Supreme Court Orders a Special Cell to Enforce the 2016 Child Labour Law
The Supreme Court directed the Centre, through the Ministry of Women and Child Development, to set up a special cell to watch over how the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 is being carried out.
The Ministry must also send directions to the enforcing agencies in every state through the Chief Secretaries (the top civil servants of the states).
The order came from a Bench of Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria, in a public interest petition filed in 2009 by an NGO, Health For Millions.
The petition had challenged an old exception in Section 3 of the 1986 Act that allowed children to roll beedis (hand-rolled cigarettes) in workshops as "family labour". It also asked for schooling and two mid-day meals for such child workers.
The Centre told the Court that the 2016 amendment had largely solved the problem, because it banned the work of children below 14 in all occupations. The Court did not examine each prayer again, but stressed that the law must be followed completely and strictly.
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 is India's main law against child labour. Since its 2016 amendment, it is called the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. It says that no child below 14 years can be made to work in any job or process, and that adolescents aged 14 to 18 cannot work in hazardous (dangerous) jobs. It sets jail terms and fines for employers who break these rules.
The 2009 petition challenged the old 1986 exception that let children roll beedis as family labour. The 2016 amendment replaced that rule with a near-complete ban, so the Court did not need to strike it down. Instead, it ordered a special cell to make sure the stronger 2016 law is actually enforced on the ground.
Article 24: Prohibition of Employment of Children in Factories
Article 24 of the Indian Constitution says that no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. It is a Fundamental Right in Part III of the Constitution. Together with Article 23, it forms the Right against Exploitation. Its aim is simple: to protect young children from dangerous work that harms their health and takes away their childhood.
The 2016 child labour law is the main way Parliament has put Article 24 into action. By ordering a special cell to monitor that law, the Supreme Court is once again acting to make sure that the constitutional promise in Article 24 is followed in real workplaces, not just written in the books.
- Bench: Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria; order dated 4 November 2026
- Special cell to be set up by the Ministry of Women and Child Development; directions to states through Chief Secretaries
- Petition: filed in 2009 by the NGO Health For Millions, against the beedi-rolling "family labour" exception in Section 3 of the 1986 Act
- Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016: Act No. 35 of 2016, assent 29 July 2016, in force 1 September 2016
- Complete ban on employment of children below 14 in all occupations and processes; adolescents (14 to 18) banned from hazardous work
- Employer penalty: 6 months to 2 years and/or ₹20,000 to ₹50,000
- Rehabilitation Fund: government adds ₹15,000 per rescued child
- Article 24: no child below 14 in factories, mines or hazardous employment
- India ratified ILO Conventions 138 and 182 in June 2017