Madras High Court: The petitioner, a General Workers Union (the ‘Union’) filed two writ petitions seeking to quash Greater Chennai Corpn.’s (‘GCC’) Resolution by which conservancy operations in two zones were outsourced to a private concessionaire. A Single Judge Bench of K. Surender, J., held that privatising the sanitary work of the Zones in GCC was a policy decision taken in the interest of improvement of sanitary conditions and waste management. The Court emphasised that since the Government had decided to privatise Solid Waste Management and sanitary work to keep the city clean, and the Resolution did not violate any law or was unconstitutional, the question of quashing it did not arise.
Background:
The Union organised the unorganised workers across Tamil Nadu and the GCC was divided into 15 zones, where Sanitary Workers were engaged daily for conservancy work. The Self Help Group (‘SHG’) workers were employed on daily wages by GCC. Zones 9 to 15 had outsourced conservancy work to private concessionaires like GCC, who absorbed most SHG workers already working with GCC.
The Union focused on over 2000 sanitary workers in Zones 5 and 6. The GCC entered into an agreement with Delhi MSW Solutions Ltd. (the ‘Company’) to outsource conservancy operations in these zones. In other outsourced zones, sanitary workers were recruited by private concessionaires. In Zones 5 and 6, the Company recruited 1770 new workers, and 341 existing workers joined. The Union claimed the agreement would result in denial of minimum wages of Rs 793 per day, offering less to those joining the Company.
According to the Union, the GCC outsourcing sanitary work in two zones to the Company amounted to retrenchment, which was contrary to Section 25-N of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (‘ID Act’), as no notice was given to the workmen. The Union requested the GCC to refer the grievance to the Industrial Tribunal and to make the workers permanent. The reference had to be made for passing an order under Section 10-B of the ID Act. Under Section 10-B of the ID Act, the Industrial Tribunal had power to issue orders on service conditions during disputes. If the Government believed a dispute existed, it could refer it under Section 10-B(1) of the ID Act.
Contrarily, it was submitted that the interests of the sanitary workers of the Union were safeguarded. The privatisation of work in Zones 5 and 6 was a decision and policy of the Government. Further, the privatisation of sanitary work in all fifteen zones of Tamil Nadu was also a policy decision of the Government. Accordingly, the Government entered into an agreement for Zones 5 and 6, and with other private concessionaires for the remaining zones.
Analysis and Decision:
The Court relied on Balco Employees Union v. Union of India, (2002) 2 SCC 333, wherein it was held that in a democracy, the elected Government had the prerogative to follow its own policy, unless there was any illegality in its execution or the policy was contrary to law or made with mala fide intent. It was further held that a policy change made by the Government could not be interfered with by the Courts. Economic policies were not subject to judicial review unless they violated any statutory provision or the Constitution.
The Court opined that privatising the sanitary work of the Zones in the GCC was a policy decision taken in the interest of improvement of sanitary conditions and waste management. The Court emphasised that since the Government had decided to privatise Solid Waste Management and sanitary work to keep the city clean, and the Resolution did not violate any law or was unconstitutional, the question of quashing it did not arise.
The Court emphasised that the grievance of the sanitary workers was pending adjudication based on a reference made by the Government before the Industrial Tribunal. Since a policy decision had been taken by the Government, the Court found that such a decision was not amenable to the jurisdiction of the Industrial Tribunal under Section 33(1)(a) of the ID Act. The Court further observed that the GCC ought to have taken steps, while entering into the agreement with the Company, to ensure that the rights of the sanitary workers were not infringed in any manner whatsoever.
The Court referred to People’s Union for Domestic Rights v. Union of India, (1982) 3 SCC 235, where it was observed that the State had a supervening responsibility to ensure that benefits under labour laws, which touched upon fundamental rights, were not infringed by private contractors. It was further held that the State had a constitutional obligation to take necessary steps to prevent such violations and to ensure the observance of fundamental rights and existing laws.
The Court remarked that in a democracy, the elected government was at liberty to take policy decisions in the interest of the public and administration. However, it had a bounden duty to ensure that such decisions were not violative of the Constitution or existing laws, and also to see that no section of the people was adversely affected by those decisions. The Court pointed out that the GCC ought to have ensured that the sanitary workers who worked for the Company were paid minimum wages and also their last paid wages by the GCC, if not more for the time being. The sanitary workers were paid Rs 793 per day, and any reduction would have adversely affected their daily budgeting and created problems for the workers and their families.
The Court directed the State/GCC to negotiate with the Company to ensure sanitary workers were paid their last drawn wages if they joined the Company. Consequently, the Court refused to quash the outsourcing resolution but clarified this would not affect workers’ rights or the Industrial Tribunal proceedings. The Court further noted that since the services of the sanitary workers were not terminated by the GCC and no such clause was in the agreement, engaging the Company did not amount to ‘Retrenchment’, more so as all workers were offered jobs.
The Court, thus, disposed of the petitions with no costs, and consequently, the connected Miscellaneous Petitions were closed.
[Uzhaippor Urimai Iyakkam v. Greater Chennai Corpn., Writ Petition No. 29045 of 2025, decided on 20-08-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioner: S. Kumaraswamy
For the Respondents: P.S. Raman, Advocate General, E.C. Ramesh, Standing Counsel Vijaynarayanan, Senior Advocate, R. Muthukrishnan