DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW

UNIVERSITY

VISAKHAPATANAM, A P., INDIA

PROJECT TITLE:
BONDED LABOUR
SUBJECT:
SOCIOLOGY
NAME OF THE FACULTY:
PROF. M LAKSHMIPATHI RAJU
NAME OF STUDENT:

AKHIL H KRISHNAN

ROLL NO. : 18LLB005

SEMESTER : I

1
ABSTRACT

TITLE OF THE PROJECT:

BONDED LABOUR

SELECTION OF PROJECT:

BONDED LABOUR

REASERCH PROBLEM:

A study on bonded labour in a historical perspective and legislations to curb it.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Research review on books, articles on the subject

RESEARCH DESIGN :

DOCTRINAL - EXPLAINATORY

COLLECTION OF DATA

Secondary data from books, journals, Articles and case laws will be collected

ANALYSIS OF DATA

Analysis of case law and legislation will be done by researcher

2
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would sincerely like to put forward my heartfelt appreciation to our respected sociology
professor, PROF. M LAKSHMIPATHI RAJU for giving me a golden opportunity to take up this
project regarding “BONDED LABOUR”. I have tried my best to collect information about the
project in various possible ways to depict clear picture about the given project.

3
Contents
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................5
CONCEPT & DEFINITION ....................................................................................................6
ORIGIN AND CAUSES ..........................................................................................................7
HISTORY OF BONDED LABOUR IN INDIA .......................................................................8
Slavery and Bondage in Ancient India ..................................................................................8
Slavery and Bondage in British India ....................................................................................9
LEGAL POSITION OF BONDED LABOUR AND SLAVES IN INDIA .............................. 11
Legal Position in Acient Period ........................................................................................... 12
Legal position in British India ............................................................................................. 12
BONDED LABOUR AND SLAVERY IN POST-INDEPENDENCE ERA ........................... 13
LEGISLATIVE MEASURES AGAINST BONDED LABOUR ............................................ 15
CASES .................................................................................................................................. 18
CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 21
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 22

4
INTRODUCTION
The system of debt bondage in India is an outcome of certain categories of indebtedness, which
have been prevailing for a long time involving certain economically, exploited helpless and
weaker sections of society. This system originated from the uneven social structure characterised
by feudal and semi-feudal conditions. Bonded Labourers constitute perhaps the weakest section
of the rural poor. The genesis of rural poverty in India dates back to the later half of the 18th
Century when the erstwhile colonial rulers introduced the Zamindary System. Subsequently the
anti-farmers policies of the colonial Government had also contributed towards the indebtedness
of a large number of small and medium farmers and eventually pushing them into the category of
landless labourers The problem of bonded labour was closely linked to the broader
socioeconomic problems of surplus labour, unemployment/under-employment, inequitable
distribution of land and assets, low wages, distress migration, social customs etc. with the
phenomenon of small and marginal farmers and rural artisans steadily becoming landless
labourers generate environment, which can perpetuate the system of bonded labour.

The system of bonded labor works like this, weaker sections society for their sustenance and for
their living take loans from landlord or moneylender who-in-turn would take this opportunity to
take possession of whatever little land or mobile property they find from the debtor and in return
of money advanced would also bound him/her to provide his/her labor force as payment of debt.
But the principal amount would never be paid by the debtor as interest amount advanced would
always be on higher side. The debtor remains indebted from generations to generations but
his/her debt would never be wiped out. Thus the vicious circle of bonded labor goes on.
Contracts between the landlord and the laborer deny an individual the basic right to choose his or
her employer, or to negotiate the terms of contract. The bonded labor is a clear violation of basic
rights fundamental rights and human rights.

5
CONCEPT & DEFINITION
1. Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) [Article 2(i)]
For the purposes of this Convention the term forced or compulsory labour shall mean all work
or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the
said person has not offered himself voluntarily.

