Maruti Suzuki Workers Detained, Humiliated by Police Inside Gurgaon Labour Court

The recently formed Maruti Suzuki Asthayi Mazdur Sangh (‘MSAMS’)—a first of its kind organised labour front for contract and temporary hires of the automobile manufacturer—faced a major setback on January 31, 2025. A mass detention of its members within the Gurgaon labour court premises led to the cancellation of their highly anticipated tripartite meeting with the Maruti Suzuki management and labour department officials. The meeting had been scheduled by the labour court on January 10, the same day thousands of current and erstwhile temporary Maruti workers from across different parts of the country gathered outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office to demand the government's attention.

The chain of events

Initially, the workers had gathered outside the District Commissioner's office starting around 9AM on January 31, but police officers roaming the premises asked them to vacate the area & gather elsewhere. With the police's permission, Khushi Ram, a terminated Maruti worker & respected leader of the Maruti Workers' Struggle Committee (‘MSSC’)—the parent union of the MSAMS—moved the workers to a small park inside the Mini Secretariat. This cost the workers precious time ahead of their hearing, which was scheduled for 10AM. But when I arrived at the scene at the hour, the court's call had not come yet.

Maruti-Suzuki disguises the severe pay disparity between its permanent & temporary workers, the former earning about 1.3 Lakhs per month & the latter between 15 and 30 thousand as per workers. One way it does this is by categorising contractual work into  TW1, TW2, apprentice, trainee, CW, & other categories. Inside the park, around 80 workers sat peacefully on the grassin files according to their categories. More were still arriving, and settling into their files neatly. 

At the gate, Roshan Lal Athariya kept an eye out for anxious workers, confused about the change of location, or afraid of being apprehended by the police while entering from the gate. Athariya, a former Maruti worker from Rajasthan, had served the company in three staggered cycles on a contractual basis over the course of six years.

"They are all coming from different places. The police buses dropped them all off faraway," Athariya told me. Workers had been scattered all across the city due to another round of mass detentions that had already taken place the previous day. The ruthless police crackdown since theJanuary 28 on the workers, many of whom had travelled over from other states, had left the young men isolated, scared, and without a roof over their heads. Workers had been detained in police buses & released in faraway locations repeatedly since January 29. Those who had managed to stay in the city but did not want to confront the police  began gathering at Kamala Nehru Park, around 800 metres away from the Mini Secretariat.

The judiciary is completely helpless. They did this in broad daylight, inside court. The judges were there, the DC was there, and all any of them could do was watch the show.

"I try to tell them, this is court, of course there's going to be police here! But they are all scared," Athariya said as he reassured two young men. "We have a date [for hearing]," he reasoned, "We are supposed to be here [in court]. But they cannot help it."

It turns out the workers had good reason. At 10:20AM, a large team of police officers in protective gear, armed with lathis began filing into the park, with four armed officers blocking the entrance gate, and directing civilians and journalists away from the scene. 

"You can't use this gate, ma'am," said one of the officers as I tried to walk past them. They directed me toward alternate entrances, and snapped at the crowds that had gathered outside the secretariat wall to watch the commotion inside. Amidst the police officers were formally dressed civilians holding video cameras, filming the workers' faces row by row. A worker outside the secretariat identified them as members of the Maruti management. 

"They are going to use the videos to identify the workers who are currently employed," he said. "There will be consequences."

How does Section 144 keep following us around? At IMT, at Devi Lal Park, at the DC office—will it be at our homes next?

A few minutes later, workers inside were informed that Section 144 of the now obsolete Criminal Procedure Code (now Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita) had been implemented on the court premise. The provision grants power to Executive Magistrates to issue orders in 'urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger' through a written order delivered via notice or proclamation stating the facts of the case. This is the same provision that had been spontaneously invoked by the police every day for the past three days against the workers in Gurgaon, at different locations, without ever furbishing a written order. 

The cruel and casual nature of detention: Section 144 as a tool for public humiliation

As the workers were ejected from the Mini Secretariat, Khushi Ram was quietly apprehended by four officers, who led him away from the rest. His contact devices were confiscated, and he was kept under detention for several hours after the meeting was forcibly postponed. It is worth reiterating that this took place on court grounds, where the young men had gathered for a scheduled hearing. "The judiciary is completely helpless," said Ram in a public address the next day. "They did this in broad daylight, inside court. The judges were there, the DC was there and all any of them could do was watch the show."

Outside the secretariat on January 31, the workers were left helpless & humiliated. Katar Singh, another terminated worker from the MSSC and a senior leader, broke down in front of the young workers & police officers, after the police prohibited them from chanting slogans. “Section 144”meant they would have to disperse.

They have made it impossible for us to gather in one place. We have to meet first—the rest comes later. Where are we supposed to do that now?

"How does this Section 144 keep following us around!?" yelled Singh. "It seems wherever we go, Section 144 comes chasing after us. Does it only apply to workers?" he asked. Visibly, the provision seemed to apply only upon Maruti Suzuki’s workers and journalists covering them, as the rest of the public seemed to move unrestricted. Section 144 allows for applicability over selected persons, organisations and localities, but the procedure for the first two is vastly different from the latter. While direct notices have to be submitted to the concerned party in the case of selective applicability—such that the order may be challenged—public proclamations are required if it applies on entire localities. Assistant Superintendent of Police Virender told me on  January 30 at Manesar, that Section 144 had been implemented in the region, not against the workers, leading to the half-hearted closure of tea stalls and other local shops as well. While speaking to him, I was not immune from the possibility of being detained. This means that the detentions at Rajiv Chowk would have to fall under a new order entirely—which was also never produced.

