A show-cause notice does not extend the three-month limitation under the Contract Labour Act.

On 14 November 2022, the Labour Inspector inspected the petitioner’s premises and recorded alleged violations of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 and the applicable Rules

An observation note was issued that day, followed by a show-cause notice dated 23 November 2022. The petitioner said it replied on 6 December 2022; the Inspector subsequently filed a complaint on 28 February 2023, and the Magistrate took cognizance

The petitioner challenged the complaint and cognizance order, arguing that the complaint was filed outside Section 27’s three-month limitation period

1. Whether the limitation period under Section 27 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, began on the date of inspection, when the alleged violation came to the Inspector’s knowledge

2. Whether a show-cause notice could constitute a written order under the proviso to Section 27, attracting the extended six-month limitation period

Section 27 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 bars cognizance unless the complaint is made within three months from the date the alleged offence came to an Inspector’s knowledge; its proviso allows six months where the offence consists of disobeying a written order made by an Inspector

The proviso applies only where an Inspector issues a written direction requiring an act or omission and the offence alleged is the subsequent disobedience of that direction; a show-cause notice seeking an explanation is not such an order and does not extend or postpone limitation

The Court applied Ben Salmon & Ors. v. State of Karnataka, Crl.P. No. 7371 of 2015, and the principle attributed to J.U. Prabhu v. State of Karnataka, ILR 1985 KAR 3633, that a show-cause notice cannot be treated as an order whose disobedience attracts the proviso

The alleged violations came to the Inspector’s knowledge during the inspection on 14 November 2022, so the three-month period began on that date

The subsequent show-cause notice did not amount to a written order, and neither its issuance nor the petitioner’s reply altered the limitation calculation

Because the complaint was filed on 28 February 2023—beyond three months from the date of inspection—and no qualifying written order was alleged, the proviso’s six-month period did not apply

It allowed the petition and quashed the complaint dated 28 February 2023, the cognizance order, and the proceedings in C.C. No. 767 of 2023 insofar as they concerned the petitioner