2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights December 10, 1948

On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 4 says: “No one shall be held in slavery or
servitude; slavery and slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”

3. UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Salary (1956) –

Under this Convention debt bondage is defined as “the status or condition arising from a pledge
by a debtor of his personal service or those of a person under his control as security for a debt, if
the value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the
debtor the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined”.

4. As per ILO Report on Stopping Forced Labour (2001) –

The term (Bonded Labour) refers to a worker who rendered service under condition of bondage
arising from economic consideration, notably indebtedness through a loan or an advance. Where
debt is the root cause of bondage, the implication is that the worker (or dependents or heirs) is
tied to a particular creditor for a specified or unspecified period until the loan is repaid.

5. As per the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976:

“bonded labour” means any labour or service rendered under the bonded
labour system - Section 2 (e) .

6
“Bonded labourer” means a labourer who incurs, or has, or is presumed to have incurred a
bonded debt - Section 2 (f).

“Bonded labour system” means the system of forced, or partly forced, labour under which a
debtor enters, or has, or is presumed to have, entered, into an agreement with the creditor to the
effect that he would –
(i) render, by himself or through any member of his family, or any person dependent on him,
labour or service to the creditor, or for the benefit of the creditor, for a specified period or for any
unspecified period, either without wages or for nominal wages, or
(ii) For the freedom of employment or other means of livelihood for a specified period or for an
unspecified period, or
(iii) Forfeit the right to move freely throughout the territory of India, or
(iv) forfeit the right to appropriate or sell at market value any of his property or product of his
labour or the labour of a member of his family or any person dependent on him; and includes the
system of forced, or partly forced, labour under which a surety for a debtor enters, or has, or is
presumed to have, entered, into an agreement with the creditor to the effect that in the event of
the failure of the debtor to repay the debt, he would render the bonded labour on behalf of the
debtor – Section 2(g).

ORIGIN AND CAUSES

Bonded labour stems from a variety of causes, an ingrained legacy of caste based discrimination,
poverty, inequality, lack of education, unjust relations and government unwillingness to alter the
status quo. The government is not trying to strictly implement the labour laws. Another
important reason of bonded labour is the long time colonial rule that prevailed in India. The same
is the reason for the origin of bonded labour in different parts of the world. The evil of bonded
labour is deep rooted mainly in African countries and many other places which were once
colonies of different Western/European powers.

7
High expenses on occasions like marriage, death, feast, birth of a child, etc., leading to heavy
debts, caste-based discrimination, lack of concrete social welfare schemes to safeguard against
hunger and illness, non- compulsory and unequal educational system, and indifference and
corruption among government officials are some other socio-economic factors which lead to the
proliferation of bonded labour. Sometimes, exploitation by some persons in a village also
compels people to migrate to some other place and seek not only employment on the employer’s
conditions but also get protection from influential persons. Religious arguments are used to
convince the people of low castes that religion enjoins upon them to serve people of high castes.
Illiteracy, ignorance, immaturity and lack of skill and professional training sustain such beliefs.
Broadly speaking, it may be maintained that bondage originates mainly from economic and
social pressures.

HISTORY OF BONDED LABOUR IN INDIA

The system has its roots in the socio-economic structure of our agricultural society which has
continued to be dominated by feudal and semi-feudal conditions, hierarchical caste system,
extreme poverty and ignorance coupled with social customs. This complex structure of our
society led to the widening of gap between the haves and have nots. This system which was
mostly prevalent among agricultural sector has now spread over to other areas like stone quarries
brick kilns, construction sites, forestry, carpet weaving, fishing, bidi making, etc This way, the
age old inhuman system of labour has taken new dimensions in the present.

Slavery and Bondage in Ancient India

Slavery and bondage are systems of great antiquity. This social evil system has been found to
exist in all periods of Indian history. It is also true that slave labour constituted an important
segment of labour supply in ancient India. One of the important factor for the continued
existence of this system has been the complex and caste-ridden social structure of our society.
The most commonly used term for the slave was the Dasa.