"Section 144 at IMT! Section 144 at Devi Lal Park! Section 144 at the DC office! Is there going to be section 144 at our homes next?,” Singh exclaimed, increasingly distraught, “We can't gather, we can't eat, we can't sleep? Can we take a piss in peace?".

The arbitrary and extrajudicial invocation of Section 144 is far from new; the law has long been subject to abuse by authorities to perpetuate human rights violations. One day before the Haryana police ‘declared’ the order against workers protesting at IMT Manesar, Supreme Court judges Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan flagged the issue of the provision’s abuse:  "Whenever there's a protest, a S.144 CrPC order is issued." 

They are going to use the videos to identify the workers who are currently employed. There will be consequences.

His agitation on the rise, Katar Singh challenged the police in a hoarse voice: "Shoot us, why don't you?" The younger workers around him attempted to calm him down. Some of the police officers who had surrounded the workers after Singh's outburst looked uncomfortable, with helmets on and rifles in their hands. Others seemed to find the affair comedic, laughing or smiling. The workers decided to head to Kamala Nehru park, leading Singh away from the police. As they started to leave, Singh cursed an officer in front of him.

"Mark my words, your children will be jobless," he said. The officer smiled and asked the other policemen to huddle in with him. One of them asked, "What is the number of the bus, of the driver?" Within minutes, officers had rounded up as many workers as they could, filling them into a police bus . Soon, another police bus arrived at the Kamala Nehru Park and the workers gathered there were also detained and dispersed. By 11AM, the entire MSMAS had been scattered.

When the call for the hearing came half an hour later, only three members of the organisation named for the meeting were let out of detention: Roshan Athariya and Deepak, a temporary worker of the MSAMS. Only one member of the senior leadership with legal experience, Surendra Kaushik, was allowed to accompany. When the three of them realised they were the only ones left, Kaushik was forced to request a future date for the meeting. The judge listed the matter on February 17, 2025.

The Contrasting Accounts of On-Field Reporters & Remote Correspondents

When the workers were being detained outside the Mini Secretariat, more than half of them managed to get away; the police made little effort to stop them, laughing as one of the younger men wrangled himself free and sprinted away from an officer in fear. Assistant Superintendent of Police Abhilash Joshi saw me recording the sordid affair with a camera and immediately ordered all journalists to leave the site.

A day before, reporters from the news portal The Wire were detained in Manesar for trying to speak with the workers during the third round of detentions. I, along with another female journalist, witnessed the men being led into a 112 police car. We were surrounded and intimidated by a horde of male officers for recording the arrest. ASP Virender demanded that his men call a 'lady SHO', a woman Station House Officer. At least seven officers loudly accused us of 'gathering people together', even though we were merely observing from a distance. A lady SHO grabbed me by the elbow. "Call yourself a ride, or we will.,” she whispered, “Get out of here. Or there won't be any journalism left for you." 

We were lucky enough to be let go with that warning. 

Over the past four days, the police have been consistently hostile towards on-field reporters, activists and workers attempting to record the events. They have threatened journalists with detention, refusing to answer questions, with the stance that they "are not authorised to speak to the press."

A Month of Struggle Set Back by Four Days of Repression: The Hidden Cost of Anti-Assembly Laws for People's Movements

On January 10, 2025, after thousands of temporary Maruti-Suzuki workers gathered outside the Labour Court at Rajiv Chowk, Gurgaon, the Assistant Commissioner of Labour promised the workers a tripartite meeting on the January 31, where the MSAMS would be able to discuss their issues and start a dialogue with both the management and the labour department towards resolving them. But the extrajudicial interference of the police has set their progress back another month, and raised larger concerns about the judiciary's helplessness against state repression. 

The single greatest obstacle the workers now face is mobilisation. With the destruction of their campsite at IMT, they no longer have a place to stay, break bread,host those journeying from other states or build a community. When news of the camp's destruction spread amongst the workers on their online communication channels on January 29, many were already on their way from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. I was told about a young father travelling with his two children, anxiously messaging on the online groups to confirm that his kids would have a place to stay at night. 

After the detentions on January 29, workers were deposited off at Farrukhnagar, nearly 75 kilometres away from the dharna site at Manesar Tehsil well into the night. By the time they made their way back, the camp had been cleared up, and workers sought to adjust themselves into local dharamshalas or crashed with friends in the city. When they returned to the dharna site the next morning for their mass rally, they were picked up yet again, and deposited at the Gurgaon bus stand at 9:30 PM. 

"They have made it impossible for us to gather in one place,” Roshan said, “We have to meet first, the rest comes later. Where are we supposed to do that now?" 

Despite the setbacks the workers' resolve has not wavered. The young union of temporary workers, MSAMS, hopes to strengthen its organisational structure further till the rescheduled date of hearing arrives on February 17, 2025. Its sister union, Maruti Suzuki Struggle Committee has decided to move the DC Office to resume its indefinite strike and re-access its protest site at IMT Manesar on February 24, 2025.

Mouli Sharma is a scholar of religion at Jamia Millia Islamia and a freelance journalist from New Delhi.