How to use this repository: Start with the governing provision and issue map, then read the official signed judgment. Check legal period, jurisdiction, bench strength, relief and later treatment before applying a proposition.
Litigation issue maps
Employee, workman and managerial-status disputes
Use dominant duties, control and evidence—not designation alone.
EPF basic wages, coverage and contractor liability
Separate establishment coverage, employee coverage, basic wages, damages and recovery.
ESI coverage, employment injury and remedy bars
Start with insured-person status, notification, employment nexus and section 53.
Maternity, parenthood and family-protection disputes
Read benefit rules purposively while preserving the precise statutory or service-rule setting.
POSH inquiry, institutional duty and natural justice
Constitution, independence, notice, hearing, confidentiality and reasoned findings all matter.
Gratuity and retirement-benefit disputes
Test statutory gratuity independently from pension or internal schemes.
Employment injury, hazardous work and workplace safety
Preserve nexus, risk, protective equipment, accident and medical evidence.
Forced labour, bonded labour and rehabilitation
Use a protective evidence approach where exploitation itself suppresses records.
Industry-definition litigation status
The Bangalore Water Supply line requires current larger-bench and statutory-status checking before use.
EPF higher-pension litigation status
Scheme eligibility, option history, portal implementation and pending proceedings must be checked together.
State High Court and tribunal citator
Territorial precedents and tribunal awards remain jurisdiction-specific and require signed-order closure.
Supreme Court decision records
Vishaka v State of Rajasthan
(1997) 6 SCC 241 · The Supreme Court framed binding workplace safeguards to protect equality, dignity and the right to work until legislation occupied the field.
Apparel Export Promotion Council v A.K. Chopra
(1999) 1 SCC 759 · The Court upheld the disciplinary approach and emphasised that sexual harassment must be assessed through dignity, unwelcome conduct and workplace impact rather than an artificially narrow physical-contact test.
Medha Kotwal Lele v Union of India
(2013) 1 SCC 297 · The Court reinforced implementation duties and required complaint committees to function as effective inquiry mechanisms rather than symbolic bodies.
Aureliano Fernandes v State of Goa
2023 INSC 458 · The Court stressed faithful POSH implementation, properly constituted committees, trained members and observance of natural justice in proceedings that may have serious service consequences.
Union of India v Dilip Paul
Supreme Court judgment dated 6 November 2023 · The Court examined disciplinary findings through the governing standard of proof, record-based review and the limits of judicial interference, while preserving procedural fairness.
Additional District and Sessions Judge X v Registrar General, High Court of Madhya Pradesh
(2015) 4 SCC 91 · The Court examined the need for an unbiased, credible process and safeguards capable of addressing institutional power and conflict concerns.
Municipal Corporation of Delhi v Female Workers (Muster Roll)
(2000) 3 SCC 224 · The Court extended maternity protection to muster-roll women workers and treated maternity relief as a social-justice and dignity measure.
Deepika Singh v Central Administrative Tribunal
2022 INSC 742 · The Court adopted a purposive interpretation attentive to diverse family structures and the protective object of maternity and childcare benefits.
Pawan Hans Limited v Aviation Karmachari Sanghatana
2020 INSC 59 · The Court rejected the exclusion and applied the beneficial social-security framework to the contractual workforce covered by the statutory scheme.
Manipal Academy of Higher Education v Provident Fund Commissioner
(2008) 5 SCC 428 · The Court applied the statutory basic-wage structure and distinguished payments that are not ordinarily, necessarily and uniformly earned by employees in the relevant class.
Workmen of Nilgiri Cooperative Marketing Society v State of Tamil Nadu
(2004) 3 SCC 514 · The Court treated the inquiry as fact-sensitive, placed the initial burden on the person asserting employment and reviewed control, organisation, appointment, payment and other relevant indicators.
Allahabad Bank v All India Allahabad Bank Retired Employees Association
(2010) 2 SCC 44 · The Court emphasised the welfare character and overriding operation of the Gratuity Act and the statutory authority’s role in determining entitlement under the Act.
Bangalore Turf Club Limited v Regional Director, ESIC
(2014) 9 SCC 657 · The Court applied a functional and beneficial interpretation to the establishment’s organised commercial activities and upheld coverage.
Board of Control for Cricket in India v Regional Director, ESIC
2022 INSC 815 · The Court treated the activity as systematic and commercial for the relevant notification and upheld the coverage conclusion.
Western India Plywood Ltd v P. Ashokan
(1997) 7 SCC 638 · The Court applied the statutory bar against recovering compensation or damages under another law for the same employment injury covered by the ESI Act.
Daivshala v Oriental Insurance Company Ltd
2025 INSC 904 · The Court held that commuting accidents can qualify where the required nexus between circumstances, time, place and employment is established; it treated section 51E as clarificatory for the interpretive issue examined.
Dr Balram Singh v Union of India
2023 INSC 950 · The Court issued extensive directions, treated hazardous cleaning without minimum protective safeguards as an affront to dignity and linked coercive hazardous work to Article 23.
Prajwala v Union of India — Bonded Labour Directions
2026 INSC 609 · The Court required a protective, non-technical approach and recognised that strict proof demands can defeat legislation intended to dismantle exploitation.
M/s Bharti Airtel Limited v A.S. Raghavendra
2024 INSC 265 · The Court restored the Labour Court’s conclusion that the employee had not proved workman status and reiterated the limited supervisory scope over fact findings.
State of Goa v Namita Tripathi
2025 INSC 306 · The Court applied the plain statutory definition and the welfare purpose of the Act, holding that washing and cleaning for use or delivery can fall within manufacturing process without a new marketable product being created.
Litigation and claim workflows
Practical routes for forum selection, evidence, claims, inquiries, appeals and enforcement.
Forum control
| Forum | Typical role | Evidence gate |
|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court | Binding principle and final appellate review | Signed judgment, paragraph locator, bench strength and later treatment |
| High Court | Writ, supervision and statutory appeal within territory | Jurisdiction, alternative remedy, statutory route and appeal status |
| CGIT / Labour Court / Industrial Tribunal | Reference, claim and adjudication under governing labour law | Reference or cause of action, pleadings, evidence and enforceability |
| EPF / ESI / compensation authorities | Coverage, assessment, contribution, benefit and injury disputes | Order set, legal period, pre-deposit, limitation and current appellate route |