However, the term has been interpreted differently by the various Hindu sages. The Kautilya's
Arthashastra provided for nine separate types of Dasas. They included, (i) persons captured in
battle, (ii) dasa's born in the house of the masters, (iii) those who were purchased, (v) dasas who
were received as gifts, (vi) dasas who were inherited, (vii) those who were mortgaged, and (ix)
those who sold themselves as Dasas.

8
The categorisation by Kautilya gives an indication that some of the persons acquired this status
because of debt bondage. The text of Kautilya also indicates that the status of this category of
Dasa was slightly better than the other categories of Dasas. This is clear from the fact that if a
bonded man tried to escape then his status was reduced to that of an ordinary Dasa who could not
free himself. In other words, the resulting effect of this punishment was to put the Dasa in a state
of permanent debt bondage which was s sort of slavery for life. Thus, Arthashastra bonded a
person for non-payment of a debt and slaved him if he attempted to escape.

Narda has also given his own account of the types of Dasas. He categorises them into 15
different categories. However, the category of Dasas obtained through wager is new. Similarly,
Narda also includes those persons as Dasas who had their association with a Dasee. Narda,
however acknowledges debt bondage as an element which was missing in Manu's list. Another
noticeable feature in Narda's classification is that of the possibilities of 4 redemption of debt
which could bring an end to bondage.

Slavery and Bondage in British India

The Britishers came to India as traders in the beginning of Seventeenth century. Though their
principal concern was to carry on the trading business but with the passage of time they
established their strong hold on the Indian soil and ultimately became the masters of density of
the Indians. Thus, India became a colony of the Britishers who ruled over this land for a period
of over 200 years. The practice of slavery and bondage which constituted as one of the categories
of forced labour was very much in existence on the arrival of Britishers in India. In fact, the two
distinct terms, i.e. slavery and bondage have been so closely connected that it becomes very
difficult to make a distinction between the two which practically overlapped and merged into
each other. The only authenticated source for studying this aspect of slavery or bondage in
british India is the British administrative reports which contain some information about the
prevalence of this system in various parts of the country and more particularly in the west/ south
and eastern part of India.
However/ there existed little uniformity in the pattern of slave holdings in the conditions and
functions of slaves/ and the motives of the masters who claimed their ownership. One thing
which remained visible was the master's absolute control over the person/ labour and children of
the slave. In big cities like Bombay/ Madras and Calcutta/ the slavery remained essentially

9
confined to the urban areas. The most striking feature of the system was that the slave was
considered a chattel and a commodity which could be sold and purchased in the open market. It
is on the record that in 1662/ a company was established in England for carrying out the business
of sale and purchase of slaves from India/ Burma and Africa. However/ the Britishers made some
half hearted efforts in 1688 to ban the slave trade in Madras but yielded to the high pressure of
demand and supply of slaves. Similar position obtained in Calcutta and Bombay also.

The slaves were mainly drawn from purely local habitation through kidnapping, distress sale,
voluntary bondage and marriage or co-habitation with another slave. Basically, these persons
belonged to lower castes but persons from relatively higher caste were also drawn and used for
domestic purposes like, cooking and nursing children, etc. Marriages between slaves were
arranged and the expenses incurred in this behalf were borne by the master. Even after the
abolition of slavery by the Act of 1843 and 1861, a large number of slaves remained in the same
families either as retainers or servants. The other form of slavery which existed on large scale
constituted captive agricultural labour for the big landlords. Their labour was employed at less
than market rates and they were usually paid in kind. In fact, these labourers became an
inseparable part of the master's landed property. The main basis of this kind of slavery remained
the local caste structure of the community. This system though rooted in Indian traditions was
primarily a product of the absolute control of the Landlords over the untouchables. These
untouchables had no social and economic rights and this helplessness enslaved them in the
prevalent economic domination of the higher caste people. The Britishers who continued the
mirasi system of tenure prevented the slave castes from holding any lands.
The other noticeable feature of this system was that most of the slave owners did not pay
anything to these slaves during the off season and did not allow them to accept any alternative
jobs. However, they were allowed to have a family life but the unquestioned authority of the
master to sale or mortgage them frustrated these attempts. There was nothing for safeguarding or
securing their rights. Though the British government took some steps to put an end to slavery at
the end of the 18th century and during the first quarter of 19th century/ but these measures could
not succeeded and the slave labour and the forced labour continued to operate in the most
blantant form of debt bondage. In fact/ the measures taken in this regard basically continued to

