Law and Social

Chapter 10 Justice
Do you recall the ‘Story of a shirt’ from your Class VII
book? We saw there that a chain of markets links the
producer of cotton to the buyer of the shirt in the
supermarket. Buying and selling was taking place at
every step in the chain.

Many of the people directly or indirectly involved in

the production of the shirt - the small farmer producing
cotton, the weavers of Erode or the workers in the
garment - exporting factory - faced exploitation or an
unfair situation in the market. Markets everywhere
tend to be exploitative of people – whether as workers,
consumers or producers.

To protect people from such exploitation, the

government makes certain laws. These laws try to
ensure that the unfair practices are kept at a minimum
in the markets.

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 Law and Social Justice
 Why do we need a law on
         minimum wages?
    Find out:
 a) What is the minimum
         wage for a construction
 worker in your state?
           b) Do you think the minimum
         wage for a construction
           worker is adequate, low or
           high?
        c) Who sets the minimum
    wages?

          
        
       

        
       










121 Chapter 10: Law and Social Justice

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             



Law Why is it necessary? Whose interests does the law protect?

Minimum Wages Act Many workers are denied fair This law is meant to protect the
specifies that wages wages by their employers. interests of all workers; particularly,
should not be below a Because they badly need work, farm labourers, construction workers,
specified minimum. workers have no bargaining factory workers, domestic workers, etc.
power and are paid low wages.
Law specifying that
there be adequate
safety measures in
workplaces. For example,
alarm system, emergency
exits, properly -
functioning machinery.
Law requiring that the Consumers might be put to
quality of goods meet risk by the poor quality of
certain prescribed products such as electrical
standards. For example, appliances, food, medicines.
electrical appliances
have to meet safety
standards.
Law requiring that the The interests of the poor who will
prices of essential otherwise be unable to afford these
goods are not high - goods.
For example, sugar,
kerosene, foodgrains.
Law requiring that
factories do not pollute
air or water.
Laws against child
labour in workplaces.
Law to form workers By organising themselves into
unions/associations unions, workers can use their
combined power to demand fair
wages and better working
conditions.

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        


         

        
         
         

         

   

       

       
         
        
       
         
         









           
         




         
            
  


      
         



123 Chapter 10: Law and Social Justice

2022-23
 Bhopal Gas TTragedy
ragedy
The world’s worst industrial tragedy took place in Bhopal 24 years ago. Union
Carbide (UC) an American company had a factory in the city in which it produced
pesticides. At midnight on 2 December 1984 methyl-isocyanite (MIC) -
a highly poisonous gas - started leaking from this UC plant....

Remembers Aziza Sultan, a survivor: “At

about 12.30 am I woke to the sound of my
baby coughing badly. In the half-light I saw
that the room was filled with a white cloud. I
heard people shouting ‘run, run’. Then I
started coughing, with each breath seeming
as if I was breathing in fire. My eyes were
burning.” The next morning

Within three days, more than

8,000 people were dead.
Hundreds of thousands were
maimed.

Mass cremations

Most of those exposed to the poison gas came from poor, working-class
families, of which nearly 50,000 people are today too sick to work. Among
those who survived, many developed severe respiratory disorders, eye
problems and other disorders. Children developed peculiar abnormalities,
like the girl in the photo. A child severely affected by the gas
2022-23
 The disaster was not an accident. UC had
deliberately ignored the essential safety
measures in order to cut costs. Much
before the Bhopal disaster, there had
been incidents of gas leak killing a worker
and injuring several.
Members of UC Employees Union protesting

Despite the overwhelming evidence pointing to

UC as responsible for the disaster, it refused to
accept responsibility.
In the ensuing legal battle, the government
represented the victims in a civil case against UC.
It filed a $3 billion compensation case in 1985,
but accepted a lowly $470 million in 1989.
Survivors appealed against the settlement but
the Supreme Court ruled that the settlement
amount would stand.
Gas victims with the Gas Relief Minister

UC stopped its operations, but left behind tons of

toxic chemicals. These have seeped into the
ground, contaminating water. Dow Chemical, the
company who now owns the plant, refuses to take
responsibility for clean up.

Bags of chemicals lie strewn around the UC plant

24 years later, people are still fighting for justice: for safe
drinking water, for health-care facilities and jobs for the
people poisoned by UC. They also demand that Anderson,
the UC chairman who faces criminal charges, be prosecuted.
The struggle for justice goes on…
2022-23
 What is a Worker’s Worth?
         

