Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 · Chapter VII: Miscellaneous
Section 32: Offence by companies, etc
The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 was repealed and replaced by the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 from 21 November 2025.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
When a company, body corporate or association commits an offence under this Act, every director, manager, secretary, agent or other person concerned with its management is treated as guilty, unless they prove it was done without their knowledge or consent.
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
Where a person committing an offence under this Act is a company, or other body corporate, or an association of persons (whether incorporated or not), every director, manager, secretary, agent or other officer or person concerned with the management thereof shall, unless he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or consent, be deemed to be guilty of such offence.
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.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 32
- J.H. Patel (D) by Lrs. and Ors. v. Nuboard Manufacturing Co. Ltd. & Ors.
- M/S Thermax Ltd. & Ors. v. K.M. Johny & Ors.
- Delhi Transport Corporation v. Shyam Lal
- Cipla Ltd. v. Maharashtra General Kamgar Union and Ors.
- Rabindra Chamria and Ors., Etc., Etc. v. Registrar of Companies West Bengal and Ors., Etc., Etc.
- Bharat Electronics Limited, Bangalore v. Industrial Tribunal, Karnataka, Bangalore and Anr.
- Rajendra Jha v. Presiding Officer, Labour Court, Bokaro Steel City, District Dhanbad and Anr.
- Jabalpur Bijlighar Karamchari Panchayat v. Jabalpur Electric Supply Co., Ltd. & Anr.