Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 · Chapter I: Preliminary
Section 2: Definitions
The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 was repealed and replaced by the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 from 21 November 2025. It still applies to matters and proceedings from before that date, as the repealing law provides.
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— [(a) “appropriate Government” means,—
(i) in relation to an establishment in respect of which the appropriate Government under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947), is the Central Government, the Central Government;
(ii) in relation to any other establishment, the Government of the State in which that other establishment is situate;]
(b) a workman shall be deemed to be employed as “contract labour” in or in connection with the work of an establishment when he is hired in or in connection with such work by or through a contractor, with or without the knowledge of the principal employer;
(c) “contractor”, in relation to an establishment, means a person who undertakes to produce a given result for the establishment, other than a mere supply of goods of articles of manufacture to such establishment, through contract labour or who supplies contract labour for any work of the establishment and includes a sub-contractor;
(d) “controlled industry” means any industry the control of which by the Union has been declared by any Central Act to be expedient in the public interest;
(e) “establishment” means—
(i) any office or department of the Government or a local authority, or
(ii) any place where any industry, trade, business, manufacture or occupation is carried on;
(f) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(g) “principal employer” means—
(i) in relation to any office or department of the Government or a local authority, the head of that office or department or such other officer as the Government or the local authority, as the case may be, may specify in this behalf,
(ii) in a factory, the owner or occupier of the factory and where a person has been named as the manager of the factory under the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), the person so named,
(iii) in a mine, the owner or agent of the mine and where a person has been named as the manager of the mine, the person so named,
(iv) in any other establishment, any person responsible for the supervision and control of the establishment.
Explanation.—For the purpose of sub-clause (iii) of this clause, the expressions “mine”, “owner” and “agent” shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in clause (j), clause (l) and clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Mines Act, 1952 (35 of 1952);
(h) “wages” shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (vi) of section 2 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (4 of 1936);
(i) “workman” means any person employed in or in connection with the work of any establishment to do any skilled, semi-skilled or un-skilled manual, supervisory, technical or clerical work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied, but does not include any such person— (A) who is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or (B) who, being employed in a superviory capacity draws wages exceeding five hundred rupees per mensem or exercises, either by the nature of the duties attached to the office or by reason of the powers vested in him, functions mainly of a managerial nature; or (C) who is an out-worker, that is to say, a person to whom any articles or materials are given out by or on behalf of the principal employer to be made up, cleaned, washed, altered, ornamented, finished, repaired, adapted or otherwise processed for sale for the purposes of the trade or business of the principal employer and the process is to be carried out either in the home of the out-worker or in some other premises, not being premises under the control and management of the principal employer.
(2) Any reference in this Act to a law which is not in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall, in relation to that State, be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, if any, in force in that State.
Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the text of the Act as it stood before its repeal. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 2
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The State of Goa & Anr. v. Namita Tripathi
The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) had issued process to the respondent pursuant to the complaint filed by the appellants alleging violation by the respondent of the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 and…
- Rashmi Chhabra & Anr v. State
- Veshvir Singh & Anr v. Ashok Khurana & Anr
- Maniben Maganbhai Bhariya v. District Development Officer Dahod & Ors.
- Nashik Workers Union v. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
- M/S. Delhi International Airport Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India & Ors.
- Tata Memorial Hospital Workers Union v. Tata Memorial Centre and Another
- International Airport Authority of India v. International Air Cargo Workers Union & Anr.
- Reserve Bank of India & Anr. v. State Rep. by M.R. Bhavsar, Bombay
- The Mysore Paper Mills Ltd. v. The Mysore Paper Mills Officers Association and Anr.
- Steel Authority of India Ltd. and Ors. Etc. Etc. v. National Union Water Front Workers and Ors, Etc. Etc.
- Hindustan Steelworks Construction Ltd. v. The Commissioner of Labour and Ors.
- Labourers Working on Salal Hydro-Project v. State of Jammu & Kashmir and Others