'Does Section 144 follow us around?': Maruti Suzuki workers detained, humiliated by police inside Gurgaon labour court

The recently formed Maruti Suzuki Asthayi Mazdur Sangh—a first of its kind organised labour front for contract & temporary hires—faced a major setback on Friday, 31st of January 2025, when the mass detention of its members within the District Court premises led to the cancellation of their highly anticipated tripartite meeting with the Maruti Suzuki management & labour department officials. The meeting had been scheduled by the labour court on the 10th of January, the same day thousands of current & erstwhile temporary Maruti workers from across different parts of the country gathered outside the DC office to demand the government's attention.The chain of eventsInitially, the workers had gathered outside the Deputy Commissioner's office starting around 9AM, but police officers roaming the premises asked them to vacate the area & gather elsewhere. With the police's permission, Khushi Ram, a terminated Maruti worker & respected leader of the Maruti Suzuki Struggle Committee (MSSC)—the parent union of the MSAMS—moved the workers to a small park inside the Mini Secretariat. The process cost the workers precious time ahead of their hearing, which had been scheduled for 10AM. But when I arrived at the scene at the hour, the court's call still hadn't come..Indiscriminate and excessive curfews under Section 144 of CrPC are unconstitutional.One means by which Maruti-Suzuki disguises the severe pay disparity between its permanent & temporary workers, the former earning about 1.3 Lakhs per month & the latter between 15 and 30 thousand as per workers, is through its litany of categories for contractual work: TW1, TW2, apprentice, trainee, CW, & so on. Inside the park, around 70–80 workers had been seated in files according to their categories on the grass as they marked their attendance: silent, peaceful & organised. More were still arriving, and settling into their files easily. At the gate, a former worker from Rajasthan named Roshan Lal Athariya, who'd served the company on & off in 3 separate cycles on a contractual basis over the course of six years, kept an eye out for straggling workers who'd got lost in the confusion due to the change of location; or those who were afraid to enter the gate for fear of capture."They're all coming from different places. The police buses dropped them all off faraway," Roshan told me. Workers had been scattered all across the city due to another round of mass detentions that had already taken place the previous day. The ruthless police crackdown since Tuesday evening on the workers, many of whom had travelled over from other states, had left the young men isolated, scared, & roofless. Workers had been detained in police buses & released in faraway locations repeatedly since Wednesday. As a result, many of them were anxious about walking into the proverbial lion's den that is the court premises, crawling with cops. Those who'd managed to remain in the city but couldn't bring themselves to face the police began gathering at Kamala Nehru Park, around 800 metres away from the Secretariat..The judiciary is completely helpless. They did this in broad daylight, inside court. The judges were there, the DC was there, and all any of them could do was watch the show.."I try to tell them, this is court, of course there's going to be police here! But they're all scared," Roshan said as he reassured two young men that they were perfectly safe. "The past few days have scared everyone. I've been trying to explain to them: this is court," he repeated. "We have a date. We are supposed to be here. But they can't help it."In the end, it turns out they had good reason. At 10:20AM, a large team of police officers in protective gear, armed with lathis began filing into the park, with four armed officers blocking the entrance gate, & directing civilians & media persons away from the scene. "You can't use this gate, ma'am," said one of the officers as I tried to walk past them. They directed me to toward alternate entrances, & snapped at the crowds that had gathered outside the secretariat wall to watch the commotion inside. Amidst the police officers were formally dressed civilians holding video cameras, filming the workers' faces row by row. A worker outside the secretariat who had just arrived identified them as members of the Maruti management. "They're going to use the videos to identify the workers who are currently employed," he said. "There will be consequences.".How does Section 144 keep following us around? At IMT, at Devi Lal Park, at the DC office—will it be at our homes next?.A few minutes later, workers inside were informed that section 144 (section 163 BNSS) had been implemented on the court grounds: a section of the obsolete CrPC that grants a state the power to issue orders in 'urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger' through a written order delivered via notice or proclamation stating the facts of the case. This is the same section that had been spontaneously invoked by the police every day for the past three days against the workers in Gurgaon, at different locations, without ever furbishing a written order. This is a violation of sections 144 & 134 of the CrPC, & illegal procedure.The cruel and casual nature of detention: Section 144 as a tool for public humiliationAs the workers were ejected from the Mini Secretariat, Khushi Ram was quietly apprehended by four officers, who led him away from the rest. He had been detained, his contact devices were confiscated, & he wasn't released until several hours after the meeting was forcibly postponed. It is worth reiterating that this took place on court grounds, where the