Labour Hub › OSHWC Code › Sections › Section 126

Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 · XIV

Section 126: Protection of action taken in good faith

Reviewed by Finin2min Editorial Desk · Last reviewed 30 August 2026

Section 126 — Governs protection of action taken in good faith and the rights, duties, powers or procedure expressly stated in this section. Key operative text: (1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Code or any rule or regulation or bye-laws or order made…

Full official textSource checked: 20 August 20260 direct Central Rule link(s)

Current-law status

All provisions were brought into force from 21 November 2025 under S.O. 5321(E), subject to the Central/State appropriate-Government split and provision-specific appointments/notifications.

Primary sources

Provision / India Code ↗ · Official Act PDF ↗ · 2026 Central Rules ↗

Finin2min analysis — what the section actually does

Operative clauses

(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Code or any rule or regulation or bye-laws or order made there under.
(2) No prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government, any Board or committees constituted under this Code or any member of such Board or any officer or employee of the Government or the Board or any other person authorised by the Government or any Board or committee, for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of…

Provisos, explanations & qualifications

No proviso/explanation was separately extracted from this section text.

Thresholds and timelines in the text

No explicit day/month/year/hour/percentage/rupee expression was detected in this section text.

Actors expressly appearing in the text

Employee / worker

Full statutory text — Section 126

Official English text transcribed from the current India Code consolidation; page headers/line breaks are normalised for web reading. The Gazette/India Code PDF remains authoritative for typography, amendment footnotes and schedules.

126. Protection of action taken in good faith.—(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding
shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance
of this Code or any rule or regulation or bye-laws or order made there under.

   (2) No prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government, any Board or
committees constituted under this Code or any member of such Board or any officer or employee of the
Government or the Board or any other person authorised by the Government or any Board or committee,
for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be
done in pursuance of this Code or any rule or regulation or bye-laws or order made or issued there under.

How to apply this provision

Primary statutory test — (1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Code or any rule or regulation or bye-laws or order made there under.
Additional operative limb — (2) No prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government, any Board or committees constituted under this Code or any member of such Board or any officer or employee of the Government or the Board or any other person authorised by the Government or any Board or committee, for any damage caused or likely to be caused by anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of…
Evidence file — retain facts and records proving the role/status of: Employee / worker.

Why this is section-specific: the operative-clause, exception, threshold and cross-reference panels above are extracted from Section 126 itself rather than a generic “trigger/control/evidence” template.

Rules, forms and cross-references

Direct 2026 Central Rule mapping

None expressly mapped in the current concordance.

Forms mapped

No prescribed form is directly mapped in the current concordance.

Other sections cited in this text

None expressly mapped in the current concordance.

Related Labour Hub resources

State overlays Forms Labour litigation

A direct concordance is not exhaustive. Central/State jurisdiction, schemes, authority appointments, saved instruments and later notifications may change the practical route without changing the section wording.

Worked example

For an establishment affected by protection of action taken in good faith, the compliance owner should identify the applicable sector and authority, document the prescribed control/notice/record and retain inspection or training evidence. A text point to test is: “(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Code or any rule or regulation or bye-laws or order made there under.”

Illustration only; it is not statutory text or a substitute for applying the actual facts, jurisdiction, current rule/scheme and official instrument.

Q&A — Section 126

What does Section 126 of the OSHWC Code cover?

What is the main legal requirement or power in Section 126?

The first operative clause identified from the official text is: “(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Code or any rule or regulation or bye-laws or order made there under.” Read it with the remaining subsections and any proviso below.

Does Section 126 contain a proviso or explanation?

No standalone proviso or explanation was extracted from this section text. Check the full text below for clause-level qualifications.

What time limit, percentage or amount appears in Section 126?

No explicit day/month/year/hour/percentage/rupee expression was detected in the official section text.

Which 2026 Central Rules are linked to Section 126?

No direct Central Rule is recorded in the current concordance. That does not exclude a relevant scheme, notification, State rule or enabling provision.

Is Section 126 currently operative?

All provisions were brought into force from 21 November 2025 under S.O. 5321(E), subject to the Central/State appropriate-Government split and provision-specific appointments/notifications.

Source & verification trail

Act: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 — official India Code PDF ↗

Central Rules: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 — G.S.R. 345(E), 8 May 2026 ↗

Official library: Ministry of Labour & Employment — Labour Codes ↗

Source check: 20 August 2026. Individual professional interpretation should be re-reviewed when the section, rules, notification, scheme, State overlay or controlling judgment changes.

Reliance note: This page is an educational legal-reference layer. Verify the current official text, the applicable Central/State rules, notifications, schemes and judicial decisions before acting on a live matter.