Gurugram wall collapse: Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on worker safety rules

The court asked for a comparison of the 2026 rules with the earlier code and suggested a welfare corpus and labour courts for compensation claims.

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre’s response to a petition alleging gaps in safety code for construction workers under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026, following a wall collapse in Gurugram in March that killed seven workers and injured four.

The petition alleged that while the rules cover cleanliness, ventilation and dust, they lack specific safeguards relating to excavation, shoring, sloping, scaffolding, formwork and demolition. (Satish Bate/Hindustan Times) (Representative Image)

“The safety of construction workers must be made a condition in the licence itself that labour safety code will be followed,” a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said.

The bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, was hearing a petition filed by the National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, said the immediate trigger was the collapse of a retaining wall during excavation for a sewage treatment plant at Signature Global City of Colours in Sidhrawali, Gurugram that claimed seven lives.

Bhushan said the incident exposed gaps in the 2026 Rules, which came into effect on May 7. The petition alleged that while the rules cover cleanliness, ventilation and dust, they lack specific safeguards relating to excavation, shoring, sloping, scaffolding, formwork and demolition. “We are issuing notice. Give us a chart where you state the gaps under the new rules as compared to the prior code,” the bench said.

The court also suggested that builders create a corpus for construction workers’ welfare and said labour or industrial courts could be notified to deal with compensation claims.

The petition sought an inquiry into the Gurugram collapse, compensation and statutory dues for the victims and their families, and creation of a national record of construction fatalities and their causes.