Under the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, section 2(l), “lockout” has been defined as the [temporary closure of a place of business] or suspension of employment, or the refusal of an employer to continue to employ any number of persons employed by him. In a lockout, an employer shuts down its business as a result of retaliation, either as a tool of coercion or as a way of putting pressure on employees with the aim of dictating its terms to them. Recently, over 4200 since March 16, 2014, workers have been locked out of their workplace at two car assembly plants of Toyota Motors Kirloskar Motors Private Ltd at Bidadi, around 50 km from Bangalore in Karnataka. These auto plants are 89% owned by Japanese auto giant Toyota, while Kirloskar Group, an Indian conglomerate, owns the remaining 11%. The company had locked out its workers over their wage and social security claims, and had also ended up suspending 17 workers during the lockout period. To divide the workforce, the lockout did not affect 1,300 contract workers and 800 apprentices ...