Seventeen years after it was filed, a PIL against the Child Labour Act has ended with the Supreme Court directing the authorities to constitute a special cell, continue monitoring the amended law and issue directions to enforcing agencies through the Chief Secretaries of the States, so that Child Labour Act enforcement stays under watch.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that the prayers in a 17-year-old public interest petition against the proviso to Section 3 of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 do not survive for further consideration, but it has made the authorities answerable for putting the 2016 amendment into full effect. The second respondent has been directed to set up a special cell to keep monitoring the implementation of the Act and to issue directions to enforcing agencies through the Chief Secretaries of the States [Health for Millions v. Union of India & Ors.].
The order was passed on October 29, 2026 by a Bench of Justice S.V.N. Bhatti and Justice N.V. Anjaria in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 501 of 2009.
The 2016 amendment and the direction for a special cell
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 (Act No. 35 of 2016) renamed the law and extended the prohibition on employing children below 14 to all occupations and processes, subject to limited exceptions such as helping in a family enterprise that is not hazardous, after school hours or during vacations. The Bench held that the writ prayers no longer needed examination, but said the job of making the amended law work remained:
“We are of the view that the prayer, as made, in the writ petition does not survive for further consideration but what remains to be taken note of is giving complete and full effect to the changes introduced by way of amendment Act No. 35 of 2016.”
It recorded that it shall be the responsibility of the respondents to ensure “complete and strict compliance” of the Act, including the amended provisions, and then directed:
“For the said purpose, with a view to preserving the rights of children/ adolescents, we direct the second respondent to constitute a special cell, continue to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Act and also issue direction to the enforcing agencies through the respective Chief Secretaries of the State, as amended through the Act No.35 of 2016.”
With these directions, the writ petition and pending applications were disposed of.
The petition filed in 2009
The petition under Article 32 was filed by Health for Millions, a non-governmental organisation that says it works for the health of marginalised people. It sought a declaration that the proviso to Section 3 of the Act, which at the time banned the employment of children only in listed hazardous occupations, violated Articles 14, 21, 21A and 24 read with Articles 39(e), 39(f) and 47 of the Constitution. It also asked the Court to direct the Union to provide educational facilities and two mid-day meals to child workers.
Advocate Pranav Sachdeva, for the petitioner, placed before the Bench the amendments made to the 1986 Act and pointed to the changed statutory framework and the duties now fastened on the executive machinery. Advocate Hemadri Sharma, for the respondents, submitted that the amendment had substantially addressed the petitioner’s grievance and that the cause of action, as framed, no longer survived.
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What the order changes
The 2016 amendment closed the gap the petition attacked, but a ban on paper does little if inspection and prosecution stay weak. By directing a standing special cell and routing instructions through the Chief Secretaries, the Court has given the Union a continuing monitoring role over how States enforce the law.
The order also gives child-rights groups a clear Supreme Court direction to cite when they press authorities over rescue, rehabilitation and prosecution of employers.
Case Title: Health for Millions v. Union of India & Ors.
Case No.: Writ Petition (Civil) No. 501 of 2009
Bench: Justice S.V.N. Bhatti and Justice N.V. Anjaria, Supreme Court of India
Date of Order: October 29, 2026
Appearance: Advocate Prashant Bhushan (AoR), Advocate Pranav Sachdeva and others for the Petitioner; ASG Aishwarya Bhati, Advocate Hemadri Sharma and others for the Respondents