Fertilizer Corporation Kamgar Union (Regd.), Sindri v Union of India

Facts

• The Fertilizer Corporation of India, a public sector undertaking, decided to sell certain surplus and obsolete plant and machinery
• Workers, through their union, challenged this decision via writ petition under Art.32, apprehending adverse effects on employment and job security
• The core question: whether this commercial decision could be reviewed and struck down as violating workers' fundamental rights

Issue

1. Whether workers can invoke Art.32 to challenge a bona fide commercial decision of a public sector undertaking, absent a direct violation of a specific fundamental right.

Held

• Art.32 is available for the enforcement of fundamental rights, and a petition must disclose an actual infringement
• A bona fide commercial or managerial decision (sale of surplus machinery) does not by itself violate any fundamental right merely because it may have downstream effects on employment
• The Court exercised restraint, recognising courts are not well-placed to second-guess legitimate business judgments absent mala fides, arbitrariness, or actual rights violation
• The petition was not maintainable on the facts

Ratio Decidendi

Art.32 is a remedy for enforcement of fundamental rights, not a general instrument for judicial review of every administrative or commercial decision that may have some indirect impact on citizens; courts will decline to interfere with bona fide managerial decisions absent a demonstrable rights violation.