Public holidays:India
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The legal position
No legal right to public holiday, Bombay HC
Rosy Sequeira, January 6, 2022: The Times of India
MUMBAI: There is no legal right to a public holiday, Bombay high court said, as it declined to direct the administrator of the Union territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli (D&NH) to declare August 2 a public holiday as it gained liberation/independence from Portuguese rule on that date.
“What is your legal right to a public holiday?” asked a bench of justices Gautam Patel and Madhav Jamdar on a petition by Silvassa resident Kishnabhai Ghutia (51) and Aadivasi Navjeevan Jangal Andolan. His petition challenged the October 2021 notification on public holidays for not including August 2, 2022 as the date of “liberation/independence day” of D&NH.
Ghutia’s petition said that from August 2, 1954 to August 2, 2020 the day was celebrated as a public holiday for D&NH becoming part of the Indian territory. However there was no justification given for not notifying August 2, 2022 as a public holiday. It questioned if the government can celebrate August 15 and January 26 as public holidays but deprive people of D&NH “to celebrate their Liberation/Independence Day’’ on August 2.
Ghutia’s advocate Bhavesh Parmar referred to an April 15, 2019 order where HC directed the D&NH administrator to gazette Good Friday as a public holiday. “If it can be done for Good Friday, then why not for Liberation Day of Dadra & Nagar Haveli?’’ Parmar asked.
In their order, the judges said HC’s April 2019 order is on a different footing. “That PIL was for failure to gazette, i.e. make compulsory Good Friday as a public holiday. It was far distant from the present writ petition which seeks declaration of August 2 as public holiday.”
They added, “As it is, we have far too many holidays. Perhaps time has come to decrease them... Nobody has a fundamental right to a public holiday.” Parmar pointed out that August 2 as a public holiday was discontinued after 2020. “Whether or not to declare a public holiday or optional holiday is a matter of policy. There is no legally enforceable right to it,” the judges said.
Highest in the world
Jan 16 2015
At 21, India has the most public holidays in world
India has the most public holidays in a year, followed closely by her Asian neighbours Philippines, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia. India has 21 such holidays every year, even more depending on which state one lives in, a study by an online travel portal has shown.
The study compared public holidays enjoyed by workforces of various nationalities. “In the AsiaPacific region, the Philippines follows with 18 and China and Hong Kong with 17. Thailand has 16, Malaysia and Vietnam 15,“ Wego chief marketing officer Joachim Holte said.
Europeans don't fare too badly, with Sweden and Lithuania having 15 (the latter with an additional 28 days of paid leave), followed by 14 in Slovakia, 13 in Austria, Belgium and Norway and 12 in Finland and Russia.
“China is not only one of the fastest-growing travel segments, its government makes it easy for workers to take longer breaks. Should the year's public holidays fall on a weekend, the government swaps the official dates with weekdays, maximizing the time off,“ said Holte. “This year, 17 public holidays equates to 28 days off. For the Taiwanese, 13 public holidays results in 29 days off, inclusive of weekends.“
Mexico has the least public holidays (seven) each year, although the country's government permits `optional' public holidays at the employer's discretion.
“Some countries provide a little more by way of statutory holiday leave, which can top up public holidays nicely ,“ Holte said. “The Philippines public holiday count of 18 is increased with five more days mandatory holiday leave, and while Australian workers get 10 public holidays depending on which state you live in, annual holiday leave entitlement is an additional 20 working days.“