young men had gathered for a scheduled hearing. "The judiciary is completely helpless," said Khushi Ram in a public address the next day. "They did this in broad daylight, inside court. The judges were there, the DC was there, & all any of them could do was watch the show."Outside, the workers were left helpless & humiliated. Katar Singh, another terminated worker from the MSSC & a senior leader, broke down in front of the young workers & police officers, after the police told them they wouldn't be allowed to chant slogans either, & 'section 144' meant they would have to disperse..They have made it impossible for us to gather in one place. We have to meet first—the rest comes later. Where are we supposed to do that now?."How does this section 144 keep following us around!?" yelled Katar Singh. "It seems wherever we go, section 144 comes chasing after us. Does it only apply to workers?" he asked. Visibly, the section was only applicable to the workers of Maruti Suzuki, or media persons taking interest, as the movement of the remaining public remained unrestricted. In videos taken during the afternoon rounds of detentions at Manesar the previous day, police officers could be heard suggesting each other to "check [his] WhatsApp" in order to decide whether an individual was in violation of the imposed section.Section 144 allows for applicability over selected persons, organisations & localities, but the procedure for the first two is vastly different from the latter. While direct notices have to be submitted to the concerned party in the case of selective applicability—such that the order may be challenged—public proclamations are required to implement orders under the section to entire localities. Speaking to Inspector Virender at Manesar on the 30th of January, I was told (under threat of detention) that section 144 had been implemented in the region, not against the workers, leading to the half-hearted closure of tea stalls & other local shops as well. This means that the detentions at Rajiv Chowk would have to fall under a new order entirely—which was also never produced."Section 144 at IMT! Section 144 at Devi Lal Park! Section 144 at the DC office! Is there going to be section 144 at our homes next? We can't gather, we can't eat, we can't sleep? Can we take a piss in peace?" asked Singh, growing distraught.The arbitrary & extrajudicial invocation of section 144 is far from new; the law has long been subject to abuse by authorities & human rights controversies. The Supreme Court flagged the phenomenon recently, saying, "Whenever there's a protest, a S.144 CrPC order is issued." Ironically, the order by Justices Abhay S. Oka & Ujjal Bhuyan was made on the 27th of January, just two days before the Haryana police 'declared' S.144 against the workers' protest at IMT Manesar..They are going to use the videos to identify the workers who are currently employed. There will be consequences..Rights for Me but Not for Thee: The BJP's HypocrisyIt should be noted that protest in question at the Supreme Court was organised by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party itself in Jharkhand, where they aren't in power—unlike Haryana. Party members alongside an alleged crowd of over '5000 people' protested against the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha government back in 2023, & involved violation of several publically proclaimed orders of Section 144 based on accusations of crowd violence resulting in the injury of at least six police personnel & 'several journalists'. Despite the gravity of the situation, the Jharkhand High Court quashed the cases against 28 BJP officials, & the apex court backed the judgement along with its emphasis on the rights to protest, assemble, & move freely.In contrast, the declaration of Section 144 against the workers of Maruti Suzuki by the police in BJP-ruled Haryana seems to require little more than spoken word, & be based on little more than hearsay. In a notice submitted to the workers on the 29th of January, a mere day ahead of their rally at Manesar & two days ahead of their tripartite meeting, the Manesar-Gurgaon police station stated that their rally, of which they had learnt through certain "secret sources", could not be allowed due to lack of 'permission from senior officials.' The senior officials in question here, were not those of any law enforcement agency, but those of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. itself, which still employs a considerable number of the temporary workers within the MSAMS.The company had filed for an official stay order against the rally at the Gurgaon Civil Court, which seems to be what was covertly referenced by the police in their notice. But when the civil court's judgement came, much like the Jharkhand High Court did with the BJP's protest, it sided with the protesters. The court granted permission for the protest march, provided that it keep 500m away from the company's plants, & the workers were overjoyed. A few hours later, the police implemented S.144 in the area, detained all workers in sight, & cleaned up the camp, over 2km away from the nearest plant..May Day: The eight hour day, the labour Codes and unfree labour.Growing further agitated outside the Mini Secretariat, Katar Singh challenged the police in a hoarse voice: "Shoot us, why don't you?" The younger workers around him attempted to calm him down. Some of the police officers who had surrounded the workers after Singh's outburst looked uncomfortable, with helmets on & lathis in their hands. Others seemed to find the affair funny, laughing & smiling. The workers decided to head to Kamala Nehru park, leading Katar Singh away from the police. As they started to leave, Singh cursed an officer in front of