Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 · Chapter IV: Procedure, Powers and Duties of Authorities
Section 21: Certain matters to be kept confidential
The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 was repealed and replaced by the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 from 21 November 2025. It still applies to matters and proceedings from before that date, as the repealing law provides.
In plain words
Information about a trade union or an individual business, obtained only through evidence in the proceedings, must not be put in any report or award or disclosed if the union or business asked in writing for it to be kept confidential.
- It can be disclosed with written consent, or for a prosecution under section 193 of the Indian Penal Code for false evidence.
A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.
Official text
There shall not be included in any report or award under this Act any information obtained by a conciliation officer, Board, Court, [Labour Court, Tribunal, Tribunal, National Tribunal or an arbitrator] in the course of any investigation or inquiry as to a trade union or as to any individual business (whether carried on by a person, firm or company) which is not available otherwise than through the evidence given before such officer, Board, Court, [Labour Court, Tribunal, National Tribunal or an arbitrator], if the trade union, person, firm or company, in question has made a request in writing to the conciliation officer, Board, Court, [Labour Court, Tribunal, National Tribunal or an arbitrator], as the case may be, that such information shall be treated as confidential; nor shall such conciliation officer or any individual member of the Board, [or Court or the presiding officer of the Labour Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal or the arbitrator] or any person present at or concerned in the proceedings disclose any such information without the consent in writing of the secretary of the trade union or the person, firm or company in question, as the case may be:
Provided that nothing contained in this section shall apply to a disclosure of any such information for the purposes of a prosecution under section 193 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.