High Court Rules on Working Journalists’ Complaints Under Industrial Acts

In a significant judgment dated February 29, the Bombay High Court, through a division bench consisting of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Sandeep Marne, has ruled that complaints filed by working journalists under the Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act before an industrial court are not maintainable. This decision came as a resolution to petitions filed by two journalists contesting the industrial court’s 2019 rejection of their complaints, citing that working journalists do not qualify as ’employees’ or ‘workmen’ under the said Act.

The bench highlighted that the Working Journalists Act of 1955 already provides a distinct mechanism for resolving disputes through the Industrial Disputes Act, thereby underscoring the special status and protections afforded to working journalists in their employment. This unique classification, the court observed, entitles working journalists to special privileges and protections, distinguishing them from other categories of workmen or non-working journalists.

Concluding their judgment, the High Court emphasized the intended purpose of the Working Journalists Act to bestow a special status upon working journalists, ensuring their disputes are adjudicated as per the mechanisms outlined in the Industrial Disputes Act. This ruling reaffirms the specialized treatment of working journalists within the framework of industrial dispute resolutions, maintaining the distinction between their grievances and those of other employees or workmen.

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