For criminal matters, it does not appear that a quasi-judicial body as suggested
here would be the proper forum and normal criminal procedure should be applicable in
such cases. Furthermore, as criminal cases are almost universally prosecuted by the state,
the problems faced by the domestic workers should not be as insurmountable as it can be
in the case of civil disputes. By this, it is not being implied that the child domestic
workers would not face any problem in the criminal justice system rather only that as the
burden of paying court fees and other costs of litigation are not an issue in a criminal
case; the problem should be comparatively more manageable for them.
There may or may not be a convincing case for a distinct legalisation for the
protection of child domestic workers or domestic workers in general with a special set of
rules for their protection. Let us proceed to consider the pros and cons of the inclusion of
domestic workers within the existing Labour Act, 2006. It may be argued by the
proponents of such a step that by including domestic work within the purview of the Act
of 2006, the status of domestic workers would be lifted as they would automatically be
entitled to the protection of the legal provisions on wages, leave, safety and hygiene at
work etc.96 But it should be noted that granting substantive rights to domestic workers
similar to that granted to industrial workers need not necessarily require that they need to
be granted under the same legal instrument.
On the other hand, it should be noted that the labour inspectors who are entrusted
with the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of the Labour Act, 2006 are
limited in number and already struggle to perform their legal responsibility relating to the
industrial and commercial establishments.97 The procedure for settlement of the disputes
96
Clearly, this seems to be the intention of the HCD as expressed in the directives issued upon the
Government in BNWLA v Bangladesh, above note 10.
97
Taslima Yasmin, ‘Burning Death Traps Made in Bangladesh: Who Is to Blame?’ (2014) 65(1) Labour
Law Journal 51, at 55 referring to M. Monjur Morshed, A Study on Labour Rights Implementation in
Readymade Garment (RMG) Industry in Bangladesh: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice
(2007) University of Wollongong Theses Collection, at 108.
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