10
regulate the conduct of masters towards their slaves rather than putting to an end to the nstitution
of slavery. The anti-slavery measures taken from time to time took cognizance of three different
forms of labour, viz./ contract labour, slave labour and ~ bonded labour. However/it took slave
labour within its specific purview and ignored the bonded labour and contract labour. Thus the
exploitation continued to be perpetuated under conditions of bondage.
In the 20th century, though the practice of debt bondage was very much in existence, the British
government took some halfhearted measures in various parts of the country towards
emancipation of the bonded labour. The debt bondage system was to go and the person freed.
The position remained as it is despite various administrative or other measures taken during the
British period for abolition of slavery as well as regulation of the contract labour. When India
attained freedom in 1947, the economic freedom was not there. It was a political freedom where
the Indians were left to determine their own destiny. Thus, the system of bonded or forced labour
continued as an inherited pre-independence legacy.

LEGAL POSITION OF BONDED LABOUR AND SLAVES IN INDIA

Bonded labour has remained as an inseparable element of the socio-economic set up of ancient
India. persons belonging to the higher sections of the society including the kings/zamindars,
mirasidars and talukdars engaged the slaves for cultivating land and also for other services.
During the British period/ agricultural slavery was common in almost all parts of India. It was
practically a system of debtor-creditor relationship which ultimately turned into slave masters
relations. Whatever may be the justification for the continued existence of this system, the fact
remains that it is the poverty and hunger which has led the people to drive them into the hell of
bondage. It was this fact which enabled the privileged social class to exercise complete control
over the body and mind of the enslaved. It was a situation where a labour was born in debt/
lived in debt and died in debt.
Here an attempt is being made to make a re-appraisal of the arliest legal measures which were
undertaken from time to time for emancipation or abolition of slavery and bonded labour in
India. However/before discussing this aspect in detail/ a brief overview of the legal position of
the slavery and bondage under the Hindu and Muslim law is essential. To present this aspect in a
proper perspective, a discussion under the following sub-heads becomes inevitable.

11
Legal Position During The Ancient Period
As discussed earlier The ancient Hindu law givers like Kautilya, Manu/ Narda/ Katayayana/
Yajnavalkhya and others framed a set of legal rules for governing the system of slavery. The
principal emphasis of these rules is on the categorisation of slaves/ their rights and the matters
relating to their emancipation. The classification aspect brings out the true factual position
regarding the socioeconomic compulsion which forced the people to become slaves. The Hindu
law deprived the slaves from acquiring/ holding or possessing property in their own name.
However, Katayana's text makes a little departure from the other law givers and lays down that
the master had no right and control over those goods of the slaves which he had obtained with his
permission. Since slaves were considered as objects of the master who exercised a complete
control over their person, labour and possession, the emergence of an insignificant right of the
slave over some goods carried little significance. The laws relating to evidence and contractual
relations provided that a slave could be considered as a witness in general matter but not in
matters concerning his master’s cause. Thus, in contractual matters which affected his bondage
etc., he had no bargaining power whatsoever.
It was provided in modes of Manu mission that some of the slaves who rescued their masters
from imminent danger to their lives were entitled to be released from slavery. Narda also stated
that a slave maintained in a time of famine shall be released from slavery on giving a pair of
oxen. Similarly, debt discharge was also recognized as a ground of release, whatever may be the
various modes of Manu's mission enumerated by the ancient legislature, emancipation was lmost
impossible because of the imposition of some pre conditions which were stringent enough to
nullify the entire process of release.

