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Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 · Chapter II: Authorities Under This Act

Section 7: Labour Courts

The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 was repealed and replaced by the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 from 21 November 2025.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

The appropriate Government can set up Labour Courts, each of one presiding officer, to decide disputes on matters in the Second Schedule, such as dismissals and standing orders.

  • The presiding officer must be or have been a High Court Judge, a District or Additional District Judge for at least three years, a judicial officer for at least seven years, or a State Labour Court presiding officer for at least five years.

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

(1) The appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, constitute one or more Labour Courts for the adjudication of industrial disputes relating to any matter specified in the Second Schedule and for performing such other functions as may be assigned to them under this Act.

(2) A Labour Court shall consist of one person only to be appointed by the appropriate Government.

(3) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as the presiding officer of a Labour Court, unless— [(a) he is, or has been, a Judge of a High Court; or

(b) he has, for a period of not less than three years, been a District Judge or an Additional District Judge; or

* * * * * [(d)] he has held any judicial office in India for not less than seven years; or [(e)] he has been the presiding officer of a Labour Court constituted under any Provincial Act or State Act for not less than five years.

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 7