Labour rights should not be used to deter investment: Ravi Shankar Prasad

NEW DELHI: Labour rights need to be safeguarded and secured but these laws should not be used as means to deter investment, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.

"Labour rights need to be safeguarded and secured. But at the same time, these laws should not be used as a means to deter investment and also production," he said.

Prasad was responding to a question on amending various labour laws, including the Factories Act.

Interacting with members of the Indian Women's Press Corps here, the minister said he has written to the Law Commission to see that contractual laws are not misused.

"Contractual disputes are cloaked as criminal disputes... These are motivated complaints to deny investment in India," he said.

Prasad said the Commission has also agreed to look into the various archaic laws.

It has also been requested to talk to various trade bodies so that unnecessary clearances can be done away with to fast- track economic growth.

"We have sought a structured view from the Law Commission," he said.

Referring to pending cases, he said he has written to chief justices of the 24 high courts to give priority to cases related to women, aged people, children and the disabled.

The government has agreed to increase the strength of judges in the high courts by 20 per cent. At present, there are 270 vacancies in the high courts.