Taking A Look At Karnataka's Latest Notification

By way of a notification dated 2 January 2021 (Notification), the Labour Department, Government of Karnataka, has permitted all shops and commercial establishments employing 10 or more persons to remain open for all days of the week throughout the year for a period of 3 years from the date of publication of the Notification in the Official Gazette*. The move comes after the state government's imposition of night curfew in view of the spread of the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 and its subsequent withdrawal in the wake of widespread criticism.

It may be noted that the notification is not exactly a new development. Through its Official Gazette issued on 14 November 2019, the state government had come up with a similar notification (Previous Notification) allowing shops and commercial establishments employing 10 or more persons to operate on a 24x7 basis for a period of 3 years with effect from 14 November 2019, subject to compliance with certain conditions.