CERTAIN COMMENTS from a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India (‘CJI’) Surya Kant, made on January 29, 2026, has faced widespread condemnation by trade unions and activists. The bench dismissed a Public Interest Litigation filed by ten domestic workers’ unions seeking statutory recognition of minimum wages for domestic workers. The bench disposed of the writ petition holding that fixing minimum wages for domestic labour fell within the policy domain of the executive and legislatures.
However, during the dismissal, CJI Kant orally observed that trade unionism was responsible for "stopping industrial growth”. He also noted, from the pulpit, that trade unions resisted structural changes and reforms, and discouraged investment and industrial expansion. Notably, domestic worker unions in India have been vastly successful in securing social security for domestic workers, such as Employees’ State Insurance. A unified front of trade unions, domestic workers' rights organizations, and judicial accountability groups has now highlighted that with these statements, the Court has effectively closed off constitutional remedies for one of India’s most vulnerable labour groups.
