BLL301 | Labour Law I

Labour Law I is a compulsory core course under the curriculum set by the Bar Council of India. This course seeks to introduce to students the fundamental features of the legal regime governing labour rights in India and provide a nuanced understanding of the fundamental paradox of the discipline of Labour Law in India in as much as it is over-legislated even as workers remain under-protected.

The course has been designed to underscore the interconnectedness of different elements of labour protection. Therefore, even though Labour Law will be taught across two different trimesters, the structure of this course seeks to connect the two components. Consequently, the fundamental concepts of labour law in India are taught along with regulations governing Industrial Relations so that students can combine a worm’s view of the details with a bird’s panoramic view of the discipline. This course will form the foundation for Labour Law-II, also a mandatory course under the curriculum set by the Bar Council of India, to be taught in the next trimester.

This course also endeavours to go beyond the confines of statutes and case-books to situate labour law within the social, political, economic and administrative context within which it operates and highlight the trajectories through which different constituencies of workers in the country engage with state and labour regulations, particularly with respect to their protection needs.

The course will be taught through a combination of lectures and discussion around cases. For some of the modules, there would be an article/book-chapter introducing the broader context, which would be followed by cases.