  

         
        

         
       

        


         

             
 
        


        

   

      



      

         
          
        
       

        






        
         

Social and Political Life 126

2022-23




     

Enforcement of Safety Laws

 Why do you think
            enforcement of safety laws is
           important in any factory?
         Can you point to a few other
 situations where laws (or
 rules) exist but people do
not follow them because of
 poor enforcement? (For
      example, over-speeding by
motorists, not wearing
        helmet/seat belt and use of
mobile phone while driving).
 What are the problems in
 enforcement? Can you
 suggest some ways in which
 enforcement can be
 improved?
        

     
        
         
   

            
       

       



 
 
   

 

127 Chapter 10: Law and Social Justice

2022-23
 New Laws to Protect the Environment
        
        
       

        

    

         

          

 

         

         



  
        
        
      

       

         
       
       
       

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)          
www.in.undp.org 

A ‘clean environment is a public 

facility.’ Can you explain this 
statement?            
Why do we need new laws? 
         
Why are companies and          
contractors able to violate
environmental laws? 



Social and Political Life 128

2022-23
 Environment as a Public Facility
In recent years, while the courts have come out with
strong orders on environmental issues, these have
sometimes affected people’s livelihoods adversely.
For instance, the courts directed industries in residential
areas in Delhi to close down or shift out of the city.
Several of these industries were polluting the
neighbourhood and discharge from these industries was
polluting the river Yamuna, because they had been set
up without following the rules. 

But, while the court’s action solved one problem, it      
created another. Because of the closure, many workers 
lost their jobs. Others were forced to go to far-away 
places where these factories had relocated. And the 

same problem now began to come up in these areas –        
for now these places became polluted. And the issue of 
the safety conditions of workers remained unaddressed. 

Recent research on environmental issues in India has 
highlighted the fact that the growing concern for the 
environment among the middle classes is often at the
expense of the poor. So, for example, slums need to be
cleaned as part of a city’s beautification drive, or as in
the case above, a polluting factory is moved to the
outskirts of the city. And while this awareness
of the need for a clean environment is increasing, there
is little concern for the safety of the
workers themselves.
The challenge is to look for solutions where everyone
can benefit from a clean environment. One way this can
be done is to gradually move to cleaner technologies and
processes in factories. The government has to encourage
and support factories to do this. It will need to fine
those who pollute. This will ensure that the workers 
livelihoods are protected and both workers and 
communities living around the factories enjoy a safe 
environment. 

     
   
Do you think everyone got justice in the case cited above?
Can you think of other ways in which the environment can be
protected? Discuss in class.

129 Chapter 10: Law and Social Justice

2022-23
       














Conclusion



         


         
 
         
       
         
        



         
        
        





         
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
www.in.undp.org
         
        



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 Exercises
1. Talk to two workers (For example, construction workers, farm workers, factory workers, workers
at any shop) to find out if they are receiving the minimum wages laid down by law.
2. What are the advantages to foreign companies in setting up production in India?
3. Do you think the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy got justice? Discuss.
4. What do we mean when we speak of law enforcement? Who is responsible for enforcement?
Why is enforcement so important?
5. How can laws ensure that markets work in a manner that is fair? Give two examples to support
your answer.
6. Imagine yourself to be a worker working in a chemical factory, which has received orders from
the government to move to a different site 100 kms away from the present location. Write about
how your life would change? Read out your responses in the classroom.
7. Write a paragraph on the various roles of the government that you have read about in
this unit.
8. What are the sources of environmental pollution in your area? Discuss with respect to
(a) air; (b) water and (c) soil. What are the steps being taken to reduce the pollution?
Can you suggest some other measures?
9. How was environment treated earlier? What has been the change in perception? Discuss.

10. What do you think the famous cartoonist R.K.

Laxman is trying to convey in this cartoon?
How does it relate to the 2016 law that you
read about on page 123?




131 Chapter 10: Law and Social Justice

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11. You have read about the Bhopal gas tragedy and the on-going struggle. Students from countries
across the world have come together to support this struggle for justice. From protest marches
to awareness campaigns, you can read about their activities on the website
www.studentsforbhopal.com. The website also has resources such as photos, posters,
documentaries, victims’ statements, etc.

Use this and other sources to make a wallpaper/exhibition on the Bhopal gas tragedy for your
classroom. Invite the whole school to see and talk about it.

GLOSSARY

Consumer: An individual who buys goods for personal use and not for resale.
Producer: A person or organisation that produces goods for sale in the market. At
times, the producer keeps a part of the produce for his own use, like a farmer.
Investment: Money spent to purchase new machinery or buildings or training so as
to be able to increase/ modernise production in the future.
Workers’ unions: An association of workers. Workers’ unions are common in
factories and offices, but might be also found among other types of workers, say
domestic workers’ unions. The leaders of the union bargain and negotiate with the
employer on behalf of its members. The issues include wages, work rules, rules
governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits and workplace safety.

