The Brave Pedestrian

30th May, 2019, Mumbai: It seems that for nearly seven years, Indian judiciary has been struggling with one riddle, and that riddle is this: Was Anita Wadhawal a "workman", entitled to protection of the labour laws of the state? Or wasn't she? It would appear that after endless proceedings stretching from June 2012, and examining witnesses and documentary evidences, the court is still not able to decide whether she is a workman or not. Anita Wadhawal - Employee of FL Smidth, Thane, India Labour Court, Thane, has conclusively come to the finding that she is indeed a workman, and that her employer, Danish company FLSmidth, are guilty of Unfair Labour Practices. But the company has suffered no adverse consequences. On the other hand, Anita Wadhawal has been utterly ruined. Compelled to stay out of employment in order to avoid dismissal of her plaint, she has suffered total loss of income for seven years. As the sole earning member of her family, with aged parents...

Mumbai, 27 April, 2018: Here is a live example of how Lodha Group traps unwary flat-purchasers by imposing unfair terms and conditions. Kavita Shinde booked flat no. A401 in Casa Treetop in Lodha Upper Thane, located on Mumbai-Nashik Highway, and has been receiving extortionate demand letters to pay late-fees for a delay in payment, although she had not delayed any payment.  Kavita booked her flat on 11th May, 2017 by paying Rs 90,000/-, and followed this up by paying Rs 3.17 lakhs on 5th June, 2017. As per the application form, the next "milestone" was executing the registered agreement. The third installment could become payable only after the registration. Example of  Lodha Group's payment schedule, mentioned in the Application Form. Quite often, these schedules mention strict deadlines such as 45 days between consecutive payments. Lodha Group delayed the registration until November. And then, just as Kavita was preparing to pay her next installment...