancelled or suspended by the Designated Authority, file a Section 52 appeal with an urgent interim stay application within fifteen days before the Appellate Authority. If the appellate forum is vacant or delays hearing while commercial operations face shutdown, file an emergency writ petition under Article 226 before the High Court.

Section 51 All 143 Sections of OSH Code, 2020 Section 53