Trade unions have demonstrated against the four new labor laws implemented in the year 2025.
Farmer organizations and 10 big central trade unions of the country have announced Bharat Bandh on Thursday. Trade unions are opposing four new labor laws to be implemented in the year 2025. Bank employees are also supporting the Bharat Bandh strike. The organizations have put forward many demands including working 5 days a week.
Bharat Bandh strike is nothing new in the country. Sometimes trade unions and sometimes other organizations declare a strike. Now the question is whether any organization can declare a strike in the country, if violence happens then who will be responsible for it? Know what the law says.
Can anyone declare Bharat Bandh?
Can anyone announce Bharat Bandh? On this, Supreme Court advocate Ashish Pandey says, in a democratic country everyone has the right to express their views. Same is the case with India also. The rights found in the Indian Constitution seal this. Article (19) (a) of the Constitution says that any Indian has the right to freedom of expression.
Article (19) (b) says that Indians can assemble anywhere peacefully without any weapons. Bharat Bandh can be announced in the country. No action is taken against the Bharat Bandh observed peacefully in the country.
When does the action take place?
If Bharat Bandh had been observed peacefully then no action would have been taken. Advocate Ashish Pandey says, action is taken when Bharat Bandh or protest starts turning violent. If the protesters become aggressive and damage someone’s property, damage government property, intimidate or threaten people who do not participate in the strike, or violate the rights of common citizens, then action can be taken against them. Not only this, if they put pressure on shopkeepers to close their shops and turn violent, then action can be taken.
What action can be taken against violent protests?
Peaceful demonstration is allowed in the Indian Constitution, weapons cannot be included in it. Action is taken in violent cases. However, it also depends on the type of violence and what damage has been done.
If protesters damage someone’s property, then in such cases action can be taken under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act 1984. Protestors who damage someone’s property can be punished with imprisonment of up to 5 years along with a fine.
Seeing the increasing cases of violence in protests, the Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognizance to improve this law and formed a committee for it in the year 2007. The first was Justice Thomas Committee and the second was Nariman Committee. However, this initiative did not prove to be very effective. As the number of riots and demonstrations increased, the Supreme Court talked about forming a tribunal, but this initiative also did not reach its goal.
However, the Uttar Pradesh government made a law regarding this. This law was made when the scope of protests against CAA had increased in the state. The name of the law is Uttar Pradesh Compensation for Damage to Public and Private Property Act 2020. According to this law, if a protestor causes damage to any property, the same will be compensated by the same rioters. Protestors have the right to demonstrate peacefully, but not to violence and vandalism.
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