Legal position in British India

As mentioned earlier the laws governing slavery and bondage remained the same during the
British era. Though the Government enacted some legislation relating to slavery at the
end of 18th century and during the beginning of the 19th century, but these measures
were mainly confined to imposition of restriction on slave trade. These resources which
were primarily designed to curb the sale of slaves through import or export, declared the

12
same as illegal and imposed punishment on the offenders. However, these efforts did not
succeed in bringing change in the system of slavery.
The intensification of anti-slavery in England also drew the attention of Britisher towards this
problem. It was at that particular time that the problem of agricultural slavery prevailed in almost
all parts of the country. This introduction of the concept of ownership perpetuated exploitation of
a man by a man and the most easy victims who fell pray to this inhuman form of labour were the
impoverished sections. Thus, the fate of a large number of such people was sealed by force of
socio-economic culture.

BONDED LABOUR AND SLAVERY IN POST-INDEPENDENCE ERA

India attained freedom on Aug 15 1947. The freedom so attained was not an end itself. It was the
beginning of a new era. The freedom carried with it a lot of responsibilities on the social and
economic front. India was backward. Majority of its population lived in poverty and elplessness.
The Britishers had exploited the people and their wealth for centuries. This way freedom brought
us new problems. The big landlords, zamindars and other affluent sections of the society were
exploiting the poor and the deprived for their benefit. Thus, the problem of bonded labour
existed in abundance at the dawn of our independence.
The problem of bonded labour remained very much a part of the legacy of the colonial
administration which we inheritated from the Britishers at the time of our independence. In other
words, bonded labour existed in various parts of India in different forms. The main reason for the
continuance of this system has been the poverty and helplessness of the tribal and other low caste
Hindus. This situation brought them to a point of starvation which factually resulted in their
exploitation at the hands of their masters. Therefore, one of the important task which fell on the
shoulders of the leaders of our country was to find a solution to this inhuman practice and to
initiate some positive measures which could wipe out tears from the eyes of the depressed people
of the country. For this purpose, it was essential that the common man was to be given a
guarantee which could lead to ending of the exploitation of his person and labour and also
enable him to live a life of human dignity. This aspect was translated into practice when the first
and foremost task of framing a Constitution for free India was undertaken.

13
The Constituent Assembly and Bonded Labour
The first gigantic task that was required to be performed by the Constituent Assembly was the
framing of India's own Constitution. The Constituent Assembly which was constituted for the
purpose in 1946 had already done the ground work for proceeding in the assigned direction.
One of the earliest task to which the assembly addressed itself was the declaration of the basic
objectives which were to be kept in view while framing the Constitution of the country. It was
achieved by the Historic Objectives Resolution and its adoption on January 22, 1947. Clause 6
of the Resolution promised the guarantee of adequate safeguard for persons belonging to
depressed and other backward sections of the Indian Community. A large number of members of
the Assembly who participated in the discussions on the Resolution commended the contents and
contours of the Resolution The solemn resolve was for the establishment of Swaraj for all the
Indians irrespective of race, religion or community. The other important step taken by the
Assembly was the constitution of different committees for transacting its business.
We can find that the early draft proposals on fundamental rights of Shah, Munshi and Ambedkar
were quite categorical in making a specific provision in the future Constitution of India to
abolish all sorts of bonded or forced labour and begar. The emphasis was on assuring the dignity
of the individual and provide him full protection against all forms of exploitation.
In the Draft Report of the Sub-Committee which was submitted to the Chairman of the Advisory
Committee on April 3, 1947, the relevant provision which appeared as clause 15 provided as
followed:
"15 (1) (a) Slavery,
(b) traffic in human beings,
(c) Any form of involuntary servitude except as a punishment for crime whereof the party
shall have been duly convicted, are hereby prohibited and any contravention of this prohibition
shall be an offence.
The recommendations made by the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights came up for
discussion before the Advisory Committee in its meeting held on April 21 and 22, 1947. There
was a brief discussion on Clause 15. It was unanimously agreed that sub-clause (1) which
prohibited slavery, traffic in human beings, begar and involuntary servitude should be adopted
without any substantial change except that the work 'slavery' was omitted.

