 INTRODUCTION

Law is an indispensable part of the state and is vital for the functioning of it. In any country, social
change has been the need of the society for its upliftment and amelioration of the condition of the
people residing in the society. Social change involves modification of the society and its various
dimensions; the values and beliefs it holds, the different spheres of it whether it is political or
economic. Law, on the other hand is an integral part of all these aspects.
1
It has been centuries now that theorists have been trying to set the relationship between law and
social change in the context of development and welfare of the societies. The social world and the
law are very closely related to each other. The society changes every second, therefore we can not
expect age old laws to conform and be suitable for the present times as well. So, the law too changes
with the need of current scenario and brings the change which help in shunning the archaic norms of
the society, fulfilling the social needs of the people.
In a democratic state where the public choose their government and that government in turn
manages the society with help of law and order. All the social aspects as well of the state fall under
the ambit of law. Functioning in a democratic state can not be without a legal approval, so do the
amendments in the fields. To bring a social change, there has to be a change first, be it in the form of
amendments or adding new provisions for the community to follow, and all the changes in a
sovereign nation is brought by law. This establishes a relationship between law and social change.
When a relation between the two is drawn, a prolonged question arises over whether law leads the
change or it follows the change. There are arguments and evidences to support both of its role.
Further discussion on the stated topic would attempt to answer the question and signify the role of
law in bringing the social change

 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

For making this project, I have used various online resources like websites, journals and research
papers. I did refer to few books for the project. This project is based on my comprehension of these
sources. My main focus out of all the resources complied would be journal articles. All the sources
through which I have picked up some parts of this document, are either credited or footnoted.

1
Hansika Sahu, ‘ Law as an instrument of social change-‘Domestic violence against women in India’, available at
https://www.academia.edu/4670323/Law_As_An_Instrument_Of_Social_Change-Hansika_Sahu
  LAW AS AN INSTRUMENT OF SOCIAL CHANGE

Being an instrument, law influences changes in the society and those changes can be a direct as well
as indirect effect of it. To understand its impact, one needs to understand what law actually is.
2
According to Blackstone, “Law is a rule of conduct, prescribed by the supreme power in the State,
commanding which is right and prohibiting what is wrong. Jurisprudentially law consists of rules
prescribed by the society for the governance of human conduct”. Law is not invariable but keeps on
changing with the circumstances and demands of the society. Roger Cotter views “Social change is
held to occur only when social structure - patterns of social relations established social norms and
social roles changes”. Law has a hold on these norms and lays down rules for the interest of the
welfare of the society which the people residing in the society abides by.
Many researchers view law as the most effective instrument of social transformations but as
discussed in the introduction, many times social changes become laws.
The constitution framers themselves had the view of change which might come in the society and
ended up giving the amendment provisions in the constitution.
There are several reasons which trigger social transformation in the society such as demography of
the state, changing ideologies, advancing technology, changes in the political condition of the
society, economic policies et cetera. Law which is an indispensable part all these factors becomes the
tool or instrument which initiates the change.
As discussed earlier as well that law can not be definite and has to change according to the present
scenario to fulfil the current demands of the society. To show the role of law as an instrument of
social change, it is necessary to examine some special changes that have taken place in the social
world and to be specific in India. Some of the inveterate bone of contentions since the old times like
sati pratha, female infanticide, slavery and bonded labour et cetera are the examples which signify
that how change in the law could transform the society for the welfare of it. An attempt to curb and to
some extent remove these problems from the society was made by changing the laws. On the similar
note, widow remarriage, elimination of child labour, removal of untouchability, right to information,
right to free and compulsory education, and some cases of the recent times are partly striking down
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, allowing the entry of women in Sabarimala temple of Kerela
are few such cases which makes evident the role of law as an instrument of social change.

2
Dr.S.Durgalakshmi and Mrs.R.Ammu, ‘Law as an instrument of social change and empowerment of the masses’, available at,
https://www.worldwidejournals.com/indian-journal-of-applied-research-
(IJAR)/special_issues_pdf/December_2015_1453448341__45.pdf
  LAWS THAT BROUGHT THE SOCIAL CHANGE
 BONDED LABOUR-
1. MEANING-
3
Bonded labour is one of the most contentious issues to argue upon and it has been legally significant
topic since the earlier times. The most basic meaning of it is analogous to slavery. Bonded labour is
the civilised form of slavery. Justice Krishna Iyer rightly calls bonded labour as quasi slavery. If we
look at the dictionary meaning of the word ‘bonded’, it means ‘held together’. This is somewhat true
to the extent where it takes an egregious turn. I.L.O. has defined 'forced or compulsory labour' as "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". It can also be known as forced labour. In India,
forced labour has been defined as "work or service, whether with or without payment, which is
exacted from a person, against his will. A lot of attempts have been made to put forth a definition for
bonded labour as the term itself is not restricted to any precise definition. 4The Royal Commission
on Labour in India (1931) has defined bonded labour as follows: "the labourer borrows money from
the land lord under a contract to work until the debt is repaid. The debt tends to increase rather than
diminish and the man, and sometimes his family, is bound for life". The condition that has to be
fulfilled before to be a bonded labour stated by the Supreme Court of India is : to be regarded as a
bonded labourer, one must not only be forced to provide labour to the employer but must have also
received an advance or other economic consideration from the employer, unless one is made to
provide forced labour in pursuance of any custom or social obligation or by reason of one’s birth in
any particular caste or community.

