NITINKUMAR NATHALAL JOSHI vs OIL & NATURAL GAS CORPORATION LTD.

The appellants, employed as contract laborers for ONGC through a third-party contractor, sought regularization as direct employees following a government notification prohibiting contract labor in their specific roles under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970. While a Single Judge of the High Court ruled that the contract was a breach of the Act and ordered the appellants be treated as direct employees, the Division Bench disagreed, citing disputed questions of fact. The Supreme Court was called upon to review whether the appellants were entitled to the status of direct employees of the principal employer.