 bill no 192 of  2018 the industrial disputes (amendment) bill, 2018 by shri rabindra kumar jena, mp a billfurther to amend the industrial disputes act, 1947be  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—1  (1) this act may be called the industrial disputes (amendment) act, 2018short title and commencement(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint"(c) he is qualified for appointment as a district judge"amendment of section 7a3 in section 7a of the principle act, in sub-section (3), after clause (aa), the following clause and proviso thereto shall be inserted, namely—"(aaa) he is qualified for appointment as a judge of a high court:5provided that the appointment to a tribunal of any person not qualified under clause (a)or (aa) shall be made in consultation with the high court of the state in which the tribunal has or is intended to have its usual place of sitting"amendment of section 7b4 in section 7b of the principle act, for sub-sections (2),  (3) and (4), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:—"(2) a national tribunal shall consist of one person only from each state that are affected by the dispute to be appointed by the central government10(3) a person shall not be qualified for appointment as the presiding officer of a national tribunal, unless he is, or has been, or  is qualified for appointment as, a judge of a high court:15provided that the appointment to a national tribunal of any person who is not or has not been a judge of a high court shall be made in consultation with the high courts of the states that are affected by the dispute(4) the central government may, if it is so thinks fit, appoint two persons from each state that are affected by the dispute, as assessors to advise the national tribunal in the proceeding before it" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe original section 7 of the industrial disputes act, 1947 while laying down qualifications for appointment as a member of the industrial tribunal included, inter alia, persons "qualified for appointment as a judge of a high court" article 217 (1) of the constitution provides inter alia that a person who has for at least ten years been an advocate of a high court shall eligible for appointment as a judge of a high court thus, advocates with ten years' practice at the bar were eligible for appointment as a member of the industrial tribunal or the labour appellate tribunal under the then provisions it is not discernible as to why the present provisions of sections 7, 7a and 7b of the industrial disputes act, 1947 omitted the above category of persons from the qualifications for appointment of presiding officers of labour courts, industrial tribunals and national industrial tribunals"industrial and labour disputes" is a subject covered under the concurrent list in entry 22 of the seventh schedule to the constitution some state legislatures have amended the provisions of sections 7 and 7a of the industrial disputes act, 1947 in their application to the respective states concerned for example, the states of goa, gujarat and maharashtra have  amended section 7 expressly making advocates with seven years' practice at the bar eligible for appointment as a presiding officer of a labour court, amongst othersthe bill seeks to amend the above-mentioned sections to achieve the stated objectives hence this billnew delhi;rabindra kumar jenanovember 28, 2018 memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 7 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character annexure extract from the industrial disputes act, 1947labour courts7 (1) the appropriate government may, by notification in the official gazette, constitute one or more labour courts for the adjudication of industrial disputes relating to any matter specified in the second schedule and for performing such other functions as may be assigned to them under this act(2) a labour court shall consist of one person only to be appointment by the appropriate government(3) a person shall not be qualified for appointment as a presiding officer of a labour court, unless—(a) he is, or has been, a judge of a high court; or (b) he has, for a period of not less than three years, been a district judge or an additional district judge; ortribunals7a (1) the appropriate government may, by notification in the official gazette, constitute one or more industrial tribunals for the adjudication of industrial disputes relating to any matter, whether specified in the second schedule or the third schedule and for performing such other functions as may be assigned to them under this act(2)    (3) a person shall not be qualifed for appointment as the presiding officer of a tribunal, unless—(a) he is, or has been, a judge of a high court; or (aa) he has, for a period of not less than three years, been a district judge or an additional district judge;national tribunals7b (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, constitute one or more national industrial tribunals for the adjudication of industrial disputes which, in the opinion of the central government, involve questions of national importance or are of such a nature that industrial establishments situated in more than one state are likely to be interested in, or affected by, such disputes(2) a national tribunal shall consist of one person only to be appointed by the central government(3) a person shall not be qualified for appointment as the presiding officer of a national tribunal, unless he is, or has been, a judge of a high court(4) the central government may, if it so thinks fit, appoint two persons as assessors to advise the national tribunal in the proceeding before it lok sabha———— a billfurther to amend the industrial disputes act, 1947————(shri rabindra kumar jena, mp)mgipmrnd—2128ls(s3)—14-12-2018