14
In the interim report of the Advisory Committee which was submitted to the President of the
Consituent Assembly on April 23, 1947,the re-drafted provisions were numbered as clauses 11
and 12 and ran as follows:
11 (a) Traffic in human beings,and
(b) forced labour in any form including beggar and involuntary servitude except as a punishment
for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, are hereby prohibited and any
contravention of this prohibition shall be an offence.
Explanation; Nothing in sub-clause shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for
public purposes without any discrimination on the ground of race, religion, caste or class.
12. No child below the age of 14 yeas shall be engaged to work in any factory, mine or any other
hazardous employment.
Explanation; Nothing in this clause shall prejudice any educational progranune or activity
involving compulsory labour.
Even after this a lot of debate happened on these clauses and was finally passed in the constituent
assembly. Thus, we find that the members of the Assembly were quite conscious of the various
anti-social practices prevalent in India during the pre-independence period. The most important
of these which weighed their mind related to the abolition of traffic in human beings and begar
and hence a provision for eradicating this pernicious social evil found an expressed recognition
in the chapter on Fundamental Rights in the Constitution of India.

LEGISLATIVE MEASURES AGAINST BONDED LABOUR

The right against exploitation or prohibition of forced labour has now been declared as an
offence under Article 2 3 of the Constitution of India. However, to give this provision a true
shape,it was essential that the government enacts a law so as to put an end to this system
of exploitative labour. Therefore,the earliest legislative intervention which came in the post-
Constitution period at different levels in the country may be briefly explained as under:

1) THE RAJASTHAN SAGRI SYSTEM ABOLITION ACT, 1961

This law was enacted by the State Government in pursuance of the Constitutional mandate of
Article 23. The law provided for abolition of the Sagri System in the State of Rajasthan. The Act

15
provided that no creditor was to advance loan under this system and if the creditor tempted to
violate the law, he was rendered incompetent to recover the amount or require the person to
render labour in lieu thereof. The Act provided for imposition of fine or imprisonment upto a
year, or both to a person violating the provisions of the law. The Act laid down that in regard to
every transaction made after the coming into force of the present law, where a creditor advanced
a loan to a debtor and also required him or any office family member to render labour or personal
service for him, it would be presumed that the loan was advanced under the Sagri System unless
proved to the contrary.
This law was certainly an improvement over the laws prevailing in Madras and Orissa because it
abolished the Sagri system completely and provided for penalty in the event of violations of the
provisions of the law. The other significant feature of the legislation was that it provided for
giving immediate relief in case of unpaid debts as no labour was required to be performed to
clear off such debt.
Regarding the implementation of the law, the only authoritative sources available are the Reports
of the Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Twelveth Report (1962-63)
records: "The State Government has passed the Rajasthan Sagri System Abolition Act/ 1961.
It, however, appears that the law has only a symbolic value,as no prosecutions under it took
place during the year and no special steps have been taken to enforce it strictly. It is reported that
now there is a tendency among the Sahukars, to pay their Sagris on a monthly basis or in the
form of a share in the crops, but even this hardly brings about an element of competitive and free
contract in their relationship, which continues to be only a disguised slavery.
The Twentieth Report (1970-71) makes a pointed reference to a survey which was conducted by
the Tribal Research Institute, Udaipur to examine the implementation of the present legislation.
The study revealed that out of the interviewed persons, 40 per cent fell pray to the Sagri system
before 1961 and 60 per cent enslaved their labour after the passing of the law. It was further
revealed that 14 per cent of the interviewed persons showed their knowledge about the law but
none of them had ever approached the Court to get the appropriate relief vis-avis the
extinguishment of their debt.
In view of this situation/ the government felt concerned about the inefficacy or shortcomings of
the law by promulgating a specific ordinance in 1975. Under the amended law, the offence of
keeping bonded labour was made cognizable and non-bailable. The amended law provided for

16
summary trial. The law remained on the Status book till 1975 when the new Central law banning
such practices came into force.