him."Mark my words, your children will be jobless," he said. The officer smiled & asked the other policemen to huddle in with him. One of them said, "What's the number of the bus? Of the driver?" Within minutes, the officers cornered as many workers as they could, & began filling them into a familiar police bus that arrived from the other end of the road. Soon, another police bus arrived at the Kamala Nehru Park & the workers there were also detained & dispersed. By 11AM, the entire MSMAS had been scattered again.When the call for the hearing came a half hour later, only three members of the organisation named for the meeting were left out of detention: Roshan & Deepak, two temporary workers of the MSAMS, & only one member of the senior leadership who had legal experience: Surendra Kaushik. When the three of them realised they were the only ones left, Kaushik was forced to request a future date for the meeting, which is now scheduled to take place on the 17th of February..The Contrasting Accounts of On-Field Reporters & Remote CorrespondentsWhen the workers were being detained outside the Mini Secretariat, more than half of them managed to get away; the police made little effort to stop them, laughing as one of the younger men wrangled himself free & sprinted away from an officer in fear. Inspector Abhilash Joshi saw me recording the sordid affair with camera in hand, & demanded that all journalists leave the scene. "Please leave," he ordered. "Immediately." Just the day before, reporters from The Wire had been detained in Manesar for trying to speak with workers amidst the third round of detentions. I, along with another female journalist, witnessed the men being led into a 112 police car, & were surrounded & intimidated by a horde of male officers for recording the arrest. Inspector Virender demanded that his men call a 'lady SHO' to detain us as we were accused, loudly, by no less than seven officers of 'gathering people together', even though we were merely observing from a distance. The lady SHO, whose name I can't recall, grabbed me by the elbow & whispered, "Call yourself a ride, or we will. Get out of here. Or there won't be any journalism left for you." We were lucky enough to be let go with that warning. .Over the past four days, the police have been consistently hostile toward on-field reporters, activists, & workers who attempt to record the goings-on, threatening detention & refusing to answer questions, with the stance that they "are not authorised to speak to the press." In interesting contrast, the Deputy Commissioner of the Manesar police, Deepak Kumar, himself spoke to The Hindu over the phone, explaining the reasons for the actions of his on-field team—the same actions they are not authorised to explain themselves."[Kumar said] that the demonstration by the temporary workers would not be allowed as it could disturb peace in the area. He said the dismissed Maruti workers holding protest were instigating people and luring them with a promise to get a job in the Maruti company (sic)," reported the Hindu at 12:58PM on the 30th of January—ironically the exact minute when the reporters from The Wire were detained..A Month of Struggle Set Back by Four Days of Repression: The Hidden Cost of Anti-Assembly Laws for People's MovementsOn the 10th of January 2025, after thousands of temporary Maruti-Suzuki workers gathered outside the Labour Court at Rajiv Chowk, Gurgaon, the Assistant Commissioner of Labour promised the workers a tripartite meeting on the 31st of January, where the MSAMS would be able to discuss their issues & start a dialogue with both the management & the labour department toward resolving them. But the extrajudicial interference of the police has set their progress back another month, & raised larger concerns about the judiciary's helplessness against state repression.The single greatest obstacle the workers now face is mobilisation. With the destruction of their campsite at IMT, they no longer have a place to stay, break bread or host those journeying from other states; to build a community. When news of the camp's destruction spread amongst the workers on their online communication channels on the 29th, many were already on their way from neighbouring states: Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, & even Madhya Pradesh. I was told about a young father travelling with his two children, anxiously messaging on the online groups to confirm that his kids would have a place to stay at night.After the detentions on the 29th, workers were deposited off at Farrukhnagar, nearly 75km away from the dharna site at Manesar Tehsil well into the night. By the time they made their way back, the camp had been cleared up, & workers sought to adjust themselves into local dharamshalas or crashed with friends in the city. When they returned to the dharna site the next morning for their mass rally, they were picked up yet again, & deposited at the Gurgaon bus stand at 9:30PM."They've made it impossible for us to gather in one place. We have to meet first, the rest comes later. Where are we supposed to do that now?" asked Roshan. Despite the setbacks, though, the workers' resolve has not wavered. The young union of temporary workers, MSAMS, hopes to strengthen its organisational structure further till the rescheduled date of hearing arrives on the 17th of February 2025. The older union of terminated workers from 2012, Maruti Suzuki Struggle Committee, has decided to move the DC Office to resume its indefinite strike & reaccess its protest site at IMT Manesar on the 24th of February.

'Does Section 144 follow us around?': Maruti Suzuki workers detained, humiliated by police inside Gurgaon labour court

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