Apex Court's Order* - Blessing In Disguise!

The Controversial Order and Advisory:

To contain Covid-19 virus pandemic, nationwide lockdown was ordered. Absence of any economic activity during lockdown rendered migrant workers redundant. Consequently, a large exodus of migrant workers took place from various work places to reach their hometowns. Social distancing norms were ignored thereby upping risk of spread of virus.

To manage lockdown effectively and reduce economic hardship of migrant workers, the Ministry of Home Affairs ("MHA"), Government of India passed an order¹ ("Order"). In the Order, MHA directed State Governments and/or Union Territories to implement additional measures. One such measure was to direct all employers owning factories, shops, commercial establishments to pay wages to their workers at their work place on due date without any deduction for the period their establishments were closed due to lockdown. State Governments/Union Territories acted on the Order and passed consequential