The Karnataka High Court has explained that Tribunals, Labour Courts and other statutory authorities under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, will continue to have jurisdiction till Tribunals are formed under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020.

The petition was filed assailing the order issued by the Secretary, Labour Department, whereby the dispute between the petitioner and the respondent Employees Union was referred to adjudication to the Industrial Tribunal, Bengaluru.

The Single Bench of Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde held, “This being the present position post amendment dated 16.02.2026, there is no difficulty in holding that the Tribunals, the Labour Courts and other statutory authorities under the Act, 1947 will continue to have jurisdiction till the Tribunals are formed under the Code, 2020.”

Senior Counsel S N Murthy represented the Petitioner, while Advocate Maitreyi Krishnan represented the Respondent.

Arguments

It was the petitioner’s case that the reference was invalid since the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (Code, 2020) is notified with effect from November 21, 2025 and in terms of the said Code, 2020, the Government has no jurisdiction to refer the dispute under the Act, 1947. It was the contention that the notification dated December 8, 2025, does not remove the difficulties and seeks to go beyond the powers conferred under Section 103 of the Code. On these grounds, it was urged that the notification passed under Section 103 of the Code was aleso required to be quashed.

It was the case of the respondent that Section 104 of the Code, 2020 is amended on February 16, 2026, and the powers of the Tribunals and other statutory authorities under the Code, 2020, are restored till the Tribunals become functional under the Code.

Reasoning

The Bench noted that the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, was notified with effect from November 21, 2025. The Bench stated that the Code, 2020, will come into operation from the date of notification under sub-section (3) of Section 1. The provision also indicates that the Central Government is competent to appoint different dates for the application of different provisions of the Code. “However, the notification issued on 08.11.2025 does not make any reservations in respect of application of any of the provisions. Thus, all the provisions of the Code, 2020 are brought into effect from 21.11.2025”, it added.

Referring to section 51, the Bench explained that all the Labour Courts and Tribunals constituted under the Act, 1947, shall not have any jurisdiction, and the cases are to be transferred to the Labour Tribunals and the National Tribunals constituted under the Code, 2020.

The Bench further held that Section 103 of the Code, 2020, does not enable the Government to take any action which is inconsistent with the provisions of the Code, 2020. “If under the said provision the jurisdiction of the Courts and Tribunals under the Act, 1947 is restored, then, it violates Section 51 of the Code, 2020 as such, such an exercise is impermissible. Thus, the contention that jurisdiction of the Courts and Tribunals under the Act, 1947 are restored or will continue till the establishment of the Tribunals under the Code, 2020 in view of notification under Section 103 of the Code, 2020 cannot be accepted”, it stated.

The Bench noticed that in terms of the amendment dated February 16, 2026, vide Act No.1/2026, The Trade Unions Act, 1926, Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, and Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, stood repealed with effect from the notification issued under sub-section (3) of Section 1 of Code, 2020. “Since, notification under sub-section (3) of Section 1 of the Code, 2020 is issued on 21.11.2025, the Act, 1947, stood repealed with effect from 21.11.2025. However, Section 104(1A) of the Code, 2020 provides that notwithstanding the repeal of the Acts mentioned in the said provision, the Tribunals and statutory authorities functioning under the Acts so repealed will continue till the formation of Tribunals and other authorities under the Code, 2020”, the order read.

Holding that the Tribunals, Labour Courts and other statutory authorities under the Act, 1947, will continue to have jurisdiction till the Tribunals are formed under the Code, 2020, the High Court dismissed the Petition.

Cause Title: Glastronix LLP v. The President/General Secretary (Neutral Citation: 2026:KHC:7984)

Appearance

Petitioner: Senior Counsel S N Murthy, Advocate Somashekar

Respondent: Advocate Maitreyi Krishnan

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Karnataka High CourtJustice Anant Ramanath Hegde

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.