The Right To Disconnect: Evolution, Constitutional Roots, And Shifting Indian Views
- IJLLR Journal
- Apr 22
- 1 min read
V.K. Radha Krishna, BALLB, Guru Ghasidas Central University, Chhattisgarh
ABSTRACT
Digital communication tools have dissolved the boundaries that once separated work from personal life, creating a pervasive expectation of constant availability. In India, this problem is acute, and it has prompted legislative responses including the Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025, as well as regional policy efforts. Understanding these developments requires tracing the right's origins in global labour standards and examining how countries such as France and Australia have shaped the current debate. The arguments now forming in India find support not only in those foreign models but also in domestic constitutional values. Protection of health, rest, personal space, and emotional well-being all fall within the broad interpretation of Article 21, and they gain further strength when read alongside the Directive Principles of State Policy and Article 23.
This article identifies three persistent weaknesses in the 2025 measure: uneven treatment across industries, the absence of a minimum employee threshold for coverage, and the exclusion of informal and gig workers. Rather than a uniform regulatory framework, the better approach is a flexible one, shaped by sector-specific conditions, guided by a reasonableness standard, and introduced gradually so that businesses and institutions have time to adapt. The disconnection entitlement must ultimately become more than a statutory aspiration; it needs to be operational.
Keywords: Right to Disconnect, Article 21, Mental Health, Labour Law, Digital Labour, Constitutional Law, Work-Life Balance.
