Kerala High Court Dismisses Plea Challenging Centre's Order Allowing Old Labour Courts To Function After Enactment Of New Industrial Code

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (17 February) dismissed the petition challenging a Central Government notification that permits Labour Courts and Industrial Tribunals constituted under the repealed Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 to continue adjudicating cases even after the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 came into force.Justice Gopinath P delivered the judgment. The petition was filed seeking, quashing of the December 8, 2025 notification issued by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, by which existing Labour Courts, Industrial Tribunals and National Industrial Tribunals were authorised to continue adjudication of both pending and new industrial disputes until new tribunals are constituted under the 2020 Code. The petitioner contended that Section 103 of the new Code which empowers the Central Government to remove "difficulties" in implementing the Code cannot be used to overrise or suspend the mandatory statutory provisions. The Court in its judgment observed that permitting the existing adjudicatory mechanisms and the statutory authorities to continue till the new adjudicatory mechanisms are put in place cannot be said to be considered as an instance of sidestepping the provisions of the 2020 Code. Relying on Gammon India Ltd. v Union of India [(1974) 1 SCC 596], the Court underlined the scope of a 'removal of difficulties clause' and reiterated the necessity of such a clause in a new law. During the hearing, the Central Government submitted that there is a transition period for the enacting the legislation and if any difficulties arise during the period, Section 103 can be invoked to remove that difficulty.It was also brought to the attention of the Court that previously, two High Courts, namely Delhi High Court and Madras High Court have approved the notification when public interest litigation with similar prayers were placed before it.The Court acknowledged these submissions in its judgment and noted"It is crucial to acknowledge that Section 103 of the 2020 Code incorporates inherent safeguards."With these observations, the Court dismissed the writ petition. Case Title: M K Suresh Kumar and Anr v The Union of Indian and Anr.Case No: WP(C) 824/ 2026 Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 106Counsel for Petitioner: Anand B Menon, Vijayakumar K, A Abdul NabeelCounsel for Respondent: Vishnu J (CGC), Liju V Stephen, Indu Susan Jacob, Jiji Joy, Sanjay JOhnson Mathew, Preethi Ramakrishnan, Pratap Abraham Varghese, Manojkumar G, Ashok Menon, O M Shalina (DSGI)Click Here To Read/ Download Judgment

Kerala High Court Dismisses Plea Challenging Centre's Order Allowing Old Labour Courts To Function After Enactment Of New Industrial Code

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