2. PREDICAMENT-
The problem of bonded labour is not just restricted to India but other countries also. It was used as a
trap for debt-ridden labourers forcing them to work for free in Africa, the Caribbean and South-East
Asia. Bonded labour is most widespread in South Asian countries like India and Pakistan. If we
speak about India, 5this age-old barbarous structure of slavery and bonded labour has been existed
since pre independence era. Bonded labour has been prevalent in the society since ancient times and
remained the part of in all of its civilisation. When we talk about ancient times, slaves were attributed
or called as ‘dasa’ and one can not deny the fact they were of great significance as these slaves

3
Singh, Uday Pratap, ‘Abolition of bonded labour system a case study with special reference to Indian legislation’, available at,
http://hdl.handle.net/10603/61936
4
Sharma, Bhagat Ram, ‘Problem perspectives of bonded labour in India _ an empirical study in the state of Himachal Pradesh’,
available at, http://hdl.handle.net/10603/127693
5
Sharma, Bhagat Ram, ‘Problem perspectives of bonded labour in India _ an empirical study in the state of Himachal Pradesh’,
available at, http://hdl.handle.net/10603/127693
 constituted an important segment of the society in the form of labour supply. Caste played an
important role in perpetuation of slavery in the ancient times.
The system was not just restricted to ancient times but also carried on to the medieval period. The
system reached a new dimension after the turks invaded in India. This period saw the emergence of
domestic slavery in India.
India’s time as a colony of Britishers has also seen the inhuman system of bonded labour. In fact a
little distinction which existed between slavery and bondage also seemed to fade away and it was
even more difficult to separate the term, these two terms merged into each other.

3. LAWS-
Law’s instrumental effects on the society are mediated by the actors who mobilize law, the institution
through which law is implemented, and the already existing social order that law seeks to change.
The constitution of India has guaranteed the fundamental rights for the people. Every person
(citizens, in some of the articles) has the right to claim their fundamental rights if breached so,
without any procedure established by law.
6
Article -21 is a protective anchor, which deals with protection of life
and personal liberty, specifies that ''No person shall be deprived of his life
or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law'’. The system of bonded labour
is in violation with the stated fundamental article.
Article 23 of the Indian constitution states that, “Traffic in human beings and beggar and other
similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an
offence punishable in accordance with law”
“Nothing in this Article shall prevent the state from imposing compulsory service for public purposes
and imposing such service the state shall not make any discrimination on grounds only of religion,
race, caste or class or any of them”.
The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 : Minimum wages have been defined as “the minimum amount of
remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners for the work performed during a
given period, which cannot be reduced by collective agreement or an individual contract”.
Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 : The act was piloted by the then labour minister of
India, Shri Raghunath Reddy .This Act has been enacted with a view to ensure basic human dignity
to liberate the bonded labourers from any obligation to render bonded labour,193 forced labour194
and any failure in implementing the provisions of this legislation would be clearest violation of
Article-21 apart from Article-23 of the Indian constitution.

6
Sharma, Bhagat Ram, ‘Problem perspectives of bonded labour in India _ an empirical study in the state of Himachal Pradesh’,
available at, http://hdl.handle.net/10603/127693
 4. 7CASES AND JUDGEMENTS-
a). 8Sanjit Roy v. State of Rajasthan – In this case, the SC restricted the state from extracting labour
by paying less than the minimum wages in the name of public utility services, considering such
amounts to forced labour and is violative of article 23 of the constitution. Therefore, labour must be
compensated with wages even when they are under law compelled to render service in the larger
public interest.
b). 9Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India and others – In this case, the main contention was
whether the employment of the children below the age of 14 years was a violation of Article 24 or
not and whether the state’s omission in providing welfare facilities and opportunities deprives them
of the constitutional mandates contained in Articles 45, 39(e) and (f), 21, 14 etc. The Supreme Court
held that the exploitation of the child must be progressively banned, other simultaneous alternatives
to the child should be evolved including providing education, nutrient food, health care, shelter and
other means of livelihood with self-respect and dignity of person. Therefore the Court ordered the
Government of India to convene a meeting of the concerned Ministers of the respective State
Governments and their Principal Secretaries holding concerned Departments, to evolve the principles
and policies for progressive elimination of employment of the children below the age of 14 years in
all employments governed by the respective enactments mentioned in M.C. Mehta's case - To
provide (1) compulsory education to all children either by the industries itself or in co-ordination
with it by the State Government with such timings as is convenient to impart compulsory education,
facilities for secondary, vocational profession and higher education; (2) apart from education,
periodical health check-up; (3) nutrient food etc.; (4) entrust the responsibilities for implementation
of the principles. Periodical reported of the progress made in that behalf be submitted to the Registry
of this Court.

5. CONCLUSION-

7
Gunjan Chauhan, “Bonded Labour”, available at, https://www.manupatrafast.com/articles/PopOpenArticle.aspx?
ID=66e6db94-96c5-4b75-8e80-fccc2c24d34b&txtsearch=Subject:%20Labour%20And%20Industrial
8
1983 AIR 328, 1983 SCR (2) 271
9
AIR 1997 S.C. 2218
 The relationship between law and social change have existed for a long time now. Law has been an
instrument to bring social change as well as followed the social change and altered itself accordingly
and to some extent fulfilled the needs of the society in the changing world.
The role of law in bringing the social change is explained in the project by taking the example of
Bonded labour system in India and how the laws were made to curb this inhuman practice. Although
even after fighting this system for a long time, the practice still prevails in the nation.
The bonded labour system showed us that how social change is brought by forming laws as well as
how social changes compel the law making bodies and the balancer of law in the form of courts to
form new laws or alter the existing laws to meet the demand of the present scenario.

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY-
a) Research papers from Shodhganga
b) Journals from jstor
c) Internet sources