2) THE KERALA BONDED LABOUR SYSTEM ABOLITION ACT, 1975

This law was enacted to abolish the bonded labour system which prevailed in some parts of
Kerala. It provided that the bonded labour system stood abolished and no person was to pay in
cash or kind. Under the system, the law nullified all previous agreements between the creditor
and the debtor relating to this aspect. The Collector and other Revenue officers were assigned the
task of implementing the law and punish its violation. The highlighting feature of the law was
that it made the offence of keeping bonded labour a cognizable one. The concept of abetment
was also introduced by this law which strick at the backdoor continuance of the system.
However, the Act fell short of the wider expectations of the people because its applications was
restricted to a group of debtors belonging to Scheduled Tribes. This shortcoming was taken care
of by the Union Government by enacting a suitable legislation in this regard covering the whole
of India. It was this legislative attempt which for the first time abolished the system of bonded
labour throughout the country.

3) THE BONDED LABOUR SYSTEM (ABOLITION) ACT, 1976

On October 24, 1975 the Government of India promulgated an ordinance on abolition of Bonded
Labour System which was later replaced by the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act^l976
enacted by the Parliament. The law declared void the practice of bonded labour in all its forms
and freed and discharged every bonded labourer from any obligation to render labour in lieu of
loans. The bonded labour system which has been in existence in almost all parts of the country
stood abolished as a result of the enactment of this Central legislation.
The Act imposed an absolute prohibition on the creditor to accept any payment against bonded
debt. The law provided for imposition of fine upto Rs. 2,000/- or imprisonment upto three years,
or both to a person who violated the provisions of the Act. The offence of keeping bonded labour
was made cognizable and bailable. A significant feature of this legislation was that it provided
for giving a quick relief in case of unpaid debts and the creditors were debarred from enforcing

17
the liability to pay off such debts from the bonded labourers.
The Act has conferred special powers on the State governments to entrust the task of
implementing the provisions of the law to the District Magistrates or other officers. A special
duty has been caste on such officers to look after the interests of the released bonded labourer.
Further/ the Act envisaged the constitution of Vigilance Committees at the Districts or Sub-
Divisional level to deal with the cases of bonded labourers including their rehabilitation. This
way, the implementation aspect of the law has been left to the State Governments.

CASES

1) NEERJA CHOUDHARY V. STATE OF MP1

The main issue in this case related to the effective rehabilitation of the released
bonded labourers. The petitioners alleged that even after a lapse of a long time 135 labourers of
the Faridabad stone quarries were not rehabilitated. They further alleged that it was the
obligation on the part of the state government to rehabilitate the bonded labourers according to
the provisions of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976 and it is the fundamental right
of the bonded labourers under article 21 of the constitution. The petitioners therefore prayed for a
direction to the state government to take steps for the economic and social rehabilitation of
the labourers who were released from the shackles of bondage.
The SC said that the plainest requirement of article 21, 23 that the bonded labourers must be
identified and released and on release, they must be suitably rehabilitated. The act has been
enacted with a view to ensuring human dignity to the bonded laborers and any failure of action
on part of the state government, in implementing the provisions of this legislation would be the
clearest violation of article 21, 23 of the Constitution. The courts also said that it is not enough
merely to identify and release bonded labourers, but it is equally important that after
identification and release, they must be rehabilitated, because without rehabilitation, they would
be driven by poverty, helplessness and despair into serfdom once again.