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The Constitution as a Living Ideal
The Right to Life is a Fundamental Right that the Constitution guarantees to all the
citizens of this country. As you have read in this book, over the years this right, or Article
21, has been used by ordinary citizens to include issues to make this Right more
meaningful and substantial. So for example, you have read of how the case of the
injured farmer Hakim Sheikh established the right to health as part of the Right to Life.
Similarly, you read of how the case of the slum-dwellers being evicted from Mumbai
established the right to livelihood as part of the Right to Life. In this chapter, you have
read about how the court ruled in favour of a person’s Right to the “enjoyment of
pollution free water and air for full enjoyment of life” as part of the Right to Life. In
addition to these cases, the courts have also ruled to include the right to education and
the right to shelter within this expanded understanding of Article 21.
The above expanded understanding of the Right to Life was achieved through the efforts
of ordinary citizens to get justice from the courts when they believed that their
Fundamental Rights were being violated. As you read in several instances in this book,
these Fundamental Rights have also served time and again as the basis for the making
of new laws and establishing certain policies to protect all citizens. All of this is possible
because our Constitution contains certain constitutive rules that work towards protecting
the dignity and self-respect of all citizens of India and guard against all forms of possible
violations. What these should include is spelt out in the various provisions on
Fundamental Rights and the rule of law.
But as the above cases highlight, there is also an intrinsic flexibility to our Constitution
that allows for a continually expanding list of issues to be included within the idea of
dignity and justice that the Constitution guarantees. This flexibility allows for new
interpretations and, therefore, the Constitution can be considered to be a living document.
Thus, the right to health, the right to shelter etc, are issues that were not present in
written form in the Constitution that members of the Constituent Assembly had
presented in 1949. But they were present in spirit, i.e. the democratic ideals that the
Constitution established allowed for persons to use the political process to continually
ensure that these ideals became a reality in the lives of ordinary citizens.
As the chapters in this book discuss, much has been done in this process of making
Constitutional ideals into a reality. But as these chapters also point out, a lot still
remains to be done. Several struggles by people in different parts of the country serve
as a continual reminder that serious issues of equality, dignity and self-respect remain
to be realised in the lives of the majority. These struggles, as you read in your Class VII
book, are often not covered by the media. But this does not in any way diminish the
attention that they deserve.
The various chapters in this book have tried to make clear to you the democratic ideals
that the Constitution contains and the ways in which it affects people’s daily lives. We
have done this with the intent that this might provide you the tools with which you can
critically begin to understand and examine the world around you, and participate in it
as the Constitution prescribes.

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R EFERENCES
BOOKS
AUSTIN, GRANVILLE. 1966. The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
AUSTIN, GRANVILLE. 1999. Working a Democratic Constitution: The Indian Experience. New Delhi: Oxford.
LAWYER’S COLLECTIVE, 2007. Staying Alive: First Monitoring and Evaluation Report 2007 on the Protection
of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005. New Delhi: Lawyer’s Collective.
RAMASWAMY, GITA. 2005. India Stinking: Manual Scavengers in Andhra Pradesh and Their Work.
New Delhi: Navanaya Publishing.

ARTICLES
P. SAINATH, “Whose Sacrifice is it Anyway?” The Hindu. 6 September 1998.
HARI PHUYAL, “Nepal's New Constitution: 65 Years in the Making”, The Diplomat, 18 September 2015.
https://thediplomat.com (Accessed on 19 September 2017)

LEGAL CASES
Olga Tellis vs. Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985) 3 SCC 545.
Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samiti vs. State of West Bengal (1996)
State (Delhi Administration) vs. Laxman Kumar and other (1985) 4 SCC 476.
Subhash Kumar vs. State of Bihar (1991) 1 SCC 598.

WEBSITES
Bhopal Gas Tragedy, http://www.studentsforbhopal.org/WhatHappened.htm (Accessed on
12 January 2008)
C.K. Janu,( www.countercurrents.org (Accessed on 12 November 2007)
Democracy in Nepal, http://www.himalmag.com (Accessed on 15 December 2007)
Election Commission of India, https://eci.gov.in
Lok Sabha, http://loksabha.nic.in
Manual scavenging, http://in.one.un.org/page/breaking-free-rehabilitating-manual-scavengers/
(Accessed on 24 October 2017)
On Manual Scavenging, www.hrdc.net/sahrdc/hrfeatures/HRF 129.html (Accessed on
2 January 2008)
Rajya Sabha, https://rajyasabha.nic.in
Supreme Court of India, https://www.sci.gov.in
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), www.in.undp.org

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