Bengaluru, June 4 -- The Karnataka High Court has quashed a state government order that had granted permission to initiate criminal proceedings against a private company for alleged labour law violations during the Covid-19 lockdown, observing that the government must apply its independent mind and provide valid reasons before authorising prosecution under labour laws.

The order was passed by a single-judge bench of Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde while hearing a petition filed by International Trimmings and Labels India Private Limited, a company located in Bengaluru's Peenya Industrial Area. The company had challenged the state's decision permitting criminal action under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, over the temporary termination of...