1
Ms. Gunjan Chauhan, Bonded Labour, Manupatra , (oct 15, 2018, 5:00),
https://www.manupatrafast.com/articles/PopOpenArticle.aspx?ID=66e6db94-96c5-4b75-8e80-
fccc2c24d34b&txtsearch=Subject:%20Labour%20And%20Industrial

18
 2) BANDHUA MUKTI MORCHA V. UNION OF INDIA 2

The main issue concerned the existence of bonded labour in the Faridabad stone quarries near
the city of Delhi. It was alleged that majority of the workers were compelled to migrate from other
states, and turned into bonded labourers. The workers were living in sub-human and miserable
conditions. A violation of various labour laws and the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act
1976 was alleged. The SC stated that before

A bonded labour can be regarded as a bonded labourer, he must not only be forced to
provide labour to the employer but he must have also received an advance or other economic
consideration from the employer, unless he is made to provide forced labour in pursuance of any
custom or social obligation or by reason of his birth in any particular caste or community.

Whenever it is shown that a labourer is made to provide forced labour, the court would raise a
presumption that he is required to do so in consideration of an advance or other economic
consideration received by him and he is, therefore, a bonded labourer. But unless and until
satisfactory evidence is produced for rebutting this presumption the court must proceed on the
basis that the labourer is a bonded labourer entitle to the benefit under the provision of the
Bonded LabourSystem (Abolition) Act, 1976. The courts also recognized the right of
bonded labourers to live with human dignity. It read the Directive Principles of State Policy into
article 21 of the constitution to make the right to live with human dignity fruitful to the working
class of the country. The stand in the Asiad case[7] was reiterated that the state is under a
constitutional obligation to see that there is no violation of any fundamental rights of person,
particularly when he belongs to the weaker section of the community and is unable to wage a legal
battle against a strong and powerful opponent who is exploiting him. The Central government is
bound to ensure observance of social welfare and labour laws enacted by the parliament for the

2
ibid

19
purpose of securing to the workmen a life of basic human dignity in compliance with the Directive
Principles of State Policy.

3) BALRAM AND OTHERS V. STATE OF M.P 3

The main issue was to determine whether the state and central governments had given the benefit
of the scheme framed under the Bonded Labourers Act (whereby each bonded labourer was to be
paid Rs. 6, 250/- as rehabilitation money) to some 3949 labourers in the state. The court directed
that the Additional Collector and such, other officers who have been assigned the responsibility of
supervising rehabilitation to ensure that the full amount intended for the freed labourers reaches
them. Therefore, all such persons who were willing to have an account opened in their respective
names for facilitating credit of the amount in such account shall have accounts opened and the
money shall be credited in such accounts. The Union of India was also directed to release adequate
funds under the Scheme to meet the liability under the Scheme framed under the
Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 within four weeks to enable compliance of the
directions now made. Similar directions were also issued to the State of Madhya Pradesh.

4) P. SIVASWAMY V. STATE OF A.P4

The courts found that the rehabilitation money payable under the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act, 1976 came down to Rs. 738/- per family. The Court observed that the assistance
was certainly inadequate for rehabilitation and unless there was effective rehabilitation the
purpose of the Act would not be fulfilled. Up-rooted from one place of bonded labour conditions
the persons are likely to be subjected to the same mischief at another place, the net result being
that the steps taken by the Supreme Court would be rendered ineffective.

3
ibid
4
ibid

20
CONCLUSION

Thus the issue of bonded labour existed in India and its roots have grown so deep that it still
continues to be a social evil difficult to tackle. Attempts to tackle the evil of bonded labour has
been going on since the British era and still the government is making legislations to curb this
unsuccessful to stop it completely. But the legislations and its strict implementation along with
wise judicial decisions has curbed this evil to a great extent.

21
BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS
Human Rights and Law: Bonded Labour in India, Ramesh Kumar Tiwari

WEBSITES
https://www.manupatrafast.com/

22