The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a PIL seeking safety framework for construction workers.

The Supreme Court today issued notice in a PIL seeking directions to the Union of India to declare standards on occupational safety and health for workplaces relating to building and other construction work under Section 18(1) of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.

It has further sought a complete, independent and time-bound investigation and statutory/technical inquiry into the construction-site collapse that occurred on March 9, 2026 at Signature Global City of Colours, Sidhrawali, Gurugram.

The plea has also sought examination of the role of the principal employer/developer, its responsible directors and management personnel, project and safety personnel, engineer/responsible person, contractor, sub-contractor and any other person concerned; the applicability of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 including Sections 6 and 103; and preservation and examination of all relevant technical, contractual, inspection and safety records, and further direct that the result of such examination be placed before the competent court/authority before conclusion of the investigation.

Filed by National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour, the plea has also highlighted gaps in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 which came into force in November 2025 and has submitted a set of suggested safeguards, drawn from the superseded 1998 Central Rules, from Excavation Work (Code of Safety), from Part 7 of the National Building Code of India, 2016 and from ILO Convention No. 167, titled “Proposed Guidelines to address the gaps in the existing statutory framework”.

The Article 32 petition filed through AOR Abiha Ziadi, it seeks to direct the competent labour, compensation and welfare authorities to identify and verify every deceased and injured worker and, in a coordinated and time-bound manner, determine, recover and disburse all compensation, medical/rehabilitation assistance, Welfare Board benefits, unpaid wages and other statutory dues admissible in law, including through coordination with the States of origin of migrant workers, without rejecting an otherwise established claim solely for want of prior welfare registration.

A direction to the Union of India and all States and Union Territories to establish a uniform national mechanism for recording, compiling and periodically publishing construction fatalities and serious injuries, causes of accidents, inspections, statutory action/prosecutions, compensation and welfare benefits, and such other anonymised regulatory information as may be necessary for prevention, monitoring and public accountability has also been sought.

The petition places three connected deficiencies requiring constitutional intervention: first, the occurrence of a mass fatality construction accident in circumstances requiring examination of the entire safety and management chain; second, the transition from the earlier construction-worker safety regime to the OSH Code, with the parent Code in force from 21.11.2025 but the detailed Central Rules notified only on 08.05.2026; and third, the independent evidence of longstanding deficiencies in worker identification, welfare administration, inspection and accident reporting across several States.

Case Title: National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour vs. Union of India

Hearing Date: September 21, 2026

Bench: CJI Kant, Justice Bagchi and Justice Mohana 

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