Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 · Chapter VI: Penalties and Procedure
Section 26: Cognizance of offences
The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 was repealed and replaced by the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 from 21 November 2025.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.
No court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act except on a complaint made by, or with the previous sanction in writing of, the inspector and no court inferior to that of a Presidency Magistrate or a magistrate of the first class shall try any offence punishable under this Act.
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 26
No Supreme Court judgment in our database cites this section yet.