Supreme Court limits 1978 industry definition

On August 20, 2026, the India — Supreme Court of India, by a 6:3 majority, ruled that the expansive definition of 'industry' established in the 1978 India — Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board case will not guide the interpretation of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020. The nine-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, upheld the validity of the reference to reconsider the 1978 judgment but clarified that the 'triple test' from that case remains applicable only to pending disputes under the now-repealed Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The majority held that cases under the 2020 Code must be decided independently based on their facts. Justices Vas Narasimhan and Joymalya Bagchi agreed with the majority, while Justices B. V. Nagarathna, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan dissented on the maintainability of the reference. The ruling draws a clear line between old and new labour law, affecting the scope of labour protections for millions of workers.